More Sheltered-in-Place: Week 2

#StayAtHomeDiaries
Day7--Day 1 of week 2

Last Monday was Day 0. The pre-apocalyptic heaviness was palpable in the air. It was the afternoon before the "shelter-in-place" order was to take effect midnight onwards. As if time was about to run out. "Desperation shopping" is not my style. So I didn't go to the grocery store for toilet paper stockpiling. Eventually I just had to come back home. And then the sky broke down. Gravel sized hails came down to white out the greenery of the backyard lawn! Talk about dramatic catharsis!

Compare that with this Monday afternoon. Today I am celebrating my first true "Work-from-home-in-your-pajama day", as there were no video calls scheduled for the whole day. Had a mundanely productive day. Simulated the drive time routine of listening to audiobooks by pacing around in the backyard for 45 minutes with earphones on. Was not making progress with the audiobooks at all last week because of lack of actual commute time. At least now I can say that I took some steps to compensate for the lack of progress.

And oh yes, the crowning glory of my achievement today is remembering to haul the trash bins to the curb even before the meticulous next door neighbors hauled theirs! I am not running after the garbage truck two Tuesday mornings in a row. :-)

#ContrastInTheTimeOfCOVID

#StayAtHomeDiaries
Day 8--Day 2 of week 2

Today was exhausting. Had to tackle a lot of short-fuse work amidst intermittent broadband outages at home. Today was also the day when at one end of the age spectrum, the young climate icon Greta Thunberg said that she may have had COVID-19 and is now cured thanks to self-isolation, and on the other end, the legendary comic-book artist Albert Uderzo died at 92, and his family felt the need to release an official statement saying that his death had no relation with the coronavirus.
The one thing that has helped me calm myself down amidst this internal and external turbulence is sheer data, its visualization, and its use in mathematical modeling. I almost never check the stock market numbers and graphs. But now I have bookmarked Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center's dashboard, and check that multiple times a day. My eyes automatically go to the green number at the top right corner that indicates how many people have recovered, because those are the "empowered" human beings with immunity against this lethal virus. With the Bay area's numbers showing perceptible signs of containment, I remain hopeful that we will emerge stronger than ever with the added strength of immunity to the detrimental effects of this ubiquitous virus.
#DataInTheTimeOfCOVID

#StayAtHomeDiaries
Day 9--Day 3 of week 2
Romeo and Juliet edition

New York City is reeling as the epicenter of COVID in the US now. Broadway is closed. Thousands of people nationwide whose livelihood depends on performing arts are in crisis. In a press conference today President Trump had to defend his decision to donate $25 million stimulus for the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts in Washington DC to survive the coronavirus-related closure. "I’d [have loved] to see 'Romeo and Juliet' tonight," he said. "[But] you couldn't go there if you wanted to."
While the president has to wait to see Romeo and Juliet, I had the privilege of catching a glimpse of my teenage son discussing Romeo and Juliet with his classmates during his remote learning English class this morning. Kudos to his high school for resuming teaching via Zoom videoconferencing. He has chosen the downstairs nook as his study area, because we are using the upstairs rooms as our home offices. His gaming headset with an extended mouthpiece is now coming in handy for actual learning. He does not always approve of me taking his picture these days. But I had to take at least one paparazzi shot for archival's sake.
The students have to write their opinion on whether Romeo and Juliet is still relevant to teach in the 21st century. I remember my son said during one of our dog walks that he can't believe how stupid both Romeo and Juliet were. "Teenagers are way smarter these days. They don't do so many foolish things as Romeo and Juliet did." This was just before the pandemic became serious. I wonder if he has changed his opinion now that we see that the youngsters celebrating spring break in Florida disobeying the stay-at-home orders, and getting sick in hoards.
I guess some things don't change even when centuries change. Lovesick hearts break curfews and die.
#ShakespeareInTheTimeOfCOVID

