COVID-19

As of Monday, March 16th of this month, I've been working from home.

The week before we were starting to hear about the possibility of schools being closed and other precautions being taken for the cities, provinces and the country as a whole as a way of "flattening the curve" of the corona virus infection.

Right now, as, the statistics in Canada are 8,612 of the 857,487 global cases. These numbers are taken from the Corona Virus Tracker on CBC. 

Of those cases in Canada, 4,162 total cases are in Québec and 31 people have died.

Overall, I think the Québec and Canadian governments have been pretty pro-active.  The week before work shut down for me, people were already starting to work from home. It's only as of March 16th that it was no longer a suggestion but a requirement.

All of a sudden, people got laptops (who never would have had them otherwise). There are still people on-site, but that's because of certain positions that require 24-hour on-site, human intervention and support.

Early March was spring break here. March break with the English schools was the week before work was closed, and in the French systems it was the week before. This could explain our larger-than-average infection rate, since so many people were traveling.

It's been two weeks that I've been working from home. The only reason I am writing right now is because a good friend lent me a screen, and I was able to order a keyboard online. Otherwise I would be on a teeny laptop that is nearly impossible to work on.

The first two weeks, on that tiny laptop, were very difficult. I was annoyed all the time. It was nearly impossible to work, and hundreds of e-mails were coming in.

I've only had the keyboard and screen for half a work day, and I already know it's going to improve my work situation 200%.

I'm focusing on work stuff right now because it's my everyday. I'm quarantined with my dog. But this past weekend it rained for two days straight and we got no sunlight and no walk outside time and it was brutal.

I am not really lonely, since everyone is at home, so I get FaceTime calls, texts and e-mails - I can easily reach out.

A lot of my friends are at home with their kids and no daycare/school and they sound like they're going fucking nuts so I'm happy to only have the irritation of a pug who wants my snacks and wants constant walks. At the end of the day I could lock him on the deck and nobody would call child services on me. So there's that.

My mother is staying with my brother. The kids are off school, so she has more to do and more people to spend time with. We're still relegated to one main room, since the back room is all storage for boxes and furniture until we reposes the downstairs apartment on May 1st.

My mother would be around while I was working, so I think she'd rather be at my brother's house - where there's two floors, two TV rooms and lots to do.

It's been a lot. The last couple of weeks have been high stress. But, considering I've been weaning off of my medication, I've been doing well. I haven't had any significant side effects.

The main side-effect of quarantine is never knowing what day it is.

It's still early days. This is unprecedented on a global scale - though parts of Africa have had outbreaks, and I read recently that Ebola was only recently eradicated there. But this is global - and the infection and death rates are increasing - so people are worried.

Maybe in a few weeks from now, the measures put into place by our elected officials will have played their part, and we will avoid major catastrophe. But it maybe not. It's a big wait-and-see and it's good days and bad days.

What is especially difficult to watch is the slow-moving train wreck of many parts of the United States.

There are a lot of issues being discussed though, that would push things left. Health Insurance in the U.S. Minimum wage increases. Paid sick days for minimum-wage jobs (Tim Horton's, McDonald's, Wal-Mart). Folks are organizing rent strikes.

People who are attempting to take advantage of the situation are being called out... Hopefully that extends to the American presidency, and corporate interests of all kinds.

It's just a weird time, and it's unprecedented, and there's nothing I can do but wait.

Jocelyn K. Glei: What if you’re not broken?

These are hard times, in general, but being quarantined (I'm on my 2nd week) highlights our ability to sit with ourselves (or not).

Currently listening to Jocelyn K. Glei: What if you’re not broken? 

My self-hatred and shame, are on my list as my issues I would like to work through actively this year. They were my main goal, before COVID-19 happened.

I relate to what she posits, that we have this habit of saying, I'll do it, when...

For me, it, romance and love have been blocked by my body, and my shame. My pain.

I have a lot to write these days, but because I stay on a computer all day in my work-from-home-quarantine, I am staying away from it. I am just taking things one day at a time and trying to get through the work I have to do to stay employed and paid.

PTSDiva.

I adore Scott Thompson, this is a link to his podcast, PTSDiva.

Some people skate through life with nary a bump. Others are knocked about like kittens in a dryer. And then’s Scott Thompson (Kids In The Hall, Buddy Cole), who has suffered more abuse than a Lars Von Trier actress. But none of those calamities have kept him down for long! He has instead emerged, if not better, then at least not worse - and always with a funny story. On PTSDiva, Scott talks to other comics about their lowest points, as well as surgeons, priests, and other experts on the human condition. Along the way, he'll share stories from his life, and how they've made him who he is today.

Putting this here so I can listen to his episode with Andy Richter, since I am currently listening to his episode with Richter on Richter's podcast Three Questions.

Host Andy Richter asks the same three questions to each guest: Where do you come from? Where are you going? What have you learned? These three simple questions, when answered honestly and thoughtfully, are enough to provide a pretty complete picture of who a person is. The answers are what Andy always wants to know about people. This will not be a one-sided process, as Andy won’t shy away from getting personal himself.

I love them both!

What's Your Ailment with Maria Bamford.

I haven't had a chance to watch this yet, but I adore Maria Bamford.

Check out her talk show, What's Your Ailment?

Maria Bamford on Three Questions with Andy Richter.