Today was #OnesieWednesday so I was already confident about being a bit more upbeat while we continue this isolation fun. Who gets mopey in a Link onesie anyways?
Also, I played a small part in an piece for Rochester City Newspaper called, “Hunkering Down: Coping with the new normal of coronavirus.” I highlighted how gaming can satiate that social craving or simply offer a means of escapism when we’re all cooped up. Hopefully folks can reference my 14-day-quarantine-“game plan” thread and find some new ways to make time fly. Every little bit helps. Alrighty back to the format!
WFH in Action
Today was a bit quieter now that we’re heading into a new sprint. Still noticing some performance issues on the VPN connection and WebEx side of things, but I haven’t adequately vetted whether my home network is part of the issue (very likely). Still, I’m finding myself in awe of how smoothly we’ve shifted a 16K-employee company towards WFH living. Near the end of the day, we got the official word that we’re to stay home for the next two weeks “at least” starting on the 23rd until further notice so I’m bracing for a long haul. I admit that the initial excitement about this experiment (at least what it feels like in my mind) is starting to wear off, but I’m still increasingly hopeful about our ability to demonstrate that our jobs can be done from anywhere.
To keep up that goal, I’m reading up on some WFH tips and taking notes from my veteran remote pals. I realize I need to create a new routine that takes me out of my home/side gig mindset and into my full-time job mindset. The context switch is taking me a minute, but I’m accepting that change isn’t instant. I keep reminding myself to allow time for absorbing this new reality. Gotta keep it human especially with endless waves of rough news coming at us from the world. Weird times.
COVID-19 Latest
Monroe County is officially up to 19 confirmed cases as of 4PM today. 5 of those cases are hospitalized while 142 people are in a mandatory quarantine. These numbers are still relatively low (imo) due to the lack of testing. Oh, this ordeal is also starting to hit home to me, as people that I know are trying to get tested (showing all symptoms) and yet they are refused due to not being “severe enough.” I get that we need to ration and prioritize, but folks want to know if they need to isolate or warn other folks with whom they’ve interacted. I get there’s a quick answer of “well, if you’re sick, you’re sick” but confirmation goes a long way. These anecdotal cases tell me we’re likely way off from the actual count if we were able to test everyone that requests one. Other wild updates: NY state is over 2,000 cases, Cuomo ordered businesses to cut to 50% workforce (yowza), and the Army Corps of Engineers is being sent to NYC to offer additional beds and space for patients. Wild times.
Lessons and Predictions
I want to pull in a message from a pal of mine, who is a registered nurse at a local hospital here in Monroe County:
“Hi all, I know I have blowing up your feed with what may seem like a LOT of messages regarding COVID-19. And yeah, I know you are sick of hearing about it. But in this case, ignorance is not bliss, because it is bigger than just you.
I am willing to sound like an alarmist over and over again until people fully understand the scope of what is happening. This virus does not necessarily wait until people are symptomatic before it spreads. Because of the lack of testing in Monroe county, it is likely that there are double, triple, OR MORE unconfirmed cases, yet we are still having nonessential workers go to work every day, the mall is still open, and grocery stores are packed! The spread grows exponentially unless we are diligent about social distancing. If you are not good at math or have a hard time conceptualizing, go look up compound interest.
At the hospital, it is the calm before the storm. Beds are open from canceled surgeries, but they will be full soon and there may not even be enough. I have never been more proud to be a nurse, but I’ve also never been more scared to be a nurse. There is only so much “calm under pressure” a person can take before it mentally and emotionally weighs on you. The idea that that stress could continue for months is very concerning to me; not only for myself, but my colleagues.
I have seen countless examples of people not taking it as seriously as I am. And yeah, I am going balls to the wall with this one, but if we wait to take action until we see the damage, IT WILL BE TOO LATE.
If you think I’m being crazy and panicky, check in with me in 1 week. If you are right, then fine, I will gladly admit it and we can all laugh at me for being a little cuckoo. But if you’re wrong, people’s lives are at stake and an insurmountable amount of inconvenience, devastation, and grief will come to all of us. For the first time in my life, I am wishing that I am wrong.”
Food for thought. Like my pal, I’d much rather look back on this and think, “whew we went hard on that, huh!” because it’ll likely mean we covered the most bases and prevented unnecessary suffering and pain. Overreacting should be the goal in a pandemic like this. I hope more folks listen.
I also found myself grappling with the ethics of ordering take-out food. I want to try and support local businesses that WILL be negatively impacted in this mess (if not shuttered), but I also do not want to contribute to the spread of germs by going out so often. Twitter continues to provide some guidance and I’m eternally grateful for this friendly network:
One final “lesson” was in watching Facebook try to moderate the content on their site. Folks’ posts, including mine, were randomly being labeled as spam even though they were still visible. Also, Facebook started putting “fact-checked” related links under posts, which is an interesting new frontier. I believe these are all bot-based and so I’m very certain there will be some wrinkles to iron out. “Tech is not neutral,” as Kim Crayton would remind. Keeping a close eye on the effort.
As for my daily prediction, I’m going to echo yesterday’s sentiments since I think we’re still in the “T-” countdown before shit really hits the fan. The good news is that tests are coming in and tented stations are being setup near the universities to smooth the high demand. These numbers will pour in and we’ll finally get a better snapshot. I think it’ll be staggering, but I’m also repeatedly wishing that I am wrong.
With that, I’ll leave you with a video that crossed my path today:
Stay healthy out there in this shitshow.
