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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
So, I had one of those "BIG" birthdays this past week, one of the milestone ones that end in a "0." Nearly two years ago when we were just beginning to understand what "social distancing" would require of us, I told my family "...well, in two years when I have my 60th... we will have a huge party and make up for all of this isolation..." Never would I have thought that we would not be able to celebrate in a "normal" way now. Before we heard of Omicron or knew how this newest variant would once again turn our lives upside down, we started planning two celebrations: one with my extended family several hours from here, and another -- a birthday lunch -- with my girlfriends here in town. We're all triple vaxxed and leading cautious lives, but I couldn't see holding an inside event with my dad (88) and mother in law (96) and other older relatives as well as young people who work outside the home, and my friends here were also dubious about meeting and eating inside, so we decided it just made sense to postpone. Initially, I thought maybe if we all did rapid at home tests first, we could go ahead, but more and more the limits of those tests are becoming apparent (too many false negatives). So, we've rescheduled both parties for March. And if that is not possible, we'll do it next January! I mean who says you can't celebrate big birthdays in "off" years. This state of pandemic cautiousness can't last forever. Despite the need to cancel the planned events, I had an absolutely lovely birthday and that is is most important thing. I felt enveloped in love and friendship. People called, texted, sent cards and flowers. In the morning, several friends and I took a long walk along the river. We joked about how covid had taught us gratitude --- I was grateful that my birthday was the warmest day in a stretch of 10 very cold days...where it would have been uncomfortable to walk for so long. And my husband and I even found a restaurant with a very well heated patio for a delicious dinner. All in all, it was a wonderful birthday.
January 20, 2022
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Talk about how the events of recent months have affected either your work or your ability to work.
It's been a huge challenge working from home and not having the in-person contact with colleagues and students like I would normally have. We've been doing our best to stay connected online, but it is a challenge, and not the same as in-person. It's also been a challenge to learn new technologies. For example, there are so many different platforms that can be used for working together online - Microsoft Teams, Skype, Webex, Zoom. It's been a little like drinking from a firehose and trying to figure out how best to use these resources, their limitations, etc. Which one do you use?? Sometimes, you have a choice, but depending on the group you're working with you have to adjust to a different one. I've been trying to jump in and just use them, learning haphazardly as I go along. When possible, I do try to sign up for workshops, or read through/watch materials I find online so I can better understand these resources and how to use them. I've been using remote desktop to be able to access my work computer from home (so I still have access to our shared drive and other files on my work computer). However, sometimes the connection doesn't work and I have to go to campus to restart my work computer. So far, that has worked to resolve the problem, and I know my colleagues have been having the same issue sometimes. Our team at work will often joke to try the "good ole restart" when something isn't working right. Most of my colleagues are pretty savvy with technology, but for a couple others I know it's been a huge challenge. Also, depending on what kind of internet we have at home, that can also make a big difference. I think we all try our best to be patient with each other and realize that technology is a great resource, but it's also not perfect and presents it's own set of challenges.
July 6, 2020