Protecting My Investment
I’ve turned the corner on my feelings about staying home—they’re always changing—and I’ve moved from anger at others to proud of myself for protecting my investment.
Once we get through the obvious, low-hanging fruit of people and fur-covered creatures I love, the thing I like best (beyond reading and playing match-3 games) is working. I really love to work. I love metrics and numbers, and my happiest days are when I’m working to make sense of data. I love love love to work.
The only thing I need in order to do my work—beyond a functioning computer, calculator, and the Internet—is my health. When I am healthy, I can work. If I’m not healthy, it makes doing work difficult. Taking care of my health by not taking risks, such as going out or seeing people during a pandemic, is worth its weight in gold. If I get sick, I not only have the medical bills, but I also may not be able to work: for either the short-term, or if we follow the news about the cognitive implications of COVID-19, the long-term.
There is no undo button. No rewind. If you get it, you get it. And there are things you can do to lessen your chances of getting it. I am doing those things.
This week, I’m not feeling bitter. I’m feeling grateful that I have the ability to stay home.
3 comments
Definitely feel proud of your investment-protecting! I feel like vomiting from this new information. I do not, do not, do NOT want to take a leave from school, but I am feeling more and more uncomfortable there and there is no sign of them going remote anytime soon, and we have no tests. (Although I did get a drive-through test appointment A WEEK after I requested one due to possible exposure… aaarrrrggghhhhh but also yay?) It sucks to find myself having to figure out the balance between safety and employment/retirement security/job security longterm. Treasure your bubble! It’s a good move.
I have had this feeling, too, on and off during the past nine (difficult) months. While I am missing so much about my pre-pandemic life, I *am* grateful that my husband and I have the ability to work remotely, not only to protect our health and stop community spread but so that we can be present to assist our children with their remote learning. I know plenty of people with kids the age of our sons (3rd grade) who do not have that ability.
I too am grateful I have been able to work remotely. (Except for a short period when I was forced to return to the office for a few weeks.) But it’s not enough. My husband was exposed to a close contact at work and had to quarantine. Thankfully negative. Two exposure notices from my work recently (everyone was emailed). I know several people who have gotten it. I’m still in the pissed off mode. Everyone, from bloggers I read to people I know, thinks *they* are being safe and therefore it’s ok to gather with family outside their household. (Gathering, even outside, is banned by the regional order most of California is under. Hospitals are getting overwhelmed here.) These people think the rules apply to *other* people. But this is how it’s spreading! People thinking they are being safe and gathering with others.