wash your hands
So much hand washing has been hard on my hands

Wash Your Hands is the mantra of these last few weeks and months. I always did before on a regular basis, but with the Corona Virus upon us, I now wash my hands at least 10 times more than I used to. And it’s smart and needed to keep the germs away, so I totally get it. But the dry weather here in Utah is insane and I can’t keep enough lotion on my hands. They have cracked in spots that I don’t normally have cracks in. I try to use a softer soap, but even that doesn’t help much. So for now, I just try to keep more lotion on them and any cracks that bleed more, I add a band-aid to them.

COVID-19

Speaking of Corona Virus, or coronavirus – or the official term COVID-19, it has affected so many parts of our lives. Concerts cancelled, bars and restaurants closed for indoor/on premises drinking and eating, movie theaters shut down and so many more normal parts of life that we all attend to are altered. Even Starbucks have closed many locations with the exception of drive-thru or order ahead and curbside pickup. And who knew that grocery and liquor stores would be deemed essential? The grocery stores make sense, but I am glad they both are still open. And toiler paper… who are these hoarders that are buying 10 24 packs at a time? And who even shits that much to go through 240 rolls of toiler paper?

I am doing my best to stay quarantined, which is not too difficult for the most part. I mean, I have cut down the number of daily trips I normally take to the absolute minimum [there are some days I don’t go anywhere and my visits to the data center have diminished by 80% the last 60 days]. I have been trying to take a 30 min walk each day to get some needed outdoor time. And of course, wiping down keyboards, laptops, iPhone and iPad on a regular basis… almost a often as I wash my hands.

Work From Home

I’ve already been working from home for more than 7 months now, after my local office here in Salt Lake City closed down at the end of July 2019.

I’m going to admit that I do not like this working from home full time. There are many reasons for this, but the top two are:

  • no interaction with co-workers
  • – This one was a hard thing to deal with. Even with the last days of the office, we had 3 of us working [down from 20 in February 2015] and it was still nice to have that for the 3 days a week we still worked from the office.

  • My wife is not working at this time and is at home
  • – While I love my wife, having her at home while I work from home has been a challenge. I have nicknamed her my “home boss” which she has slowed warmed up to.

I do try to keep a daily schedule that mirrors what I had when I worked from the office, but as a system admin, I also was already in a 24/7 availability mode, so now with my laptop and workspace at a desk downstairs, my access is even easier to get to, which some of my co-workers know when a server or other resource is having issues.

So while I adjust, prepare, plan, reduce, quarantine and cleanse during these conrona virus times, I, along with many others, are waiting for them to be done and get back to normal life. Until then, stay healthy and well. And wash your hands.