Nearly slept through all four of my alarms this morning and felt fuzzy most of the day. I think this table-flipped routine is catching up with me. Even now, I’m writing this at 1:05AM and I just…need to go to sleep? Odd day. Let’s do this.
WFH in Action
My network was tanking a lot today, but nothing a hard reset can’t fix. Still finding myself mesmerized by everyone making this hard shift to WFH and the overall, chill attitude all around. Really makes this whole ordeal a lot more relaxed. Plus, I greatly appreciate the humble and honest input from leadership when they say they, too, are doing their best to transition in a weird time. This is probably one of the strongest moments of solidarity that I’ve experienced at work (and we’ve had some challenging projects this past year) so I’m making sure to highlight the accomplishments. This whole, global situation is a mess yet I feel a lot of security through my job. Pretty priceless. Okay, enough cheesing over here.
Oh! I got to stop by work (in coordinated time slots to reduce overlap/exposure) and get more of my stuff for the long haul. I like having my Rosie stuff at home. Changes the vibe in this office that I’ve always used for coding and freelance work. I intend to write up the necessary mental transition that I didn’t anticipate in all of this at some point.
COVID-19 Latest
There are now 30 confirmed cases and 195 people under mandatory quarantine in Monroe County. This is up 11 confirmations and 53 quarantines from yesterday. What caught my eye is how half of the confirmations are under 60 years of age. Also, there were 1,769 new cases announced across NY on Thursday, bringing the state total up to 4,152 confirmed cases. 777 (19%) of those cases had to be hospitalized. Good times, NY.
Oh, and remember how Cuomo ordered a 50% workforce reduction on Wednesday? Welp, it’s 24 hours later and that number is now an additional 25% reduction. People are scrambling, but finally shifting more folks out of the office and into isolation. While I get this is the best way to handle a pandemic, there’s no denying how devastating this is to jobs, the economy, and the general semblance of a normal life right now. I’m already close to folks that are getting laid off, furloughed, or shuttering their business for the next month or so. Heartbreaking.
Worse, I’m now a degree away from people that have full-blown symptoms or those with high-risk family members getting tested. One pal of mine was denied tests because she “wasn’t showing severe enough signs” despite having all the symptoms. Wild.
Here’s a chart of the latest “race” to slow the spread of this virus pal of ours. The US surpassed its 10,000th case today. “YAY.” We’ll be pushing over 25K cases by Sunday if we keep this rate.
Other highlights include the fact that California officially locked down all 40M residents effective tonight at midnight. The governor was also quoted with saying that he anticipates 56% of Californians (25.5M people) to be infected over the next eight weeks. Yowza! I’m looking to them like a forecast, as I think NYC is next in line at this rate. Scary times.
Lessons and Predictions
My “lessons” today are lined up more in the vein of corruption. Today we learned that a number of Senators could be facing jail time after alleged insider trading took place involving COVID-19 information. One particular one that makes me cackle with karma-fueled delight is Senator Kelly Loeffler, who sold off stocks, bought up Citrix, and is married to the CEO of NYSE. I mean come the fuck on! Not even trying to be subtle haha you can read more in this thread because it’s just too ridiculous to type out all over again when it’s been done:
At least we can all rest assured that government workers can stay soulless in even the most dire times. Precious.
As for other concerning stories, gun sales are skyrocketing. I barely want to dig into that one, as all the worst things will be there. Another time. Let’s redeem with a happier note: RTS is waiving bus fees until late April due to COVID-19. These moments fascinate me, as we (government) claims to have no money for these initiatives and yet ::poof:: a national emergency is declared and MONNEYYYYYY EVERYWHERE. We see you, leaders. Typical.
Now, I feel obligated to mention my state of mind. I’m not feeling particular anxious in a fearful way, but I am feeling deeply curious and — dare I say — semi-excited about this entire state of unknown. I say all this while emphasizing that I take very seriously the mandates and am shutting myself in as to not burden the world with my germs or carrier tendencies. But, I’m intrigued about what’s next. This whole ordeal is such a grade equalizer that I’m fascinated by the shuffle and, importantly, the potential for new leaders to come out of the mix. These can be the underdogs that were always doing the right things, but never given the attention while in the shadow of the status quo. We could also see the end of antiquated systems and standards, too. This reeeeeally could be the table flip that folks have been wanting. Brutal way to go about it, but hey — might as well at this point? Not sure. Playing it day by day because the hard reality is businesses will cease to exist this month, people will lose jobs, and folks will suffer or die. And we’re merely weeks into this exponentially-growing beast of a mess. For that reason, I buckle up my curiosity and stay focused. I simply want to help (or stay the hell out of the way) the best I can.
Predictions: the next two days will be critical growth phases, as the tests are here and in action. I’m nervous about it, too. Brace, folks.
Okay. I’m fried today so I’m not going to stew on this entry. I’ll leave with one more tweet, as snarky signoffs seem to be my new pattern. More tomorrow.
