Friday, April 9th, 2021
Today EM had her first full day at school.
It was positively weird to be home alone for seven hours after both of us holed up for over a year. I admit, I rather enjoy the space, while I think she enjoyed being out of the house and able to see her friends at school. Even though she reported that eight period was rather a bore, which I understand as eight period does not normally exist, so they just get to sit in a class room with nothing going on.
She still has some work to do on her math IA, but at least now knows what she needs to improve. Also, the IBES IA needs revisions, but overall, school is mostly done, so when she came home today she was terribly bored. No friends to see, no plans with the BF, just hanging at home and me super busy with work.
I started my day at 8:00 and was not done until 18:00. I am not complaining. I like being busy, it is infinitely preferable to trying to fill a day. And what I am currently involved in is at least meaningful. Meanwhile they have hired another two people with more or less my profile or the profile of someone they let go, who are reinventing everything I have build over the past ten years. Oh well, I guess this can be considered as occupational therapy. Supposedly I am involved in these efforts – I am not! Beyond of course everything ending up back with me in some weird way. I guess I am the institutional memory. I no longer care. Time to move on and let the newbies be the stars; go ahead, waste resources on things thought and done by your predecessors.
I enjoy working with a Manager who appreciates what I can get done. I thoroughly enjoy interacting with clients again. I have some rather uncharitable thoughts about my global colleagues but will refrain from expressing them. Suffice to say, it isn’t going so well and my heart is bleeding lumpy custard. What goes around comes around.
I for one enjoy the busy time. I love working from home and rarely miss going to the office. The only thing I miss are the social and casual interactions with my co-workers, so in an ideal world I would come to the office twice a week for acouple of hours.
Beyond that for the last 35 days of school remaining for EM I think we can settle into a happy medium. I have booked lap lanes for every lunch break next week when EM is on virtual learning. I shall book lanes for 17:00 for the week she is attending in presence classes, mainly so we can share the car without conflict.
Next week, we will both be home again every day of the week, the week after I have the house to myself all day for four out of five working days. I shall enjoy lunches with my daughter. I shall equally enjoy my alone time, something special after 393 days of being stuck at home together 24/7/365. This is also good practice for my life post August, when EM will move to university and I am left to my own devices for good.
On the virus front the US is not doing to well. A handful of States account for most of the new infections reported at 80k over the past twenty-four hours to bring the US total to 31.7 million. On the positive side the USA is reaching the stage where almost everyone who wants a vaccine can get one. Especially Southern red States are lagging behind, exposing ineffective health care system and more importantly a reluctance to get vaccinated. White male Republicans are the most reluctant, I cannot say this in any way worries me.
After vaccine development the focus is now on finding a simple treatment for COVID. I still recall Tamiflu and how the Hanoi office stocked up on the drug during bird flu pandemic.
Wouldn’t be quite something if science found a one pill cure?