And Now My Quarantine Is Ended
Like most people, I started hearing rumblings about COVID-19 in early March
2020. Then, suddenly, everything stopped. My office sent all staff home to work
remotely. Businesses closed their doors. Kids got sent home from school.
2020 and much of 2021 is a mind-numbing blur for me. After 2019 ended, I felt like I was riding on an all-time high: finally finding professional success, beat my high blood pressure, successfully ran a marathon, started a successful podcast, completed some serious, crucial therapy sessions. Hey, my sports team even finally won another National Championship. Then I hurt my knee and couldn't run for six months, COVID came, I had to take my job home, and I felt everything stop. It felt like all of the hard won progress I'd made got frozen in amber.
Over passages of time, though, certain things happened. By the end of last summer, my knee healed. I ran two more marathons. My family put up an Intex pool in the backyard. All of the regression it felt like I'd made against the therapy I'd received finally reversed course back toward the positive. My podcast achieved new listening heights, and I think, got markedly better. I kept writing here. I even finished that nagging old "Every Album I Own" series. Businesses reopened. I got vaccinated against the virus. Through it all, I realized something: I really love working from home. My wife didn't take to it, and it was very difficult for me at first, separating home life from work life when I was working from home. Then a funny thing happened: I adjusted, and suddenly felt my days becoming ideal. I could not only get my work done without interruption, but clean up the house, have QT with my pets, cook my lunch in my kitchen, keep all my plants watered, take my lunch break in my living room, watching my TV, or playing my video games. My wife went back to working in person, and my son when back to in-person school, but I've kept a hybrid schedule, and I've absolutely loved it. And now it's over.
Tomorrow, I'm going back to work in person, and that's where I'll spend my weekdays for the foreseeable future. The thing is, for all the desk jobs I've had, this one is about the best, with the best salary and the best benefits. This is a good job and I appreciate it. However, if I ever look for a job change, I know a needed main requirement: can I do this at my house?
So long introverts paradise.
So long constant productivity.
So long houseplants, cats, and unruly dog.
So long loud movies or video games blasting through my soundbar on my lunch break.
So long vinyl records spinning in the background as I get my work done.
So long Intex pool, which I had to hack up with a box cutter and cram into the trash.
It's back to the office.
My Quarantine Is Ended,
And I am heartbroken...
2020 and much of 2021 is a mind-numbing blur for me. After 2019 ended, I felt like I was riding on an all-time high: finally finding professional success, beat my high blood pressure, successfully ran a marathon, started a successful podcast, completed some serious, crucial therapy sessions. Hey, my sports team even finally won another National Championship. Then I hurt my knee and couldn't run for six months, COVID came, I had to take my job home, and I felt everything stop. It felt like all of the hard won progress I'd made got frozen in amber.
Over passages of time, though, certain things happened. By the end of last summer, my knee healed. I ran two more marathons. My family put up an Intex pool in the backyard. All of the regression it felt like I'd made against the therapy I'd received finally reversed course back toward the positive. My podcast achieved new listening heights, and I think, got markedly better. I kept writing here. I even finished that nagging old "Every Album I Own" series. Businesses reopened. I got vaccinated against the virus. Through it all, I realized something: I really love working from home. My wife didn't take to it, and it was very difficult for me at first, separating home life from work life when I was working from home. Then a funny thing happened: I adjusted, and suddenly felt my days becoming ideal. I could not only get my work done without interruption, but clean up the house, have QT with my pets, cook my lunch in my kitchen, keep all my plants watered, take my lunch break in my living room, watching my TV, or playing my video games. My wife went back to working in person, and my son when back to in-person school, but I've kept a hybrid schedule, and I've absolutely loved it. And now it's over.
Tomorrow, I'm going back to work in person, and that's where I'll spend my weekdays for the foreseeable future. The thing is, for all the desk jobs I've had, this one is about the best, with the best salary and the best benefits. This is a good job and I appreciate it. However, if I ever look for a job change, I know a needed main requirement: can I do this at my house?
So long introverts paradise.
So long constant productivity.
So long houseplants, cats, and unruly dog.
So long loud movies or video games blasting through my soundbar on my lunch break.
So long vinyl records spinning in the background as I get my work done.
So long Intex pool, which I had to hack up with a box cutter and cram into the trash.
It's back to the office.
My Quarantine Is Ended,
And I am heartbroken...
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