A Quarantine Life: Random Thoughts on Life in a Crisis

Are you hanging in there?

I’ve been wanting to write some blog posts on the health crisis sweeping the globe. I wasn’t quite sure how I should approach the subject. I didn’t really know what to do. 

I thought, “Should I go with a forward-thinking, uber-positive ‘self help’ post for coping with the quarantine and ‘social distancing’…?” (Which might annoy the hell out of people!?!?)

Then I wondered, “Maybe I should write some sort of brooding essay about this being our ‘new normal’… and all the perils that entails.” (Which would leave everyone depressed.) 

In the end, I decided to simply write about how I’m living my life — and some of the things I’ve seen my friends doing — during the COVID-19 crisis.

I recently published my 300th blog post. It was a TV show review. I’ve written A LOT of reviews on this blog. Truth be told, that wasn’t my intention when I started out.  

When I started this blog in 2016, it wasn’t supposed to solely be a “review blog.” 

I wanted to write about daily life — the things I was doing, mixed with random observations about the state of our world. I mean, I love various facets of pop culture, and knew I’d talk about movies, books, and TV. 

But a number of the posts that seem to resonate with people are ones that are more down to earth and personal. I’d really like to include more of that sort of content going forward. 

SOCIAL DISTANCING AND WORKING AT HOME

Bridget and I have a marketing communications company that we started in 1996. We’ve done work for businesses and organizations as well as “personal branding” (in the form of career services) over the past 24 years. 

We’ve worked from home since 2004. 

We don’t have kids of our own, so we don’t have to worry about school assignments and the like (Bridget did oversee school lessons for our niece Scotland and nephew Blaise for one day early on during this crisis). As a result, the idea of hunkering in place for awhile isn’t all that jarring to our life. 

I tease Bridget that she trained me to be a good shut-in for global calamities such as this. 

Many of our clients have been scrambling to “reinvent” their businesses to generate revenue during this crisis. 

For example, we do a website for a company called ACasseroleToGo.com that sells casseroles online (along with quiches, sides, salads, and other dishes) as an adjunct to their catering and venue rental business. 

When local government restrictions were put in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, the casserole business suddenly became the priority (as it was the one aspect of the business that remained logistically “doable” during the crisis). 

In addition, I also received an e-mail from a client (who I hadn’t heard from in nearly a year) wanting me to update some printed pieces for an event they are hoping to hold this summer. It’s a hopeful feeling seeing businesses and organizations starting to think ahead.

The challenge to help as many of our clients “pivot” in an effort to sustain themselves has filled our days the past few weeks. 

One of the ways I stay focused is to go for a 45-minute walk each day around lunchtime (I walked 108 miles last month). It is something I started doing years ago when we worked at an office building. If you’re able to leave your home to get some exercise (while still social distancing), I’d recommend it. 

I typically listen to a podcast when I exercise, and have been enjoying the “Comm Majors Podcast” (centered on the discussion of movies) and “The CREW Reviews Podcast” (interviews with mystery/thriller writers each week).

HOW PEOPLE OCCUPY THEIR TIME

For many of my friends and relatives, working from home “full time” is a new experience. On top of that, they’re also having to oversee the education of their kids. That can be a lot to juggle at once. 

Others — who don’t have a job that can be done remotely at home — are fighting off boredom, monotony, and frustration.  

It’s been interesting to observe what people are doing to cope with a homebound life. Here are some of the trends that have developed over the past month: 

ZOOM MEETINGS: Who knew a major pandemic would make Zoom a household word? Welp, it has, as businesses and schools have turned to it (and other services) to stay connected. I heard last week that the Zoom videoconference service jumped from 10 million active users every month to ~200 million as social distancing has taken hold. 

Bridget gets paid to teach training sessions using Zoom to self-employed individuals trying to gain a foothold in the “gig economy,” so we’ve used it for a few years now. 

