We’re probably not the only ones who feel this way, but online church just isn’t the same as being there. My wife has been attending Sundays and this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I will make an occasional appearance, but I don’t get much out of church on a Zoom conference call. She misses the people; I’m the introvert, so me, not so much.
Back in January, we had planned to have a big Easter Dinner at our house, with close friends and their daughter, who was coming in from out of state with her fiancé. Obviously, that’s a no go. We’ll be having a quiet Easter at home, just the two of us, although I did get a few chocolate goodies to make a little Easter basket for my wife.
Wedding Mayhem
Thankfully, our friend’s daughter’s wedding is scheduled for next May, but they had to stop looking at venues because they all closed. I’m betting that it will be tougher to find space for weddings next year because many of this spring’s weddings will get pushed back to next spring. Of course, that assumes we don’t have the next wave of COVID-19 next spring.
My eldest was scheduled to get married this June, but the church has cancelled that. It is now TBD, which may mean September. She’s willing to go to a Justice of the Peace, but he insists on a church wedding.
After being quarantined 14 days because her fiancé worked with someone who tested positive, she is back at work. She works in the medical field, in a hospital that has COVID-19 cases, but in a position that rarely has face-to-face contact with patients. They are required to wear a face mask at all times, taking it off only at their desk. They get their temperature taken every morning and have to answer a battery of questions.
Her fiancé is still going to work daily, but they have cut production significantly. Many employees have been laid off and they are no longer running multiple shifts as business is down, so he is working day shift only, which makes a nice change from shift work. He’s really missing his overtime, but they are lucky to both have jobs. I hope they realize that.
Working Online Kinda Sucks, Too
My wife’s niece has been furloughed from her job working for a large retailer. She’s disappointed at not getting paid, but happy that she doesn’t have to pretend to be working online. (Like many, she had run out of things to do,) She had already moved out of her apartment and back into her parent’s home for the quarantine, so she’ll be OK, but she is very bored.
I’ve been working on a project with five moving parts. One fellow had become a huge impediment. His demands on the rest of the team kept getting more and more unreasonable. He would commit to something one day and then two days later, he’d claim that wasn’t exactly what he agreed to or add a new parameter. Of course, this is one of those teams where there is no chain of command, no common manager who you can appeal to, which makes if frustrating if you have someone immature and self-centered on the team.
I discussed this with one colleague and we agreed that he was being manipulative and disingenuous (which is a polite way of saying he’s a prick). We scheduled a conference call with everyone else working on the project and looked at whether we could move ahead without him. We found a way. While it means more work for the rest of us, the decision to move ahead without him was easy and unilateral. I guess you could say he’s been voted off the island.
The outcome of the project won’t be what he has been lobbying for, but because he cannot compromise, he loses out entirely. It will be interesting to see what happens when he finds out the project proceeded without him and with and he’s been left out in the cold. And it may take a while since we’re ghosting him.
It felt tremendously positive to have this monkey off our backs and be able to move forward again. I’ve been pumped up for two days!
In these times, we got to take our victories where we can find them.
Wishing you all a safe and happy Easter.
Want to read all the diary entries about the Pickled Prepper’s experiences during the coronavirus quarantine? Check out this page to see them in chronological order.
