# There seems to have been a bit of a glitch with the daily emails over the past couple of nights with the wrong info included. When resending the mails later they work fine so I think I'll try pushing the cron job timings back a bit.
# Manuel Reiß writes that "this is the time for blogging" during this globally difficult situation.
I agree.
With people self-isolating, guidance on social distancing, and even lock downs in some places we need to keep in contact with each other, we need to pass on what news we have and let others know this is a shared experience.
I've been reading various people blog about how Covid-19 has affected them so far, stories of staying at home, plans changing, trips cancelled and it puts a very human face on what can easily become a game of numbers.
As Manuel says:
"If there is anything remotely important to share with the world it’s experiences like this."
After the UK government's press conference yesterday I received an alert text from my employer just after 11pm saying that they were "finalising our operational response" and should be able to share it this afternoon (Tuesday) and then "move quickly into implementation". What that means for me I don't know.
London is more advanced than the rest of the country as far as transmission of the virus is concerned so it would make sense for people to start working from home, rather than employing the split working I mentioned yesterday, but we'll have to wait and see. As things stand I'm typing this on the train to work but it is considerably less busy than normal. A lot of people are obviously not traveling as they usually would.
The situation is very fluid and changing rapidly and I can see the UK having to enforce more stringent measures soon rather than that just advise them. With the guidance on stopping unnecessary travel and not frequenting social locations such as restaurants we have cancelled our trip away this weekend. It's a shame as it was a birthday celebration for my wife but we need to be pragmatic.
So keep blogging, share your tips and stories, let others know how you have been impacted, but also share the normal things; daily life must still go on. It is hard for the current situation to not become all encompassing but we mustn't let it take over completely.
Comments
# The "official" word on my employer's "operational response" is that we work in an industry that must going, keep servicing the public and it's clients. We must remain "fully operational".
Rather than any overarching guidance each area leader has developed a plan and will communicate said plan for their area of responsibility which will vary based on the specific requirements. Some will be able to work remotely, others not. We should all receive word of those plans by tomorrow afternoon.
Why the wait?
In any event, it looks as though I won't be working from home as things stand. New guidance from government may change that but at the moment I will still be coming to work, following the same shift patterns and getting on the same trains. It will be interesting to see how many others do likewise.
Various steps are being taken to reduce footfall on the floor I work on, to reduce the risk of the C Suite execs being exposed but if I still have to travel into and across London every day it all seems a bit moot.
Comments
# It looks like the daily emails issue may be a server problem; I've tried editing the cron jobs but they won't save. I was number 72 in a queue for support earlier (doesn't bode well) and when I reached number 1 the chat window closed on me.
I'll try again tomorrow.
@amit Indeed. There are degrees to this and it's a question if being sensible within the confines of the guidance that applies to you individually at the time.
I have had the thought that blogging is a way of being subject to one another or, to put it another way, to be of use. I don't have many people reading my blog (and that's okay), but the few people who do read it seem to enjoy it and maybe draw comfort from that kind of "contact" with me. I certainly feel better being "out in the world" in this way.
Keep writing.
Hoewel ik nog steeds bij vlagen niet weet wat ik met de situatie aan moet, merk ik dat ik er ook meer gewend aan raak. Ik begon vanaf vrijdag met een weekend volledig binnen zijn, volledig in mijn computer gedoken en heftig het nieuws verversend. Die modus hou je niet lang vol. Het is gek om aan de ene kant zeeën van tijd te hebben, maar aan de andere kant tot de conclusie te komen dat je die eigenlijk normaal ook hebt, alleen dat je je zeeën dan wat meer op routine indeelt. Wat me sowieso geholpen heeft is het verwijderen van de NOS-app. Ik waardeer hun inspanning, maar een live-blog van meer dan een week houdt niemand vol. En wat me helpt is weer af en toe een stukje schrijven. Deze tijd vraagt om bloggen, hoorde ik elders. Het helpt voor jezelf om je gedachten te orderen en het helpt voor anderen om meerdere perspectieven op de situatie te hebben. Eenmaaldaags het NOS journaal geeft de feiten, maar je hebt ook reflectie en verstrooiing nodig. Daarom: maak ook niet alleen blogs. Maak ook vlogs, tekeningen en gedichten, t-shirts (zoals mijn moeder), bureauverhogingen (ikzelf gister). Maak dingen en vertel erover, of vertel dingen door maaksels, en als je dingen vertelt, deel ze dan. Wij, de andere mensen, hebben ze nodig.