PUZZLE SOLVING: I’ve seen a significant number of my Facebook friends working on jigsaw puzzles. I like puzzles. They are good diversions and keep your mind engaged. That said, I haven’t worked one in ages. I’m worried if I spent too much time solving them I’d be one step closer to signing up for Medicare and Social Security. 

HOME OFFICE UPGRADES: Two couples Bridget and I are friends with purchased new desk chairs for their work-at-home setups. I’ve been thinking about replacing my 24-year-old office chair, and thought it was neat to see my friends upgrading their chairs (it also serves as research for my eventual chair replacement). 

In addition to a new chair, my buddy Mike also set up a “standing desk” for his wife Lindsay. He posted this picture of the setup on FB, and told me I could share it (the chair is from Nebraska Furniture Mart and looks very comfortable): 

SIDEWALK CHALK ART: I’m sure you’ve seen a number of chalk art pictures online during the past few weeks. A number of people have done “stained-glass designs” like this one by Lexi and Madi (the daughters of our friends Jason and Jolene): 

I also enjoyed seeing this sidewalk chalk art in front of St. Thomas More Church (in Omaha) when I was out walking by a couple weeks ago. One of our lifeguards at Robin Hill Pool — Anna — drew the inspiring message (we should all “Radiate Love & Positivity”) on the cement: 

BINGE WATCHING ENDLESSLY: It goes without saying that people are spending a lot of time watching movies and TV series during the quarantine. As of this writing, the most popular selections seem to be Netflix’s docuseries “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” and the Pixar movie “Onward” (which was released early for streaming on Disney+). 

I’ll be reviewing both of those soon, and hope to do a post about “binge-worthy” series that might not be on your radar.  

MAKING MASKS: It’s interesting to see people wearing masks in public. It’s not something you typically see in our culture during a health scare (let’s face it, we’ve never seen something like this in our lifetime). We were fortunate to have a few face masks leftover from when I redid the deck last summer.  

In recent days, our friend Jolene has been making homemade masks on her sewing machine. 

We were talking on our group texts about the fact that elastic is in short supply. If Kevin Costner ever reboots “Waterworld,” I guess they could always change the focus and call it “Elasticworld.” 

I must say, I really appreciate the creativity we’ve seen pop up all over the nation. It’s pretty inspiring to see all the effort people are putting in to make people smile during the quarantine. 

FEELINGS OF AWKWARDNESS

To be honest, most of the “social distancing” measures don’t seem particularly difficult when you’re sitting at home, avoiding social interaction in an effort to thwart the virus. 

But yesterday, our niece Scotland and nephew Blaise (along with their mom, dad, and brother Anson) dropped off an Easter basket on our front porch. 

It was exciting to see all of them. Under normal circumstances, we typically spend time together on multiple days each week, and go out to lunch each Sunday after church. 

It was awkward maintaining a 6-foot distance, knowing we couldn’t give them hugs. (I really, really wanted to.)

Our friend Tracy also left a couple of fun Easter baskets (full of all sorts of essential household cleaning items) on our porch. She is very thoughtful, and brings us gifts throughout the year (her candy cane cookies are an annual tradition we look forward to each Christmas). 

Normally, we sit down and chat when she comes over. I shouted “Hi” to her as she was walking toward her car. She had on pink bunny ears and a face mask. We exchanged greetings, but it just wasn’t the same. 

These are the difficult things to deal with, and “social distancing” goes against human nature. 

But we need to be smart. The sooner we get through this, the sooner life goes back to something closer to normal. 

LOOKING FORWARD

We know this won’t last forever, but it’s all sort of surreal right now. It’s been hard on a lot of people. Like all of you, I want nothing more than terms like “social distancing” and “flatten the curve” to be distant memories of the past. 

I’ve had to re-orient my brain to focus on the short term as much as possible. No one knows what tomorrow will bring. 

Whatever comes from 2020’s COVID-19 crisis, I hope people use it as an opportunity to approach life in a more thoughtful manner. 

Stay safe. Stay home. Be smart. Hang in there!

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