Pen-demic

  March 2020, was when we knew we were in a pandemic. Now it’s almost July 2022.   The Pandemic still swirls around us, but here in our “safe” suburban world, most people ignore it. The newspapers give it maybe a 2 in by 3 in column here and there. Primarily when the World Health Organization comes out with something new, or a resurgence “somewhere else” brings up talk of masks or quarantines. Right now, the talk is of vaccinations for infants finally being available and do we need to tweak the vaccinations we have to better work against the latest variation of the virus.   And yet the latest variation, Omicron (I think it’s called), is far more transmissible than the earlier variations, though my understanding is that the symptoms aren’t as bad if you get it. I connect with people who tell me that, though vaccinated and boosted and having avoided Covid all this time, have come down with the latest variation. My son and his girlfriend among them. Several days of high...

Today I exercised. That is not new; however, I haven’t gone to a class or exercised by myself since early December, prior to getting covid, and then pneumonia. I had been feeling fatigued and not up to par since then. It felt good today to move muscles that I hadn’t used in a while. I went to a class for senior ladies at the clubhouse in our subdivision. I’ve gotten to know most of these ladies in the two years that I’ve been here. Last summer many of us took water aerobics at our subdivision pool. I’ve also joined many of them at the monthly condo ladies luncheons at various restaurants in the area. The reason I was finally able to exercise and be with these ladies again is because last week I received injections of antibodies, especially against covid. Since the Omicron variant has been active, I have had to stay away from groups of people because my immune system is not working well. The medicine I take for my leukemia kills not only the bad white cells in my blood, but also good on...

I can remember a number of years ago when people first had the ability to “work from home”. The studies quickly showed that “out of sight, out of mind” meant that the people who worked from home didn’t get promoted or get raises, at the same rate as those who came into the office, because the Boss never saw them and quite frankly, it was easy to “forget” them. Companies were so afraid that people working from home would spend time on “other things”, that some companies set up the work computers so they would tell the “Boss” if the person stepped away from the computer for more than a preprogrammed allowable time. While a few industries continued to promote it, most companies preferred their employees to come to a central office or workplace instead. Now, after 2 years of people working from home, or working“hybrid” with some days in the office and typically more days at home due to covid restrictions, working from home (or “ off site ”)has become the “norm” in many industries. ...