The city is coming back to life and so are we.
This morning was even harder to wake up then Monday. I am already thankful for the upcoming long weekend. For years I read about the long-term unemployment problem; people who are out of work for more than a year have a nearly impossible time returning to the grind. I never stopped working but being stranded at home office and having the freedom to sleep a little more, wear less and have more frequent breaks has seemingly had a similar effect.
Today I had some errands outside of the office. I needed to get a document notarized which I didn’t look forward to during these limited office hour times. Contrary to my believe it was actually really easy. I arrived at the post office, it was open, and the friendly lady was ready to notarize. Naturally everyone was in masks, they ask that people keep their distance, and there is now transparent plastic separating the client from the postage employee. People kept their distance and due to most people still in hiding, there were no lines.
I walked to the post office shortly before lunchtime so I had a chance to see all the restaurants setting up their take-away windows. Some of them already had lines forming as people were waiting for their meals. Lots of people were walking around with their foam containers containing the days specials. In our office the smell of food lights up the office from between 12:00 and 13:30. The food smell is always unpleasant unless you happen to be the one eating. Lucky the weather is such that open windows don’t bother anyone too much. It does look that as soon as people get a chance to sit in a restaurant and eat they will return quickly, possibly as early as next week.
The rest of the day was uneventful so I went home a little early. Upon arriving I was approached by an exhausted wife. We still have the children at home so there is no break from the relentless little monsters. Having to deal with the energetic munchkins all day in an apartment alone is not too easy. Some days you want to just hide and hope nobody finds you, but that’s not possible when you are the only adult around.
I tried to get into some games with the kids but they were already past the point of making any sense. I looked up the weather and saw that today was a low point, there will be big improvements going into the long weekend. I was thinking about our forest walks and have already started planning another one. A long walk with full freedom is the only way to tame these little animals. Half the week is gone!
Paul Lysek – The idea of writing a daily update came to me by seeing, hearing and trying to understand all the things that are happening around us at this time. This story is a combination of all those sources, including friends, relatives, and experiences with attempts to bring out the satire, emotion and changing environment of the situation. It is entirely fictional, with the exception of my sarcasm.
