covid-19

Skeleton Crew

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

I still feel absolutely drained and am aching from Covid but have been mostly working front line this week in support of my amazing staff who have themselves been stricken in close succession by the new variant.

Their cheerful pragmatism has reminded me yet again of how lucky I am to work with and manage people dedicated to their communities and to helping everyone to the best of their abilities.

As might be expected with customer centric services, it hasn’t been without its challenges, but the support we have in turn received both from our own management, and from the public, has raised spirits as we’ve pressed on.

Even in hard and stressful weeks like this, I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else, no matter how much I might grumble in the moment

Still Alive

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My Covid experience has been one of, frankly, exhaustion. The cough has been relatively minor but tckling in the chest, and my likening it to a heavy headcold still holds for me. The most annoying part has been thinking I’m feeling better, trying to work and then feeling wiped out very quickly with dizziness.

And this morning’s test is still positive. Oh well… on the plus side at least the confirming line took longer to come up than last time. The self isolation continues…

I’m keeping my phone available to be a check in point for my staff, but my ability to focus is very limited – and that’s very frustrating.

Plagued

Tim Maidment1 Comment

It’s all a bit annoying. After two years of doing everything to state safe and keep loved ones safe I’ve had a positive covid result this weekend, as has Lady M. The stinking cold I’ve been pushing back against the last week or two has either been a slow builder or has just dovetailed with the infection, as earlier tests were negative.

My hope is that this will pass quickly and the repeated application of lemon and honey and being sensible will take me through a mild bout of inconvenience. While I’m annoyed that it’s caught up with me, I’m counting my lucky stars that the current variants seem to be milder than what I might otherwise have caught so I don’t at all feel that my earlier abiding by guidelines has been any kind of waste of time.

So, a bit subdued and wiped out, but plodding through as I usually do.

Plague-U-Like

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An interesting few days, with the stomach continuing to rebel, and then breaking out in hives all over my body as a side effect of the meds, a general tired malaise… and then the cub being sent home sick and testing positive for covid on a lateral test – the cub, that is, not me.

So in between dealing with work enquiries, we took him for a drive through covid pcr test, which I had to administer due to his age. He was very brave through the tears and we got it done fairly quickly. Now we just wait for the results.

Being a true plague rat, he has little care for how Lady M and I are working and that therefore we can’t play games with him. I’m sure he’ll settle at some point.

Prepping for Battle

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I’m having a quiet day, and being productive at the same time. I had my second covid jab this morning (Astra-Zenica) and so far there’s no aches or pains so I’m just keeping hydrated and will take some paracetamol later if anything starts up. At worst it should feel a bit like the flu if last time was anything to go by.

In the meantime I’ve written the introduction to tomorrow’s game:

And so that’s one less thing to make up on the fly tomorrow. Now I’m going to go and prepare some spare encounters and maps that I can throw into the mix if the game goes in strange directions.

As ever I’m using a combination of Roll20 for the virtual tabletop, and dndbeyond.com for the creatures, people, information, and tricks of the trade, so I shall probably get lost for a while delving into lore and obscure rules for a while…

Building The Team

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I had the great pleasure right at the end of the working day to be able to confirm positions for another two managers who will be part of my team as of next month. Its been a long day so it was a nice capstone on it all to finish that way.

The rest of the day was filled with stock management, directing cabling works, and a variety of the more colourful customers who frequent our doors, so it has been somewhat varied, as days in the library go.

Lady M, in the meantime, is going to go back to her offices tomorrow – for the first time in about 15 months – so it’s an early start for her in the morning. Hopefully that will go smoothly.

And in polycule news: myr s became the last of us to get their first vaccination jab. My second will be on Saturday morning, and Lady B has already had hers so it’s good to see progress back towards life regaining some form of equilibrium.

Oh, and I saw this the other day, and couldn’t resist snapping it up:

Gentle Chatter

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I could tell that people were getting excited about the next phase of easing restrictions by just how many families came in to return books and browse for more. Its been a while since the library I was in today has had that kind of buzz of chatter and life. It was lovely.

I may be approximately as frazzled as this figure here

Odds and Sods

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Another day done, reasonably productively, so that’s good. I’d been concerned for a colleague who seemed to have slipped through the cracks in the vaccination program but was pleased to hear that they’d been successful in securing an appointment.

Perhaps unsurprisingly I seem to have gained a reputation, at least with my manager, for being able to help distressed colleagues. I’m more frequently being asked to check in on various people so I’m having to remember to maintain my boundaries and not carry things home.

Proof myr s loves me

Still, I’m doodling and plotting things for the next few games, so that’s a positive thing. Shenanigans are afoot.

Covid Vaccinated

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Today’s been a bit odd, but positive. I was up early to go get my first vaccine shot and needed to get to the Harlequins Rugby Club which is the nearest centre.

I hadn’t slept well because I was worried about sleeping through my alarms, but that was fine because roadworks meant I was delayed and got there ten minutes late anyway. That said, nobody batted an eyelid.

From there it was a smooth conveyor belt of positivity from volunteers and staff alike, and I was soon headed back home, freshly stabbed. They gave me the Oxford AstraZeneca jab, by the way. The second dose is due at the beginning of June.

Since then? Tiredness and aching joints for the most part, but nothing more than annoyance level discomfort. Just feel out of sorts, and reminded of the illness I had about this time last year. So that’s a thing…

Where Am I?

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A year ago I was reading reports of some new virus that was starting to spread, and felt that we’d probably be okay if we were sensible. I never dreamed that a year on I’d be wearing a mask nearly all day as a key worker, and as of this morning breaking the news to staff that another colleague had lost a close relative to covid.

Sometimes I’m numb to it, sometimes I’m angry. I’m grabbing humour where I can find it. Sometimes I wish I could work from home, but most of the time I’m glad I can get out of the house. I remind myself I’m very privileged, even as I want to curl up and hide under the blankets.

But hey, someone yesterday asked to buy the original of one of my sketches, so that’s a nice thing.