I got an email from NaNoWriMo suggesting how to cope with being on lockdown by using writing, and one of the ideas was blogging about it, so here goes (will break it into bite size chunks as it’s a bit long):
Mon 23 Mar 2020: National announcement that the country is in Coronavirus lockdown.
Tue 24 Mar 2020: Mum had been in hospital for several weeks (she’s 87) and got home late yesterday afternoon. I was all set to go and see her, then I get a text from the government saying we were all on lockdown and not to go out unless absolutely necessary. We missed the announcement on the TV, so it was a good job I got the text. I didn’t go. I couldn’t bear it if I was a carrier and gave it to my folks – they wouldn’t survive. My sister texted to say she was OK and happy to be home. It’ll be touch and go if I get it as I have asthma. It was also my man’s birthday today. Rhys got cards and pressies, but I couldn’t get him the jelly and ice cream he said he wanted! His car’s engine light came on (again – fixed once already), so he called the garage, not knowing if they were going to even be open. They were, so we drove both our cars down and I brought him back. It needed a part, but they couldn’t guarantee how long it was going to take to get it. Fun times… not.
Wed 25 Mar 2020: I’d been working from home since Friday; picked up my whole PC and screen and set it back up on the desk at home. It was something I’d been wanting to do for a while. I was enjoying it and feeling a little guilty for being quite content in this time of national emergency. Then my boss calls me and asks me to volunteer to take furlough leave, which basically meant I’d be on 80% salary and not working for however many weeks this took to play out. It was a shock. I had two hours to decide. With shaking hands I did the maths and talked it over with Rhys. I could do it for maybe three months and it’d probably get a bit tight after that. It made sense to ask me; I was already at home because I was in the high risk category and some of my work had already been cancelled due to the Coronavirus. I said yes. I’d been working for the same company for over 18 years and they needed me to help them now, so they wouldn’t have to make people redundant later. It was a no brainer. My main question was, “How long have I got?”
Thu 26 Mar 2020: Rhys was worried he might not get his car back for weeks if the garage closed (although we did have my car) and hadn’t heard from them, so gave them a call. His car was ready, but I had to crack on with work, knowing that I’d either have until the end of the week or the end of the month. When I got the letter from HR, it turned out to be the end of the week. So much to do in so little time. All I could do was make sure what needed to be done got done by someone on the team, with as detailed instructions as possible. All but one of us was working from home by this time and I was worried that my work wouldn’t be covered and I’d come back to a massive backlog. I was assured there was cover and it wouldn’t be too bad, but my boss’s boss was a little too optimistic on timescales, thinking we’d be like this for weeks – I was ready for months. We got Rhys’s car from the garage. It cost him about £300. The second time since December, different fault. Time to get a new car, but it wouldn’t be any time soon.
... Part 2 to follow...
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