I hate Covid-19. For the past two weeks, I've been stuck at home due to the virus. I don't have it, but my wife does. She is over most of the symptoms now, but is still fatigued and sleeps about 16 hours a day. And, from what I understand, that is a fairly mild case.
Due to her illness and my close proximity (she is my wife), I am required to quarantine. Which means I don't go anywhere. The farthest I've been is Walmart to the Curbside Pickup. The rest of the time has been spent at home. I've realized over the last two weeks that I'm not cut out for working from home.
When I first went into quarantine, I decided to try and follow my regular schedule: Get up at 4 am, pray, read, then plan out the day, start work at 5:30 by listening to the two-way radio and helping when I could, work on admin tasks throughout the day, and then repeat the two-way radio gig from 2:00 to 5:30 pm. That is my typical day at the office. Needless to say, that lasted about three days. I soon realized that I wasn't needed for the morning or the afternoon runs. And, since much of what I do requires spending time with people and on campuses, I couldn't get a whole lot accomplished in those areas either.
The second week, my alarm still went off at 4, but I wasn't getting up until 5. I'd listen to the two-way while praying and planning and then try to accomplish a few things on the computer. After a couple of hours, I was pretty much done. Something I would need would be at the office and I couldn't get to it, so I would have to put the task aside. I'd help my wife around the house, check e-mails periodically, field a few phone calls, and then be done. That lasted another two days,
Now, my alarm goes off at 4 and I get up at 8. If I'm needed, someone will call. I take my time going through the tasks of the day and do what I can at the kitchen table. After that, I spend time with my wife when she's not sleeping.
Honestly, this has been a miserable experience. I love to work and accomplish my goals and that has been extremely difficult during this quarantine. When things were shut down in March, I was able to go to the office as our department was considered essential. I think that kept me sane. People tell me they would love to be off all the time. I find it exhausting.
I guess I should be glad that no one in my family is seriously ill. Instead, I am just inconvenienced.
On the bright side, I am only on quarantine for two more days. And, the following Monday is Thanksgiving break. At least I won' feel obligated to work over the holidays. Not that I would get anything done anyway.
