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April 2, 2020: The New Abnormal

23 Comments

We're trying hard to get into a routine, but it seems like every day is different enough from the one before it that there's a lot of improvisation going on in our schedule. You?

23 thoughts on “April 2, 2020: The New Abnormal”

  1. RIP Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, and about a hundred other things (music from That Thing You Do, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, etc)

    I remember picking up Welcome Interstate Managers after hearing "Mexican Wine" on Launchcast. I had somewhat foolishly dismissed "Stacy's Mom", but I loved the album from the first listen, and it's held up extremely well (as have their other albums). Talented, catchy songwriting.

  2. My kid is crying about the San Diego zoo's site not having videos about some of the animals, how is your day going?

  3. R. I. P. Ed Farmer, major league pitcher and White Sox broadcaster, at age seventy. I don't see anything that suggests it's COVID-19 related--the article indicates that he had polycystic kidney disease--but I'm afraid we're going to be doing a lot of "R. I. P."s in the weeks to come.

    1. For some reason I seem to remember having a lot of Ed Farmer baseball cards back in the early '70's.

  4. I'm struggling with how much the peperoncino wants me and only me to help him with his first-grade assignments. Having help from my parents doesn't do anything when he throws a fit about how only I can be with him. I've also had to educate my parents about how to navigate the SeeSaw program, which the peperoncino hadn't used previously but is now where all of his assignments are.

    Right now he's actually doing a few things with my dad, much to my relief.

    We're on day 4 of online learning, and it's been frustrating and stressful and I'm putting in work from the time the kids are asleep until about midnight every night just to attempt to stay on top of things. But I also recognize that these are really privileged problems to have right now...

    1. Right now my first-grader hasn't been given very many heavy assignments. In fact, he often has them done before they even sign off from distance learning. For us it's more, "now what do we do with him the rest of the day." Again, a privileged problem to have. He's had a few meltdowns but he's actually been pretty great all things considered. I can't imagine how stressful this is for him. I've also been doing a lot of work at night, but I have a secure job and I have the next 10 days off for vacation. It's no longer a cruise, but it's a mental break from work.

      1. I have the opposite problem. I'm out of work I can accomplish from home, and now am searching for things to do to satisfy and justify my continued existence. Couple that with an erratic boss who is a poor communicator and you've got yourself a nice cocktail of anxiety and frustration.

        I bought a couple of paintings from a friend and former freelancer as I can't even imagine how much anxiety he has right now. We're trying to be responsible consumers, and trying to support local business as much as we can, but with the cases piling up I'm less and less inclined to even leave the house for exercise.

  5. The current favorite game among young children in the household is "Bang-The-Empty-Five-Gallon-Water-Cooler-Bottle-With-Drumsticks".

        1. They are on track for 2-160, too, so not all disproportional extrapolation would merit the same enthusiasm.

  7. Anybody else watching the game on the Twins website? Sure is good seeing Joe behind the plate again.

  8. I'm two weeks in and I feel like I'm getting about half a day's worth of work done each day.
    Meetings are huge time-sucks; I never realized how much we relied on nonverbal communication.
    Yesterday and today, a lot of my time was spent dealing with a Windows Update that failed.

    1. I spent about 3/4ths of my day in online meetings. So, just like regular, but dodgy connections instead of face to face.

      I also went to Costco. No TP, but plenty of wine and vodka and veggies. The line to get in was long, but moved expeditiously if carefully.

      Staffer told me that they get deliveries at all hours of the day, so no knowing when they would or would not have TP. Oy.

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