#StayAtHomeDiaries
Day 10--Day 4 of week 2

US now has the dubious distinction of being the nation with the most COVID-19 cases, surpassing China and Italy. Almost sounds like a race to top the Olympics medal tally. Except the Olympics has been postponed by a whole year. I feel so bad for the athletes who have been training with the aim of achieving the peak performance just in the right time for the Olympics. But at the same time, I am also thankful that more laypeople are turning to physical exercise to deal with the restrictions of the shelter-in-place order.
I found myself doing stretches in my home office. Our poor doggy is literally tired of accompanying all of us to multiple walks during different times of the day. My son's school requires the students to submit a physical exercise log periodically. So he is running in the neighborhood. And with lighter academic load during this remote learning time, he has ample time to research on YouTube how to improve his stamina during running. Today, during running, he tried the "diaphragmatic breathing" technique that is mostly associated with yoga (pranayam). He came back super excited because he felt less tired even after running longer! Without even realizing, he has hybridized the Eastern technique of deep breathing with the Western concept of running for fitness. Another incidental way the coronavirus has made the world borderless.

#EastMeetsWestInTheTimeOfCOVID

#StayAtHomeDiaries
Day 11--Day 5 of week 2

Successfully finished the second week of work-from-home. The rhythm has more or less set in. Work-walk-work-walk sequence is working. And the best thing is that on the hobby front, I have graduated from learning emoji to learning "memoji"---all from my tennis friends! So no complaints, at least for today.

#GraduationInTheTimeofCOVID

#StayAtHomeDiaries
Day 12--Day 6 of week 2
Monitor: A Love Story!

Many of my friends would get the not-so-subtle reference to the 2017 Bollywood movie, "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha" (English translation: "Toilet: A Love Story") (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet:_Ek_Prem_Katha) in the title of today's blog entry. In that movie, the husband made installing a toilet at their rural home his mission because the wife complained about the lack of proper sanitary bathroom in their traditional household. Well, in real life, when the lawyer wife complained about a single monitor not being as effective as the dual monitor setup at work for writing her patent applications, the Google engineer husband solves the problem by buying a giant widescreen gaming monitor online and installing it in the weekend so that the wife does not have any excuse to be less productive while working-from-home next week.

#ModernLoveInTheTimeOfCOVID

#StayAtHomeDiaries
Day 13--Day 7 of week 2

About 5 years back I first started seeing these little free libraries in front of people's houses in Palo Alto. They started appearing in Cupertino may be a year later. This one by the side of a trail that leads to the rail track from our house may be less than a year old. Not that I have always paid attention to what books are there inside the tiny library, but lately I have been paying attention, because I pass by the library every day during my walk with the dog in these "shelter-in-place" days. While the time is ripe to pick a good book and read, sadly I have not been seeing any change in the books for the past couple of days. I guess people are just afraid of touching books left in a public place. Today I felt genuinely sad for the books. Though I know from the data that the crisis is far from over, I so pray this whole thing to be over so that an eager reader can pick a book up or leave one in without the fear of contracting the virus! :-(

#UntouchedInTheTimeOfCOVID

Work/Life Balance?

#StayAtHomeDiaries
Day 6--Sunday

The day started with our firm's Chairman asking for our thoughts on whether to keep people working or tell them to stop. This is especially relevant for the domestic employees who work at your home. It was nice to engage in a direct conversation with the head of the firm first thing in the morning.

At 1 PM, there was another unique experience. The firm's Tech Group leader invited everyone in the group to a virtual tour on art history given by a colleague who earned a master’s degree in modern art from Christie’s Auction House before her legal career. The idea was to appreciate the fact that your colleagues have more facets to them than just their legal talent.

At 3 PM, I had a mentorship phone call with a neighbor's daughter who is contemplating a career switch from neurobiology to patent law.

Feels like I have done more professionally related work this "shelter-in-place" Sunday than any recent Sundays before the pandemic became real. The reality is surreally warped now. The compartmentalization that I so religiously tried to maintain between my weekday routine ("go to office and work there") and weekend ("do not work and spend time with family") has become totally blurred.

