social distancing and staying at home: four months in

It's been four months since I started working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though we're all in this together, things are admittedly difficult at times. However, there have also been positive moments. For those curious, here's what has happened during the past four months.

A series of unfortunate events

As nice as it is to work at home, being away from the office has its downsides:

• Although I have everything I need for my tasks, not having access to certain equipment can be a major inconvenience.
• Our quarterly happy hours for March and June have been canceled.
• It's been a long time since we've celebrated people's birthdays. Posting pictures of cakes on Slack just isn't the same.
• A guy on our team recently left for another job. He took the time to show me the ropes when when I joined the company and was like a mentor to me. It sucks that we didn't get to properly say goodbye.
• During our last call on Skype, my boss lamented that we haven't had a team lunch in a long time. I certainly can't disagree.

Of course, the pandemic has also affected our personal lives:

• I haven't been able to attend my book club since December. Our latest meeting has been moved from March to July and will likely be postponed again.
• Dad had planned to take us to the Southwest U.S. in March but understandably had to cancel the trip.
• A few months ago, my childhood friend Connie came to drop something off at my house. It took all my restraint to not give her a hug after seeing her again for the first time in almost 11 years. Chances are she wouldn't have appreciated it either. Speaking to her over the phone just isn't the same.
• I had also hoped to see my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew again during the summer. But it doesn't look like this will happen anymore.
• It's not just me as my parents have also had to turn down several invitations.

A new gazebo

However, one positive thing about staying at home is that we have all the time in the world to work on personal projects. Dad recently decided to add a gazebo to our backyard so that our master bedroom doesn't get too hot in the summer. He actually decided to build it mostly by himself so that we could save on the labor. It was hard work for us too because he sometimes needed our help with the heavy parts. On the bright side, our backyard now has a nice new addition. :-)

RuneScape achievements

Although I still have to work at home, the fact that I don't have to commute makes a huge difference. I haven't had so much for RuneScape since my college days. For those curious, here are my achievements from recent months:

• completed the elite Varrock and Wilderness tasks
• 2,700 skill total
• level 99 Divination
• level 99 Magic
• 2,000 and 2,100 skill total on my alternate account Traductus
• 2,000 skill total on my alternate account Ixfd64 Rs2

Even though I can't see my friends and co-workers, staying at home isn't without benefits. One can see why some people want this to last forever. But at the same time, the fact that people are getting sick and dying sucks. I hope things will be back to normal soon.

In other news...

On a somewhat related note: happy anniversary to Andrew and Cathy as they got married a year ago!

Currently listening to: "Crocodile Rock" by Elton John