One piece of good news, if I still find it a little scary: one of the people I know who had a mild case of covid is back to work -- in a hospital!

Theoretically they should be immune now though, right?

I really wish we knew how long immunity lasts. It's one of the things I worry about.

KB, we can only be as helpful as people will let us...

I came to the realization today that there is a segment of my organization that is using teleconferences as the word-search worksheets of work from home. They feel productive without actually accomplishing anything.

Theoretically they should be immune now though, right?

Yeah, who knows, though?

and now it's gnawing at me.

JZ, don't do that to yourself. It's not like they hadn't interacted in years. And it doesn't change the medical side. They both know the love is there. They do.

I'm sorry you're stranded and unable to be with the people who need you. You always have been, however, so you are. Your heart is with your father and he knows it. He knows your daughter is with him too. Years of love don't dissipate because you're not in the room recharging them. It's an aggregate, not individual opportunities missed or unfulfilled.

Trudy said it better.

I suppose I have to just believe you that those children are teenagers.

It seems untrue because they were clearly toddlers a few weeks ago but they are 13.

self-quarantining can somehow include

Self-quarantine means not being around people full fucking stop. You don't even see people in your home, you definitely don't leave your damn house for work shit. You also aren't put into a quarantine scenario for a silly sneeze.

I'm trying to do a little online training, and signed up for a 2-hour training on federal emergency planning, and it's so fucking ironic and distressing to see that we have a system in place and they didn't fucking use it.

Oh, it's been planned. Just no one knows how to fucking do the plan, just take the training. It's so upsetting.

I really don't think I would be doing as well without Buffistas.

I'm back for a reason even though I keep in touch with most of us in other spaces. But, man, world's in trouble and I want to be with my whole tribe.

man, world's in trouble and I want to be with my whole tribe.

Repeating for emphasis.

Timelies all!

Work has now started issuing masks to staff as they come in and get screened each day. Trying to get used to it, though it is annoying that my glasses keep fogging up when I breathe.

I got a mask as a volunteer for the Red Cross Blood Drive today, so hey - if you cannot donate, you might be able to volunteer at a drive and get a mask.

A new department started sending in their Telework applications today and HOBOY - about half of them were incomplete or wrong. I dealt with the ones that were correct and have a list of the messed up ones and what the issue is and hope to address them all tomorrow.

Just got off a group call with my brothers, my dad's girlfriend and the palliative care doctor. I think everyone is on the same page now; it's just an unbelievably shitty page.

Now I get to try to pull my shit together enough to do a Zoom training session for the co-worker who's supposed to be cross-trained on all my tasks. I can do all of hers--she has a lot, but I can more or less stumble through most of them; I really just have one, but she is extremely nervous and unconfident about it.

I would really like to Bartleby out of this, both because I'm a knotted mess and because she lacks 95% of the server access needed to do it anyway so all that's happened over the last couple of weeks is she does a couple of pieces, I pull together all the rest of it, she knits it more or less together and hands it back to me, I fix all the problems, and then I distribute. She's not learning anything (because she has no access to anything) and I'm doing *more* work than I'd do if I were just doing it to begin with. And now I get to train her in 3 minutes.

I want to just nope out of all of it and spend the rest of the week here being mad at Amy's bakery owner and vibing for Dana's husband's 9000th interview.

eta: I had to cancel the meeting. I'm not even sure what I looked like, but as soon as I logged on my manager and coworker both gasped and both started crying and told me to take all the time I needed and they'll figure it out. So.

I'm sorry you're stranded and unable to be with the people who need you. You always have been, however, so you are. Your heart is with your father and he knows it. He knows your daughter is with him too. Years of love don't dissipate because you're not in the room recharging them. It's an aggregate, not individual opportunities missed or unfulfilled.

Every time I read this, I cry with gratitude all over again.

FUCK. How do we tell Matilda?

FUCK. How do we tell Matilda?

You tell her and you break her heart. Then you love her through it.

I'm so sorry. This is the terrible price we pay for love.

So much love to you, JZ. We can't fix this, but we will be here to carry you when the weight is too much.