It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote in the blog even though I’m isolated at my mum’s house due to the Corona Virus. My lack of writing has been down to not having an established routine. I was also “working” with no work to do so felt guilty for being unproductive during the day. With little to work on for my job I ended up playing a lot of online chess. I would also get up just before my morning team meeting so wasn’t best prepared for the day.
On Friday 29th March I was furloughed by my company due to COVID-19. Strangely this came as a shock even though I knew work for almost all my colleagues had dried up and I hadn’t had anything to work on for over a week. 66% of the company were put on furlough. I felt strange for the rest of the day and it took the majority of the weekend for it to sink in. My last official day working was Tuesday 31st.
On Wednesday I fully embraced being funemployed and spent the majority of the day in bed playing football manager and Civilization 5.
Thursday was the first day that I brought some routine back in to my life. It started well by getting up before 8am and having a shower and then taking the dog out for a walk with mum. This set me up for the rest of the day – I felt positive and productive. I devised a day plan for my mum and we highlighted all the things she wanted to achieve. One thing that came up was learning to play the piano. I gave her a lesson that day on the C Major scale. I was impressed at how quickly she picked it up.
I was maybe a bit ambitious with my day plan, bringing in stretching, weights, cardio, reading and writing – I ended up hardly doing any of it as it was too much to introduce at one time. So after having a productive morning I then ended up spending most of the afternoon on computer games.
On Friday I got up, showered and then took the dog out again with my mum. We had another piano lesson and I spent some time going over the basics so that I could demonstrate what I was teaching. Again, the afternoon was spent playing computer games.
Saturday saw me get up and showered again and I took the dog out. Every morning this routine is becoming easier. I enjoy the peacefulness of the trees and the slight exercise wakes me up for the day. I practiced the piano but there was no lesson for mum today. Dulcie’s friend Tao had fallen out with her mum so came to live with us. It was also Tao’s birthday. Late in the afternoon, Lana and I found the tennis rackets and did our best at putting together a few rallies on the court. Neither of us were very good and I could really tell how much my fitness had dropped. That evening Maddy and James (Lana’s friends) organised a Zoom pub quiz with over 20 participants. I had a couple of beers and a couple of glasses of prosecco.
That brings us up to today. My usual dog walking routine was delayed by an hour as my mum took a long time to get out of bed. The sky is blue and clear and it’s starting to feel warm again. As the dog’s walk was ending I stayed out to do the Old Willies’ warm-up routine in the walled garden. Even though this is just a warm up my body felt weak and rusty. At the end of the session I struggled to do 10 press ups – but I felt good for getting outside and moving my body – motion is lotion, Mr Holmes.
Once back inside, I felt motivated to go on the rowing machine. I managed to do 1km in 3:45 which is 15 seconds longer than what I consider to be my par time. From looking at my notes, it’s nearly been a month since I last went to the gym. I’m confident I can get back to the 3:30 time within a week or two.
That brings us up to date. My plan for the rest of the day is to read more of Nudge, research what to teach my mum next on the piano and give her a lesson. As it is so nice outside I am also going to play a bit of tennis with whoever else is keen.
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