High points from work/home
For those of you who may have lost track, today is Wednesday. It is early afternoon in the Eastern time zone.
Kidding, of course. I hope that you and yours are safe and well at this writing, and that you all continue to be.
Because I'm trying to be a model citizen and spend the vast majority of my time in my home, where I also work, I'm trying to take note of things that have given me at least a few minutes of satisfaction in the midst of what we're facing. Here goes:
So many of the guests who appear on news programs are doing so from their homes (logically). I have taken an inordinate amount of amusement seeing the surroundings of so many of the guests who are not using background supplied by Zoom or their employers (I'll come back to something else about Zoom shortly). My wife, too, joins in this occasionally, commenting at how dark someone's space is, or how sparsely furnished it might be. Yesterday's Senate hearings on the coronavirus and the government response to it featured several of the White House Task Force members, most notably Dr. Anthony Fauci, testifying from their home locations. It was interesting to see his home office setting, as it's pretty straightforward with lots of books (including some that are stacked on the floor, as his bookcases reached capacity a while ago). A number of Senators did the same, and it was easy to see who had spacious areas from which they were connecting, whereas others had what appeared to be a makeshift area for this purpose.
And, wouldn't you know it, there's a Twitter feed called Room Rater, where someone actually posts a screen shot of a virtual guest and then critiques their space. Very funny stuff, often making me think about what I'm seeing (or not seeing). And makes me wonder why I didn't think of that.
I've been on LOTS of Zoom calls and have amused my self greatly with the "virtual background" feature. My home office is where our dining area would have been, but it's not an enclosed room, so the backdrop behind me is of a sailboat print on the opposite wall. But with virtual backgrounds, I've treated my teammates to photos from vacations in Colorado, the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Walt Disney World, Great American Ball Park and even outer space! I have another one coming up Friday so will have to find a good new backdrop.
My wife is reluctant to spend much time out of the house, but is nevertheless heavily interested in face mask fashion. Already she has one that I gave her (the church ladies near the physical location of my employer sewed a large number for staff, so I have five or six non-medical masks from that), plus two our daughter sent (online shopping), and we have yet another one on order from a place she found online. I ordered one from the same place, as I'm looking for something that fits my broad face a bit better. Also ordered a face gaiter, which essentially is a fabric tube with elastic at the top and bottom that you can wear loosely around your neck and pull up to cover your nose and mouth as needed. Interested to see if that's a good option, as when I return to my normal work, I'll be in and out of five to ten places per day.
I marvel at how often we run and empty the dishwasher, but with two people eating three meals per day at home, they stack up. And we're conserving water this way, they say!
Not so with hand-washing. I lost count weeks ago of how many times I wash my hands each day. I feel as though I'm handling raw chicken on an hourly basis and am compelled to wash my hands nearly that often.
I am enjoying the chance to cook nearly every night (we get take-out a couple of times a week, just to break things up) and my wife isn't tired of any of it, so that's a plus-plus.
Trips to the grocery continue to be a crap shoot, sometimes they have just what I'm looking for, other times it's necessary to improvise. At least I was able to find toilet paper and Clorox wipes.
Businesses are altering their hours in response to the pandemic, which is certainly their prerogative, but it's annoying if you don't know that before making a trip there.
My auto insurance carrier is going to refund 15 percent of our premiums for April, May and June. Yet I've been driving on "full" on the same tank of gas for over two weeks.
My barber shop reopens at the end of the month, and I was able to get an appointment on June 5. Yet I am strangely satisfied by cutting my own hair with a trimmer I bought at Costco. It'll look better when my guy cuts it, but it's fine for now.
I am actually taking a certain amount of pleasure in mowing the lawn, a good chance to get outside and get some exercise. And I pay lots of attention to the weather, as I, like so many others, find the days more tolerable if the sun is out.
I'm trying so hard to get and stay in touch with friends, especially those whom I don't have a lot of contact with on a regular basis. Guys, I promise, I'm really going to do better.
