The new normal

How are your self-isolation measures going? In the last week there’s been growing unrest down in the US, and increasing demands to open up for business again. Up here in BC we seem to have escaped relatively lightly, with strong public awareness of and support for the need for caution, but without the more stringent measures many countries have adopted.

Of course, schools, pubs, restaurants and many business are closed. But much of life continues, albeit in considerably altered form. Ali is home, but helping her students through remote one-on-one tuition. Grocery stores are essential businesses, so Megan is still working in the bakery. Matthew, of course, is in his element. He spends his days gaming online with friends and this is just an extended summer for him.

My office is still open. Although most of our services are online, we take in mail and couriered documents, and for some things there is no online alternative. So although we have a full complement working remotely there is a skeleton staff still physically present, and it’s important for at least one or two of the leadership team to be present for moral support. But the office is a ghost town these days. On a typical day there might be half a dozen of us there, in an office that is normally buzzing with seventy or more people.

I can mostly work from home, but I find I work better in the office. The mental switch that comes with the change in scenery is important for me, as is access to printer, scanner, and a handful of physical files. So I’m commuting in most days, and enjoying the silver lining of little traffic on the roads.

Many people in the branch are enjoying working from home, and even report better concentration and productivity. The government IT infrastructure has had a real workout these past weeks. Still some network capacity challenges, but they are still making improvements.

Grocery shopping is getting more organized. There are subtle changes each week. They’ve improved the one-way system around the aisles, especially through the produce section, and put up more screens at the tills to separate lines of customers so now they can open all the checkouts again instead of every second lane. The line-ups are manageable and the store has been fairly quiet the last couple of weeks, even on a Saturday morning.

And I noticed they even had toilet paper on the shelves this week. Things must be looking up!

Finally, I also managed to buy art supplies this week. I’m completing a major round of edits on The Long Dark and am looking ahead to cover art. The art store is closed to foot traffic, of course, but they are taking orders by phone. The store is just a couple of blocks away from my office, so I was able to pop out and collect my order that same day.