What's On My Mind
“How long is this going to last for?”
I called in sick on Wednesday due to itchy throat/dry cough and slight body ache. I could’ve kept my symptoms on the down-low by simply by taking Tylenol. But my conscience didn’t let me – I didn’t want to be that guy who infected everyone in the office.
I’ve always had this thought whenever I hear someone cough or blow their nose, “Man…go home. There’s more to life than work. This has nothing to do with how committed you are to work.”
Due to the pandemic, I needed to come clean about my symptoms. My work advised me to stay at home until I get a confirmation from my doctor that it’s safe for me to go back. However, I didn’t get to chat with my doctor. I was immediately advised to contact Healtlinks (for any COVID-19 related questions).
There are long wait times for Healthlinks. So I skipped that step and tried this app my sister sent me. It’s called “Maple” – an app that allows you to talk to a doctor online. It’s free for a limited time [link here]. I waited for 8-minutes to chat with a doctor. The diagnosis? Cough. Then I was advised to self-isolate for 14 days.
14 days did not sit well with my supervisor. He advised that I contact Healthlinks for a more “legit” direction.
I called Healthlinks and waited for about 20-minutes (not bad). I was advised that I’m not at risk for COVID-19 and that I can go back to work as soon as my symptoms are gone. *Phew*
It’s Day 5 (since I called in sick) and I’m still not well.
I don’t have an itchy throat anymore, so no coughing there. But my nose is now clogged and my eyes keep tearing. I promised my boss I should be at my 100% by Monday – but it seems like that isn’t going to happen anymore…fk!
Weekly Update
Personal Projects
Not much is done here. However, I started taking an interest in learning how to read faster. This would help me go through technical requirements faster. The faster I read, the faster I can catch up with my projects.
I signed up for Jim Kwik’s [webinar] to learn more but I didn’t find much value in it. I ended up going with Tim Ferris’s approach [watch here].
I thought I could use my sick days to be more productive in working on my side projects but when you’re sick – you don’t feel that same motivation to be productive.
Routine
The rest of my weekday was treated like a weekend. That means, spending time with Lexi even when I wasn’t feeling too well. She was probably immune to it already because she was also sick a few weeks ago before the COVID-19 became pandemic.
No one else is sick at home but me. I might have been the last one to acquire whatever flu my dad, fiancee, and daughter had.
So how did I spend my Saturday? I stayed in the basement and played God of War to my heart’s content.
I would read and write once in a while but I find it too hard to focus and produce quality work.
Watching my fiancee do all the work creates this guilt – the feeling of being unable to do anything.
Ok, I get a pass because I’m sick. I get it. It’s just that I rarely get sick. But when I get sick – the sickness comes hard at me, to a point where I would curse Life for being unmerciful.
Work makes me feel productive because I know I’ve done something. It relieves me from that guilt. BUT just the fact that I didn’t go to work makes me feel like I’m on vacation even though that is not the case.
Finance
Well, layoffs are unavoidable. When the company doesn’t make money, where are they gonna get the funds to pay its employees?
This week, some of my team members were TEMPORARILY laid off. I was also notified that we will now work with reduced hours.
I wanted to say I’m not scared of getting laid off. But the fact that people have been laid off makes me feel like I can’t miss work anymore.
If I don’t work, I don’t provide any value to the company.
This just fn sucks but it’s understandable.
This COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world. The change is considered to be temporary, but it seems like it’s going to be permanent.
Find more of my work here, here and here