In some way, it seems like we are in a time-space continuum right now. Managers are scrambling to find out what emotionally clicks with people who are stressed. Employees are getting to know their managers' emotional landscape better. Just like we are all trying to keep our homes safe, the leaders of the workforce are trying to keep the workplace going. It is a humbling and sobering experience indeed.

And before you get too worried for me working too hard in the weekend, rest assured I am not. I chatted with my siblings (in India and US) and my tennis buddies, hiked 5 miles with my family this morning, helped my son cook an awesome meat stew with lots of vegetables this afternoon, and in the evening, the three of us watched the 1995 movie "Outbreak" on Netflix (go watch it again if you haven't recently). So we are doing everything possible to stay safe, stay relaxed and thrive.

#WorkLifeBalanceInTheTimeOfCOVID

The Accidental Trendsetter

Every Saturday morning I call Sabita-di, the loyal caretaker of my parental house in my hometown in India. She used to take care of my parents when they were alive. After my mom passed away in December 2012, she was the only constant companion of my 80+-year old dad until dad passed away in December 2015. Sabita-di was like dad's daughter who he could count on a daily basis while we, dad's illustrious children, were dispersed all over the world. Now we count on Sabita-di to preserve our home. She makes going home every winter worth it.

Sabita-di does not step out much. She just goes to the market for grocery shopping. Then she stays in. She tends to the garden. She talks to the birds and the street dogs who come in to our garden. She watches TV.

The routine sounds familiar? I guess the whole world is now forced to adopt this routine that Sabita-di has been following for more than four years now. Who knew this simple woman who came from the village 18 years ago, and became a family member, would be the most prepared to combat COVID-19 without having to disrupt her life! When I told this to her during the phone call this morning, the sparkle in her laughter on the other end of the line sounded extra-happy. And that made my whole day!
#AccidentalTrendSetterInTheTimeOfCOVID

A Stay-At-Home Work Week in the Time of COVID-19

Day 0

At 1 PM, San Francisco mayor London Breed and five county public health officials simultaneously announced that the whole San Francisco Bay Area will be under "shelter-in-place" mandatory lockdown stage for at least the next three weeks. Went to office one last time today to bring my plants home. Somebody's got to water them and keep them alive!

Day1

The first full day under the mandatory "shelter-in-place" order. We don't have to go to work today (even if we want to, because working-from-home can be distracting). So I was sleeping in a little longer. Until I heard the garbage truck's signature engine sound. Of course the garbage collector had to do his round extra-early this very day! Murphy's Law in action.
Panic!! Forgot to place the garbage bins at the curb last night!!! I ran downstairs in my pajamas to take the bins out. But alas! Too late! The garbage truck has already driven past our house and moved on to two houses down our street. But I don't play tennis and chase those fugitive balls for nothing! I literally chased the garbage truck lugging my trash bin with me. The driver saw me in his rear view mirror and stopped. Long story short---my garbage bin is cleared for this week. And I got to socially interact with the garbage truck driver for the first time in my life---from the safe distance of more than 6 feet, recommended by the county public health officials, i.e. without compromising anybody's safety.  #smallvictories#SafeSocializationInTheTimeOfCOVID

Day2

After a long day of staying at home (work-from-home for me and my husband; no school for our son), this is the family conversation:

Husband (sounding tired): "I badly need a walk, man!"
Me (pulling his leg): "You badly need a walkman?" (smiles)
Son (genuine question): "What is a walkman?"

