Sanctuary

While the coronavirus rages on, I’ll be at home.

For the past week, save for one trip for gas, I’ve been staying home. My wife, terrified by the coronavirus, has been stocking up on food. We can eat food, not toilet paper. Besides, we use bidets. I went to work for a couple of days some time ago, I can’t remember exactly when now. I just know that I’ve been here and only here at my house for a while now.

During the pandemic, I don’t meet with friends. I don’t drink so I don’t go to bars. I don’t go out unless there is a compelling reason to do so. And if I go for a walk, I walk with my family or I walk alone. No mingling with others while I’m out. Social distancing is easier if you’re an introvert.

If we receive something we bought online, we are circumspect about how we handle the products. We wash our hands when we’re done opening the boxes. We wash our hands before we eat. We wipe down the handles on the carts when we do go out to shop. But lately, it’s only been my wife shopping while I stay home with the kids.

I’ve been reading the reports and it looks pretty grim. This virus is a killer. One report I found said that if the effects of the virus were unmitigated, that is, if we did nothing, they estimate 2.2 million Americans would perish. That is some really scary shit. Before this became a pandemic, I had booked a flight to see my brother. Without flight protection, that money is lost. I’m not bothered by that. I’d rather see my mom and my brother live through this than to go out and risk it.

I’ve been saved by the company I work for. I can work from home. I have a solid gigabit internet connection with a 10TB “data cap”. The network speed over the internet is the same as the speed at work, 1Gb/s. My connection to work is about as good as working at the office. So less money for gas, less wear and tear on the car, no commute to stress out over. As long as I keep doing what I do and do it well, I keep my job.

Yesterday, we had a 5.7 magnitude earthquake. We were only a couple miles from the epicenter, too. It was a gentle roller, but unnerving still the same. The house still stands. But throughout the day, we had many aftershocks, 2 or 3 of them we could all feel, too. One came as I was working remotely with a customer. My kids were spooked, but I’m a California native. I’m used to this. I was the calm one throughout.