First week back at work, and it started with a bang and a bombshell. It’s been a rainy week which is good for the garden. I only had to water it once. BC the cat has been my constant work companion, sleeping the day away in my office as I slave in front of a Zoom camera. He wakes up when he wants to jump onto my lap, and when I don’t allow him to (because, you know, I need to type and stuff), he jumps on to the desk and proceeds to do some typing of his own. I needed to use the backspace key a few times because there were just too many typos. He sleeps again in the afternoon and wakes up when it’s time for dinner – like clockwork.
I’ve been feasting on protein during the day because I’m working out quite hard in the evenings. This week I’ve feasted on the run so I boiled some eggs which I grabbed when I needed a snack. With coffee. Coffee has been my constant work-from-home companion (the vagaries of BC the cat have not gone unnoticed in terms of his lack of constancy). The routine of a coffee break on the other hand creates an anchor of comfort and predictibility, something which is very welcome during these uncertain times.
On another point: there is so much noise about vaccines and vaccine roll-out plans that I found myself getting very stressed and prone to feeling some FOMO. The best thing for me is to not give much attention to this topic and just patiently wait for the vaccine, and my turn to receive it, whenever that is. I’m fortunate that I can work from home until then. The noise in the world has either increased or amplified due to Covid. For an introvert like me it’s time to switch off for a bit. I’m a confessed news junkie though so I need to see how this is going to work out for me.
This is part of my year in review. Writing one post will make it too long, so I’m breaking each month into a separate post. This is the latest instalment.
For the first month of lockdown, my April was surprisingly busy. I delivered two training courses virtually. I was also on social media and the news apps quite a lot trying to get a handle on what was happening around the world. This is what I saw:
The corona memes and humour started.
There were tons of videos of how to make home-made fabric masks.
Many people making banana bread and sharing recipes and photos.
Zoom security flaws uncovered and fixed.
Online ads for desks, office chairs, laptop stands and computer monitors dominated.
In South Africa every online shop began selling groceries (we had a strict lockdown level 5 and people were only allowed to leave home for groceries, medical assistance or to go to work). This helped lessen the queues outside supermarkets. For the first time ever I was able to email a grocery list to the local Spar and they delivered within 24-hours. These were the early days; now grocery deliveries arrive on the same day, depending which retailer you order it from.
Parents juggling working from home and homeschooling their kids.
Not knowing what day of the week it is.
Closer to home, my family:
Shared recipes and photos of our baked goods. We baked a lot more than usual.
Took selfies with our pets.
I shared many selfies with my cats – they were in their element having their humans home the whole day every day.
I set up my home office – I already worked from home but never needed a background that I felt proud of showing paying clients on Zoom. My dual-core laptop doesn’t do virtual backgrounds.
Coffee and lunch breaks in the garden with the cats.
Easter and baking but no family together time just a Zoom call.
Played around on Procreate and created a portrait of myself (with YouTube help of course).
BC cat, who sleeps in my office, decided that he would sleep the day away on my lap while I work; his silhouette and occasionally his rear-end have made an appearance in front of paying clients. Nermal cat has much more decorum.
The last of the summer-beginning-of-autumn rains and hail ahead of the dry winter.
And last but not least – work! I’m blessed to be able to do my job from home.
This is it for April. See you in May.
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Mozambican-born Portuguese South African; reflecting on travel, writing, editing, life, family and change that has social impact; chief wide eyed in wanderer, wonderer and bottlewasher