#HumorInTheTimeOfCOVID

Day 3

Every day is “bring your pet to work day” now. As much as they love their human friends, I bet the pets love to hang out with their own kind too. After all how much of multiple humans yapping over multiple video calls at different corners of the house can one take! This morning, I found Biscuit by the door, eagerly waiting to get out, hoping to bump into his neighborhood friends. Currently there is no evidence that your animal can become ill with COVID-19 or that they can spread it to other animals or people. (https://kstp.com/…/can-your-pet-get-coronavirus-he…/5678711/). 
But it becomes an interesting gymnastics when the human owners have to maintain a 6 feet social distance between themselves, but the dogs want to play with each other. We are definitely living through a very weirdly unique time when everyone is feeling connected with others more than ever because of this unifying threat, but is denied the well-known social gestures of proximity. #SocialExperimentInTheTimeOfCOVID #PetsInTheTimeOfCOVID

Day 4

"Creativity must have these pregnant phases of nothingness to retool its cradle, i.e., your brain." I am recycling my own words from an old blog (http://mblogger-detritus.blogspot.com/…/07/ode-to-boredom.h…) that I wrote back in 2013. Right now all of us are a little on the edge, a little bored, a little frustrated. But I can see that the creative juices are starting to flow. One of my friends ended up painting Van Gogh's Starry Nights. (Yes, I am talking about you, Melissa Agrillo :-)). An ex-colleague said she is finally decorating her new home. While walking around the block with my dog, I see neighbors' gardens are looking extra-beauitiful.
The urge to learn something new, or at least improve on something that I already know the basics of, is a constant for me. But these days, that urge is way more keen, because of the forced deprivation of the sensory overload that our regular life throws at us. Still, I was a little surprised myself when the first "creative" pursuit that I picked up this week is learning emoji. We trivialize emojis, but it is one of the most cutting-edge areas of law (https://abovethelaw.com/…/02/is-emoji-law-going-to-be-a-th…/ Professor Eric Goldman--couldn't resist a shout out to you). And thanks to my tennis buddy Sony, who is the most savvy emoji user in my friends' circle, patiently teaching me, the world of emojis is finally opening up to me. I am thrilled to discover that you can communicate so effectively when you know how to use the right emojis, and for that matter, the vast repertoire of other non-textual tools, including graphics and memes. For a mid-lifer who has a very strong preference for the classic manner of communication through written words only, this is nothing short of a miracle. So in a very convoluted way, thank you COVID-19 and social distancing. #RenaissanceInTheTimeOfCOVID

Home

The email from the chairman of the firm addressed to all employees across all the offices of the firm came at 12:21 pm Pacific time. Everyone is required to work from home tomorrow, Friday, the 13^th of March, 2020 because of the looming COVID-19 threat.

While I wholeheartedly support the decision to “test out”—at least for a day—the firm’s ability to provide uninterrupted client service based on a 100% remote workforce if need be, I am not looking forward to tomorrow. Call me not progressive, but I hate working from home.  (And I may not be the only one with this view.) Home is for living. Office is for working. The boundaries get blurred based on necessity, but my preference for compartmentalizing home and office does not fundamentally change.

In the last few days when the world is grappling with the very real dangers caused by the coronavirus outbreak, I have experienced some unexpected moments of joy. The joy of counting our blessings that no business trip is planned in near future for either of us. The joy of the rush hour commute time being cut into half because of less traffic on road. The joy of seeing the introvert IT person suddenly being everyone’s hero because everyone has question about remote work arrangements. The joy of practicing the mandated “social distancing” while emotionally bonding with like-minded friends and coworkers. And above all, the bittersweet joy of realizing how similarly vulnerable we are as a human race under the ubiquitous equalizing power of a pandemic.

Curiously enough, the exact moment when this blog was conceived was not necessarily a moment of joy, but a precious moment of sadness caused by separation anxiety. I have a container garden of mini succulents in my office. I water them every Friday. While leaving office this afternoon after making sure that I have all the things that I need to effectively work from home tomorrow, I suddenly remembered that nobody would be there to water the succulents tomorrow. So I watered them—one day ahead of schedule. I felt their gratitude. I am so glad I did not have to socially distance myself from my little green friends.

I don’t know if we will be allowed to work from office next week. But I know for sure that I will go back to my office at least one more time before next Friday to bring my little green friends home if the work-from-home mandate continues indefinitely.

________________

Post Script on March 16, 2020: Went to office one last time today to bring my plants home. The whole San Francisco Bay Area will be under "shelter-in-place" mandatory lockdown stage for the next three weeks.