Well, I figure I should talk a little about work since I am more or less back to a “normal” routine, although it feels anything but normal. I guess one good thing about the pandemic is I don’t drink nearly as much coffee or caffeine drinks as I used to. I still have a cup or two early in the morning, but then I’m done for the day, where I used to continue drinking caffeine up until about 10 a.m., then often again from 2 to 4 p.m. at work. It’s not that I have more energy now; if anything I have much less energy than I did before. I think it’s that I’m just not as concerned about staying high-energy throughout the workday to maintain my level of productivity.
I get my work done on time. Before, this was not enough for me…I felt I had something more to prove, like I needed to either produce a superhuman quantity of work or re-edit my products until they were masterpieces (in my opinion). I’m not sure why, but that desire to prove something is gone. And the funniest part is, I’m completely OK with that. Good enough is good enough, and that’s good enough for me. If it’s not good enough for my bosses, they can tell me so (they haven’t yet), and everyone else can suck it.
I did refuse an assignment (sort of, not entirely) which might show up on my annual performance review (we only get them once a year, in March, so there’s a good chance this episode will be forgotten anyway), but on which I feel I’m squarely in the right. Before, I would often attend governments’ public meetings as part of my job. Of course, with COVID-19 all the meetings either stopped or went virtual, so I went along with that. Now that some counties are starting to reopen, some of the in-person public meetings are resuming.
Let me break up the narrative a bit by explaining that I am not one of these hiding, Grub Hub-using, online-shopping, ultra-germophobic hermits through the pandemic. I go to grocery stores. I get carry-out from restaurants. I walk and ride my bike out in the open air, often without a mask if I know I can maintain at least a 20′ distance. But one thing I try to avoid like the plague (pun intended) is going into an enclosed space with a large group for extended periods of time (basically the exact description of a government’s public meeting), especially if there’s a viable option. I was recently asked to attend one of these upcoming meetings by one of my bosses. There is an option to stream the meeting online. I emailed my boss back I did not feel comfortable attending the meeting in person, but that I would be happy to stream it online and give a full report afterward. I haven’t yet received a reply and this was two days ago.
I love my job, I need money like everyone, and I understand that there is inherent risk in all things. But if I can help it at all, I’m not going to unnecessarily put myself at risk of contracting COVID-19 with or without symptoms. I don’t want to be the reason my wife or anyone else dies, and oh yeah I don’t want to die myself.
Bike Newbie 