Send me your corresponding comments, would be interested to see whether we agree!
Kidding, of course. I hope that you and yours are safe and well at this writing, and that you all continue to be.
Because I'm trying to be a model citizen and spend the vast majority of my time in my home, where I also work, I'm trying to take note of things that have given me at least a few minutes of satisfaction in the midst of what we're facing. Here goes:
So many of the guests who appear on news programs are doing so from their homes (logically). I have taken an inordinate amount of amusement seeing the surroundings of so many of the guests who are not using background supplied by Zoom or their employers (I'll come back to something else about Zoom shortly). My wife, too, joins in this occasionally, commenting at how dark someone's space is, or how sparsely furnished it might be. Yesterday's Senate hearings on the coronavirus and the government response to it featured several of the White House Task Force members, most notably Dr. Anthony Fauci, testifying from their home locations. It was interesting to see his home office setting, as it's pretty straightforward with lots of books (including some that are stacked on the floor, as his bookcases reached capacity a while ago). A number of Senators did the same, and it was easy to see who had spacious areas from which they were connecting, whereas others had what appeared to be a makeshift area for this purpose.
And, wouldn't you know it, there's a Twitter feed called Room Rater, where someone actually posts a screen shot of a virtual guest and then critiques their space. Very funny stuff, often making me think about what I'm seeing (or not seeing). And makes me wonder why I didn't think of that.
I've been on LOTS of Zoom calls and have amused my self greatly with the "virtual background" feature. My home office is where our dining area would have been, but it's not an enclosed room, so the backdrop behind me is of a sailboat print on the opposite wall. But with virtual backgrounds, I've treated my teammates to photos from vacations in Colorado, the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Walt Disney World, Great American Ball Park and even outer space! I have another one coming up Friday so will have to find a good new backdrop.
My wife is reluctant to spend much time out of the house, but is nevertheless heavily interested in face mask fashion. Already she has one that I gave her (the church ladies near the physical location of my employer sewed a large number for staff, so I have five or six non-medical masks from that), plus two our daughter sent (online shopping), and we have yet another one on order from a place she found online. I ordered one from the same place, as I'm looking for something that fits my broad face a bit better. Also ordered a face gaiter, which essentially is a fabric tube with elastic at the top and bottom that you can wear loosely around your neck and pull up to cover your nose and mouth as needed. Interested to see if that's a good option, as when I return to my normal work, I'll be in and out of five to ten places per day.
I marvel at how often we run and empty the dishwasher, but with two people eating three meals per day at home, they stack up. And we're conserving water this way, they say!
Not so with hand-washing. I lost count weeks ago of how many times I wash my hands each day. I feel as though I'm handling raw chicken on an hourly basis and am compelled to wash my hands nearly that often.
I am enjoying the chance to cook nearly every night (we get take-out a couple of times a week, just to break things up) and my wife isn't tired of any of it, so that's a plus-plus.
Trips to the grocery continue to be a crap shoot, sometimes they have just what I'm looking for, other times it's necessary to improvise. At least I was able to find toilet paper and Clorox wipes.
Businesses are altering their hours in response to the pandemic, which is certainly their prerogative, but it's annoying if you don't know that before making a trip there.
My auto insurance carrier is going to refund 15 percent of our premiums for April, May and June. Yet I've been driving on "full" on the same tank of gas for over two weeks.
My barber shop reopens at the end of the month, and I was able to get an appointment on June 5. Yet I am strangely satisfied by cutting my own hair with a trimmer I bought at Costco. It'll look better when my guy cuts it, but it's fine for now.
I am actually taking a certain amount of pleasure in mowing the lawn, a good chance to get outside and get some exercise. And I pay lots of attention to the weather, as I, like so many others, find the days more tolerable if the sun is out.
I'm trying so hard to get and stay in touch with friends, especially those whom I don't have a lot of contact with on a regular basis. Guys, I promise, I'm really going to do better.
Send me your corresponding comments, would be interested to see whether we agree!
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