So day 3 of working from home/true social distancing....
In the grand scheme of things, social distancing, working from home, etc. isn't that hard. During the summer, I'm home a lot - because it's too hot in Houston to leave the house much (I'm a weather wimp). But this is different. Being TOLD not do something somehow takes away the desire. While I have no problem spending lots of time in my house, knowing that I HAVE to kinda messes with my mind. I know it's for the best, and I'm not arguing against it. I just think that MY struggle is coming from having my choice pretty much taken away. I'll get over it, though.
On the news front, a few things of interest happened between yesterday and today. First, more cases in Texas. We're now over 40, and I think 4+ popped up today. I think that rather than we have more cases, we just have more people getting tested. My friends on FB are talking about how they or their children got really sick in December/January and tested negative for flu - so there's a question on whether or not we've actually been dealing with this longer than we thought. Interesting thought.
Another interesting piece of news is that the Treasury will be sending money to adults in order to boost the economy and the government is asking companies to forgive late payments and such. That is so important. The economic shut-down is one I have never seen in my life. Store closing, restaurants only serving to-go orders, bars shut down, major sports quiet. The historian in looks at everything with interest. 200 years ago, people didn't socialize as much as we do now, and I think it's sobering to see how dependent we are upon places and activities for entertainment and pleasure - yet how we are adjusting to not having it. For one, my husband and I are sitting outside, listening to the rain (when it rains) and just talking. Rather than eating out, we're cooking more. Rather than going to the movies, we're playing card games. With this social shift, however, comes another side of the coin: because we have become so accustomed to entertainment, our economy is almost built on it. While my husband and I are saving money with staying home, others are suffering because our money isn't helping their survival. With the entertainment industry suffering, so are people's jobs, people's ability to pay rent, people's abilities to put food on the table. I remember stories from my grandparents about life during the Great Depression. I think we're going to see another type of Great Depression - one not built on the stock market crashing, but built on the destruction of people's livelihoods - a destruction that will create a domino effect where the middle class come out ok, but the low socio-economic fall even further. With the checks, however, hopefully businesses will get better and not fire their people or not NOT pay their people. Husband and I are ordering out take-out tonight from our favorite small business/restaurant to support them. Husband is a substitute teacher and he's not working during this time, so we have to be careful ourselves - but we can afford one or two meals out to help the economy.
Speaking of work. Man, I miss being in my classroom. I never wanted to teach an online course (so I never applied to do so). As a teacher, I thrive on discussion and action. I constantly check my discussion boards to see what my students are saying, but then after it's done.... crickets. I don't know what to do. Next week will be better. I figure the majority of my students will turn in their work on the last day (Friday), so early next week I can grade during my work hours when my students aren't posting. Students - if you're reading this - I hope y'all are ok and I cannot wait until school is back in session!
Other than that, nothing spectacular. I'm having a hard time sticking to my routine. Or at least, today I did. The hardest for me is getting outside. One of my four weekly boot camp classes is pretty much cancelled, and so on a day I don't have a set place to exercise, I have to convince myself to move around. Today I didn't have boot camp. If the weather was 10 degrees cooler, I'd take a longer walk. BUT it's warm. Seriously, though - why does a pandemic have to happen at the same time that we have a warmer spring? Where's the 70 degree weather?
Signing out.
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