Quarantine Update

Today is Day 30 of Working From Home and Day 40 of Stay Home Order.

This break down is more for me than anything.

The week of March 9 was a busy week for work projects. I had a huge item on the Council agenda that I had been working on since December and was at City Hall on Tuesday and Thursday. The item was postponed for two weeks, and we had a game plan in place.

But then everything changed Thursday. Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for COVID-19. Tom Hanks test positive. Trump had a crazy press conference. Austin had their first two positive cases. I worked from home that Friday - Friday the 13th no less - and Austin ISD cancelled classes.

I had gone grocery shopping earlier in the week and was pretty well stocked, but needed litter and cat food and decided I might as well get some groceries as well. When I went on Monday, the craziness hadn't hit Austin yet and everything was still stocked up well. Friday, though, was a madhouse. Empty shelves where there should be pasta, sauce, toilet paper, hand soap, vegetables. It was wild and a stark contrast from just a few days earlier.

That weekend was supposed to be the first weekend of SXSW, but it had been cancelled the week before. People were wanting to support local businesses in light of that. I had already bought a ticket to see Dazed and Confused at the Alamo Ritz Saturday afternoon. I wanted to do my part to support my favorite theater, but was torn about going out (we didn't have stay at home orders yet). I went to the viewing, and it was such a weird experience. The theater is on 6th Street, and on any normal Saturday, especially the one before St. Patrick's Day, it is crowded with people. While not completely dead, it had more people than I was expecting.

I got home after the show and immediately cancelled my ticket for Sunday to see Portrait of a Lady on Fire. That was the last time I went out for something that wasn't exercise or a trip to the grocery store.

All Sunday night my coworker and I were texting, wondering when the City Manager or our director would issue work from home direction. We were planning to start working from home anyway, but wanted leadership from our leaders. The email came late Sunday night.

I went into the office on Tuesday to get one of my monitors and a laptop to make working easier.

Stay Home-Work Safe Orders were issued, initially through the end of March, then extended to April 13, and now to May 8.

This is the sixth week of quarantine. Day 30 of work from home. Day 40 of staying home. Time doesn't really mean much, though. I looked at photos from that first week and I can barely remember it. Everything is muddled in my memory. I learned quickly that I needed to follow somewhat of a schedule - exercise, shower, put on mascara. And it worked pretty well for a good number of weeks.

Last week was rough though. I got out of a schedule. Didn't wash my hair for several days. Felt unmotivated during work hours. I know that staying home is important and I want to do my part to keep others safe.

But it's hard. Not always, but some days. Even with my cats as coworkers.