What’s different?

Just past five weeks since full-time WFH .. I meant to write this at a four weeks, but I have achieved balance.

Four or five weeks .. It’s well past time for a little whimsy. So, what’s been different for me?

• Getting up earlier (6:00 am).
• Shorter commute (22 seconds).
• Starting work earlier (6:00:22 am).
• Drinking more coffee. Way more coffee.
• Working out later .. usually during a briefing or learning session .. where my comments are limited and breathlessly-delivered.
• Increased my workout time and regimen (watch out Dennis Quaid).
• Shaving less often (candidly, this drives me crazy).
• Shaving at my desk in schedule gaps.
• Vacuuming more often, especially around my desk.
• Showering later in the day.
• Wearing fewer clothes .. typically a workout kit.
• Making soup on the weekends for the week.
• Eating more soup during the week.
• Perfected my Eggplant Lasagna recipe.
• Eating more Eggplant Lasagna.
• Learned how to use my new Small Big Green Egg (thank you Jeff!). This is for when I’ve had enough soup and Eggplant Lasagna. It happens.
• Dropped 11 pounds so far (about a kilo per week).

What else?

• I’ve worn out my slippers .. I’m wearing socks with them until the new ones arrive.
• I discovered my heels don’t like rubber flip-flops .. they crack (my heels, not the flip-flops). Wearing socks with them as well .. the between-the-toe thing is annoying when wearing a sock .. and it looks silly. Amazon?
• Managing the entryway as a decontamination zone, complete with scary UV light.
• My dress shoes are all polished.
• My dress clothes are all dry-cleaned, as are my suits and tuxedos.
• My shirts are all ironed.
• My clothes are too big for me. Time for a socially-distanced fitting.

And at home?

• After over three years in this house, I just realized the topmost railing in my staircase is upside-down. It still is. Now that I’ve written about it, I’ll fix it.
• My floors sparkle.
• My sparkly floors are not level.
• My rugs are beaten to death to remove dust. They now whimper when I approach them.
• After an unfortunate desire for the house to install an inside pool in my bar in Thanksgiving (i.e., a flood), the work was finally bid and scheduled .. the day before WFH orders. Maybe by next Thanksgiving?
• The garbage disposal is on its last legs .. see the above.
• Oh: the master bathroom fan sounds like a 747 (Remember those? We used to fly in them to go to far-away places with strange-sounding names). Again, see the above and above.
• My Arlo batteries are wearing out at an incredible rate .. too much motion in the house makes them switch on and off and on and off.

On tidiness:

• Washing my hands and face more often.
• Cleaning the house more often.
• Running the dishwasher every day.
• Washing towels and kits upon any exposure outside.
• An ‘inside kit’ that I only wear after I shower.
• Oh: I still sweat .. even whilst just working at my standing (not walking) desk. Go figure.
• A haircut that is now six weeks old .. think Einstein Hair.

On clothes .. beyond kits, I tried to think of something better to say than Tom Hanks, who, on his SNL skit said: “I forgot how buttons work”.

So have I.

Stay connected. Stay safe. Stay home.