Third and fourth week of lockdown, and into week 5

[julesjones]

We're into the fifth week of lockdown now. Third and fourth week were around Easter, which is when Eastercon should have happened, so I had a week of leave booked over that weekend anyway. As it turned out, I had yet another slight medical mishap, detailed elsewhere, and would probably not have been going to Eastercon anyway, but it was still sad not to see my friends, hang out in the bar, spend too much money in the dealers' room, and admire the incredible Easter chocolate sculpture in the hotel lobby.

Since I wasn't going to be spending money on a hotel room, I indulged and spent more online at Third Vault Yarns than I would have in the dealers' room. I imagine in the current circumstances it will take Lola longer than usual to get things posted out, but I have plenty of yarn in the stash.

Commuting and work continue to be slightly surreal. I think there are a few more people wandering around the city centre, and I've overheard some of them complaining about the lack of shops to pass the time in, but I think most of the people who are obviously not workers are local residents getting their exercise in. Possibly using the exercise as an excuse for wandering around, but at least attempting to have an excuse. I was slightly surprised that one of the buskers was back this week, because a) the police are likely to move him on when they wander through, b) there are so few people about it's hard to see it being worth it. Ditto the professional beggars. (Yes, they do exist, and unfortunately some of them are trafficked - I wish I'd thought to report it last year when I heard one of them being given his instructions at shift change, but I didn't quite grasp what I'd seen until later.)

The supermarket shelves aren't back to normal, but there are far fewer shelves stripped bare, and some things are no longer on the "only 1" list. This includes milk at my local Co-op, which is good because it means the lactose-free milk is no longer being grabbed by people who don't actually need lactose-free but are taking it to get around the "only 1 of each type" rule.

We're getting better at social distancing in the office, although we're not perfect. It's difficult to keep your distance from your colleagues, both physically and emotionally. Even if the normal office culture is (quite rightly) "do not touch your colleagues without permission", we do lean over each other to see things on a screen and to look at a paper file and we hold doors open for each other and stand next to each other at the kettle and, and, and... You can't have a quiet conversation without disturbing your neighbours any more. Even so, the routine of a workday helps, I think. It's still scary to commute, it's still scary to be in an enclosed office even with enough of us off that we can spread out, but sitting at home has its own problems.

There are months of this ahead. It isn't the nightmare of the Black Death and the martyr village of Eyam, it isn't the 1918 pandemic, but it brings devastation in its wake all the same.

Comments

[mishalak]

Much the same here in Denver. I am going into work twice a week and getting to see downtown. Commuting by car since it seems safer and the buses are reduced to a weekend schedule. I will probably start commuting by bicycle once I fix mine.

[lexin]

I agree there are months of this ahead. I'm currently quarantined for 12 weeks until the middle of June, but I don't expect it to finish then. I will be surprised if it does.

[katlinel]

I expect there are months of this too, until there is a vaccine.