There was a small window in time at some point in July of 2021 where life was beginning to feel a little normal, albeit, the “new normal,” as masks were flung off, dressy outfits were put back on and baseball caps were sent back to the ball field.
Then along came Delta, it sounds like a movie title but instead it’s the name of the new variant that is quickly turning our everyday lives into a mini nightmare. The medical doctor on the last WTNH News 8 segment I watched explained that even if you are fully vaccinated, you can still catch and/or transmit the COVID virus – Yikes! It’s no wonder that it’s spreading like wildfire.
And now the Connecticut Department of Public Health recommends that all state residents go back to wearing masks inside public buildings.
Yes. Again…Wait, Really?!?
So as of today, me and my fellow News 8 Account Executives continue to work (masked up outside our cubicles) in the same hybrid fashion we started about 14 months ago. Call me crazy but I happen to like working 50 percent from home and 50 percent from the office. I have even created a cozy home office in one corner of my dining room that easily fits my desk, office supplies, desktop computer, office chair, printer and work files. I can’t lie: I’m not looking forward to going back to work in the office 100 percent of the time. Especially since I’ll have to face those crazy, unhinged drivers everyday as opposed to just half the week.
Being the Optimist that I am though, I take a deep breath and remember what I am truly grateful for: I am truly grateful that me, my family and my loved ones are all healthy, fully vaccinated and presently living Covid- free lives.
And I certainly hope and pray the same for all of my TVFL readers.
We are now entering the 6th month of living in a pandemic and needless to say, things have changed for me in Connecticut… here’s what I’m noticing:
Masks are still required when you walk into any workplace/school/retail store/restaurant/bank etc. (which, by the way, is not a problem to me…)
Gyms continue to operate at 50% capacity which forces me to work out from home on an online app 3 days out of the 5…and go to my gym I Love Kickboxing (at 5am) the other 2 days..
We Local Account Executives at News 8 continue to work from home every other day in a team hybrid fashion and to be honest, I’m not mad about it (smile).
Zoom calls (the way we now converse with each other and with our clients) are beginning to feel “natural” and “the norm.”
And I just returned from an actual vacay in Delaware where we drove to visit family and because I brought my latop with me, I did not miss a beat on my work load…
Virtual church is becoming “a thing” now, I can hear ‘The Word” from Pastor King at Christian Tabernacle Baptist Church right from the safety of my living room…
As far as golf goes, social distancing was already in place so other than having an electric cart all to myself, not much has changed there…
Self Care is becoming extremely important during this anxiety-ridden time…I am not feeling guilt at all about taking out quality time for myself as often as I need it…
And finally, my father and sibs mean the world to me so catching up with them via consistent family Facetime chats has become the best part of my week (smile).
About 3 1/2 months ago (mid-March 2020) Covid 19 happened and turned my world inside out and upside down.
To try and sort everything out, I blogged about the unfolding of these unusual events in My Current Situation: My current situation…
Here’s where I’m at today: during the first 10 weeks of Covid 19 me and my fellow Account Executives in the News 8 local sales department were asked to work 100% of the time from home on our laptop computers. Daily zoom sales meetings and zoom calls with our clients and prospective clients became the the new norm. To make it work at home, my dining room quickly became my new office, the table now completely covered with client files and client notebooks. Lucky for me I already owned a computer desk and office chair and now it was finally getting full use. At the office I was used to working off of dual monitors so to simulate this I connected my Dell home computer monitor to my HP work computer and as luck would have it, they were compatible (smile).
When Week 11 arrived we Account Executives were told we were heading back to work but in a checkerboard fashion. Meaning that we were to be split into two teams. Team A would go into work the first week back on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and work from home on Tuesday and Thursday and Team B would do the complete opposite. In this way only half the staff would be in the office on any given day. We still were not sure how long this new arrangement would go on but as it turned out for me it worked out just fine (smile). I’m happy because I get the best of both worlds: a break from the monotony of working from home 100 percent of the time and the chance to get out of the house, work in my familiar cubicle and connect face to face with my co-workers (smile).
I’m not gonna lie: Being back in my cubicle was strange that first week back because in this new Covid world we now had to wear face masks and practice social distancing. No more water cooler chit chat (smile). Plus we did not have access to certain areas or departments in the TV station as they were now considered off limits…
And sanitizer seemed to be everywhere so my hands felt like they were in a perpetual state of dryness.
But the best part of week 11 was that we entered phase II of back to normalcy in the state of Connecticut. In this phase Hair and Nail Salons were now allowed to open back up. Yay! Finally some relief for my neglected head of hair and bitten down nails.
Also my gym I love kickboxing opened back up – so I had to quickly get used to working out real hard again (smile).
During phase II I was also able to go back to my favorite dentist in North Haven to get my teeth cleaned.
But phase II did not include vacations (at least not in our world). Vacations for now were a distant memory…we are not looking to fly anywhere for a long while nor were we even remotely interested in taking super long car trips so Staycations in Connecticut including home movie dates were going to become our new option.
Here’s what I think: suddenly in this Covid 19 world the little things that we used to take for granted have become big things…spending quality time with family members, heading to a performance at a live theater or concert hall, meeting up with my girlfriends for dinner, etc.
But despite everything I still commit to remaining positive, optimistic and focused as we are truly all in this together. And because of that, I choose to wear my mask in public.
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