Life under lockdown: These testing times
Life last week was different but social distancing needn’t mean cutting yourself off from the World
I would have started this post/newsletter off with my usual stuff about technology, photography and research into the Mayflower story but let’s cast that to one side for the moment because we are all now living in a very different time. A rather challenging time for a whole raft of reasons but I would like to think that for the first time in our short history on this pale blue dot of ours, we are all in the same boat and the biggest challenge is to accept that or at least for now. It’s the best we can do and probably the only thing we can do.
I was inspired to write the following after reading Fraser Smith’s account of “Life under lockdown”
https://twitter.com/FrasSmith
Earlier in the year my IT contract ended naturally, had run it’s course with the project finishing. Then the IR35 hit and thus I’ve been off regular work for awhile. I have therefore been spending a lot of time trying to keep smaller client projects going and hoping that the cash flow doesn’t dry up which is proving to be hard. You see many of my clients are emailing/calling me to let me know that they are having to batten down on expenditure and all projects are being postponed/cancelled. So I have one client left who is happy to carry on but I think we shall probably clear the table of current work taking place and put the rest on hold.
So hard to know how long this will go on for? 12 weeks? End of June? 6 months? A whole year? It is anyone’s guess after all. We worry because whilst the rest of the World are locking down and being brutal, here in the UK we are being calm and carrying on and finally, at long last the schools are closing this Friday. I am not going to rant on because I have precious little time for the current Government etc anyway…
Politics, Covid-19, IR35 etc to one side and that is one big shit heap of crap to brush to one side at that - we the Lewis family are ok, coping, same as you I guess!
People on immunosuppressive drugs and those in their 70’s and above are all at risk. So for the sakes of being someone who takes Tacrolimus to suppress my immune system, I have been taking no chances. So I have been taking the following precautions, some I’ve thrown in for a laugh because we need a few of those right now!
Avoiding Asda and the town
Going for walks first thing in the morning and late at night when fewer people are around. See someone walking towards you keep a mental distance of 6 feet in mind
Not letting people into my house or keeping my distance from them
The above excludes my Wife, I let her in and out
Sanitising my hands constantly even after the post arrives
Handle deliveries in a full Hazmat suit (not really, just kidding and besides we’ve not actually had any)
Get other people to collect things for me such as prescriptions from the chemist
So there you go a few of the changes that have had to be introduced recently. We will venture out into the countryside this weekend for fresh air and a damn decent walk. I need to take photographs and can’t stop that from taking place, goddamn it!
I was very impressed with my Nephrologist this week and I was due to see him today, as I do every 3 months. However given the current circumstances we find ourselves in, he rang me up two days ago to feed back on a recent blood test I had. Saved me from having to put myself at risk by physically going into the hospital. He sounded tired not his usual chirpy self. We need to take great care of our NHS, it’s staff and they will continue looking after us for decades to come.
My wife Tina is still working in her office which is a stone’s throw from home but only 4 out of 80 people are present in the building this week so far. Like most companies they are rotating people around or asking people to do half days. Some are still paying their staff in the normal way (Tina included thankfully) but others are not or worse still laying them off.
A friend of mine is now facing 2 months of non-paid leave and I will not name names here but isn’t that disgusting? Two other fellow freelancers have also lost clients and projects to this.
So where do we go from here?
Be kind to others
Stay in touch - I am calling my parents (both nearly 80) each day and in regular contact with everyone else via all social media channels, as I’m stuck indoors
Keep positive
Learn something new online - if you want to learn to code for example, let me know as I’m available!
Cooking - so long as there are no eggs or pasta involved (ahem!)
Gardening - lots coming to life out there now and keeps the mind occupied, also acts as a kind of Gym too. Just dig, heave, lob a few things around and you’ll keep in good shape. I actually have become more into gardening recently anyway.
Find open spaces to walk in - National Trust hats off to you, see tweet below
Think before you buy. Do you need those 100 toilet rolls? Do you run an orphanage or something?
Last of all, let me leave you with this…