The first day back to office started with a hectic morning. Woken up by the 8 am alarm, as I stayed late till the wee hour the night before, I got up, a bit lethargic, and went down to the kitchen . Putting a small pot of oatmeal over the stove, I hurried back upstairs to wash myself, knowing that the oatmeal could overflow in any minute. Downstairs again, I began packing what I was about to bring to the office-- a water cup, a water pitcher, a cell phone charger, an earphone, a magazine, some snacks, my lunch box packed with a stainless- steel spoon and fork…
The office is only ten minutes local drive away, and by the time I got to the office, it was almost 9. The parking lot was additionally parked with a few trucks with workers trimming the trees. The road surface looks repaved, permeating the air with the lingering asphalt. Entering the building with two masks on, I saw a new welcome-back poster next to a sanitary station.
Like a chicken set free on a wild range happily roaming and laying eggs, then being called back by the owner to the chicken coop, I succumb to going back to the office after a year-long working from home. My cell phone, so used to Wi-fi, was confusedly lost for the first few minutes, scrambling for mobile signals laboriously. While pandemic limits our freedom, it did give me an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stay at home and work. Though coming back to work at office is still partial, Tuesday and Thursday for now, I know the good time is over.
I miss the lazy morning and its leisureness without rushing to change or dress up. I miss the nap in the comfy bed. I miss the twenty minutes ping-pong time, playing, cheering and sweating. I miss my garden as I walk and tend to the plants, moving the pot from one side to the other for the best sun. I even miss the lizards who find our backyard home, boldly basking themselves almost every day around the same time in the same open spot…
People say that pandemic is disruptive in speeding up the digitalization and changing people’s behavior and mindset. Now with the vaccines fully rolled out, it is widely expected that things will soon go back to normal, or be forced to be so. But will it be that easy? How far can we go back?
Admittedly my day in office is more productive. But working with masks on for about eight hours suffocated me. For a time, my brain worked slower, as if also veiled by masks. Luckily I can work from home tomorrow alternatively, a new hybrid working mode, which won’t last for long before we are asked to return to the office completely.
回複 '7grizzly' 的評論 : Hi, my friend. Right, but weekends sometimes are occupied by something else, and pingpong is played more regularly on weekdays:))
I like the cotton-made mask better, as it is more comfortable and not smelly after wearing for hours. But it might not sufficiently filter out the virus, I guess, and that is the necessity of an add-on:)
Looking back, we will definitely be nostalgic of what the two-year-long pandemic unexpectedly brought us, though disastrous it is. I even thought of finding a job that can let me work at home permanently :)
Thanks, my friend, for your reading and comment. Have a great weekend!
7grizzly 發表評論於
Two days on-site can add some variety. You will still have five days out of a
week to play pingpong. Two masks sound unbearable, however.
As human activities resume, there will be more striving and less time for
reflection. Years from now, I might look back on the two years of covid with
nostalgia.
回複 'cng' 的評論 : C學者好! 有一陣不見，問候你! 謝謝你推薦的這篇文章，C學者平時的閱讀量一定很大。我剛剛找來這篇兩天前的文章，寫得有點意思。 Maybe that's the reason I did not expose my lower face in the picture:) 口罩後麵的下半截臉或許被硫酸潑過，或是兔唇嘴也不一定，哈哈:). Honestly, we are not ready to unmask, or go back to work in the office. I heard over the radio today that there are 933 breakthrough covid-19 cases amid 3.3m vaccinated residents in LA county. As of May 7, 71 have been hospi talized, and 12 have died. 雖然比例很小，但是誰知道接下來的數字會怎樣。
我第一張照片是一樓入口處，第二張是大樓旁邊的cafeteria,所以顯得比較空曠。來上班的二樓員工還不少，雖然大家rotate來上班，以保持間距，但是畢竟是封閉式的辦公樓，還是有風險的。
謝謝C學者臨帖，祝健康平安!
cng 發表評論於
不過大樓這麽空曠，口罩不戴也罷。
cng 發表評論於
讚！ 贈暖冬一句大西洋月刊一篇口罩文的開篇辭：
In Rob Reiner’s 1987 cult comedy, The Princess Bride, Fezzik asks the mysterious man in black a question as they scuffle atop the Cliffs of Insanity: “Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid or something like that?” “Oh no,” replies the masked stranger, secretly a humble stable boy. “It’s just that they’re terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.”
回複 '魏薇' 的評論 : Thanks, 魏薇，for your kind words. I think I happened to buy some pea powder from a supermarkt, and don't know How to cook it (thinking of making cakes out of it.) Thanks for your Great idea and I will definitely Try it soon. Sometimes We are Not offered with many choices, and what We can do is make full use of scarcity. I am in the office now, and typing in English with the cell phone is slow and error-prone. I will just stop here, and many Thanks to you, my friend. I greatly appreciate your kindness! 對不起，魏薇，這支手機敲英文很不好用，我不多寫了，多謝你的惠顧，理解，建議和美言。祝你和兒子夏安!
I fully understood you. I talked about this topic with my friend 2 months ago. It will be a challenge for a lot of people, especially for people with young kids. It will take time to go back to previous normalcy, current un-normalcy( a word I created: ).
I would like to recommend a fast and healthy breakfast food: pea protein powder. I got it from Trader Joe’s and had it yesterday. It tasted very similar to soy bean powder. What you need to do is having boiling water poured into the powder. I bought the plain, unsweet version. I added a little bit sugar, the favor made me think rich soybean milk, very good!
I didn't expect you wearing glasses. Eyes are windows to heart, from your beautiful black eyes I saw part of your trait: persistent, kind, strong,dedicated ...祝好暖冬
回複 '思韻如藍' 的評論 : 思韻妹妹，you made my day! 你這麽誇我，我飄飄然了。其實自己的斤兩自己最清楚啊，哪裏有你說得這麽好啊，戴口罩不算的。我最致命的是矮啊，不像思韻妹妹那麽高挑頎長，所以我媽說還好沒有去的。其實父母都不矮，不知道這好的基因到我身上就不work了。思韻妹妹的基因好，所以大寶才有才上高中就很高個了，更不說其他才情了。我媽頭發早早就白了，所以我也是很早白的，現在不染，整個一片都是白的。思韻妹妹要染就染吧，確實能看上去年輕些。
還是在家上班比較安全，其實如果沒有這個病毒，我也不介意回去上班。但是現在警報並沒有解除的，這都急吼吼地全麵開放了。但願你們能一直在家上班。謝謝思韻妹妹的甜言蜜語，我照單全收了。順祝大寶高中學業進步，大小寶前程似錦!
看到水靈靈大眼睛的暖冬妹妹了，好高興啊！暖冬一盒酸奶，一個西紅柿，半個洋蔥，兩個牛油果，幾個新鮮杏子的午餐，好健康啊！妹妹身材當然苗條了！雖然戴兩口罩上班還是堅持要戴啊，實在悶，就戴一個醫用口罩。可以回公司上班是幸運的，這裏石油不景氣，很多大公司裁人無數，德州因Pademic 失業福利金下個月就停發了。。
Texas opting out of federal pandemic unemployment benefits effective June 26
This includes the $300 weekly unemployment check from federal officials
