There's Still No Toilet Paper - Tales of the Pandemic (3)

This pandemic and its subsequent consequences (social distancing, quarantines, stay-at-home orders) has thrown into the spotlight how woefully unprepared a lot of businesses are to offering their employees remote work opportunities, but a lot of them are adapting fast. I really wish I could say the same for my employer... But I'm a week into officially working from home and I'm still struggling with getting the technology to cooperate.

First, it's my hand-me-down laptop that crashed in the middle of hosting a company webinar on Monday. Thankfully, my boss was a co-host for that event and things progressed as smoothly as could be expected for a first attempt.

Second, I found that I was suddenly unable to remote into my work machine and had to actually go to the office, unhook it all and bring it home, only to find that I still need to remote into the servers back at the office (because they aren't WiFi compatible...)

Hopefully that'll be resolved tomorrow.

I feel very fortunate that I was able to do a bit of grocery shopping early in the week though. The toilet paper and paper towels are still depleted at nearly every single shop in the greater metro area, but I was able to get all the things I needed for this amazing Sweet Potato Bacon Chowder. What's great about this recipe is that it can easily be customized to work with a vegetarian or vegan diet and I look forward to playing around with it once I'm able to get my hands on some full-fat coconut milk!

Sweet potato + Coconut = Yum!

The liquor stores are thankfully still open and there hasn't been a shortage on beer yet, so I'll reserve my panic for if that reality hits.

Time for some good news...

I got a call from my mom last night! On Sunday they pulled her off the ventilator and she was breathing on her own well enough, so they decided not to do a tracheostomy. With her pneumonia under control and her appetite coming back, they even took the feeding tube out so she can now eat solid food again. Continued progress like this means she might be able to go back home at the end of April.

Honestly, I am so grateful to the team of doctors and nurses overseeing my mom's care and now to the two physical therapists who will start getting her back to full function. Without their care around the clock and their willingness to try everything to get her well, she might not be doing as well as she is. In the midst of this pandemic and how stressed, tired, and fearful a lot of the medical staff must be, I'm so thankful for the hard work they do.

It feels like a weight has been lifted and this isolation at home doesn't feel so heavy and hopeless.