Day 4
Not much new to say about today. It’s my second workday and just continuing
the routine; work upstairs, after work pass time reading, listening to music or
watching Netflix in my room, with mealtimes being my only trips
downstairs. It does get me thinking
about the people that complain they have to wear masks in the supermarket – oh boo
hoo. Any time I get fed up of wearing a
mask (such as 11 hours on a plain which got pretty tiresome) I just think what
it’s for, how many lives would have been lost if no one socially distanced and
wore masks? And then the doctors and
nurses, working ridiculous shifts wearing full PPE (if they were lucky enough
to get it) not just a loosely-fitting fabric mask for half an hour in Tesco. So I don’t complain about wearing a mask on
the few times a day that I see my parents.
Rant over.
The news continues to suggest uncertainty around when the
schools will go back, if the track and trace system is sufficient. I really hope they will be open when the
girls arrive, it would be such a shame if they arrive and we’re in lockdown so
all they do is swap a house in one country for a house in another!
Also frustrated waiting for news on my wife’s visa (long
story!) Hopefully not long to go…
Day 5
The thing about being in quarantine is that each day tends
to resemble the day before, except for the finer points of work. Still following the same routine, mask and
alcohol to go downstairs, stay long enough to eat and talk a bit, then back upstairs. Yawn…
Then there’s the news.
The Scottish schools are expected to start back soon, they’re the
priority over the catering industry, but in England, it seems the catering
industry is the priority. I guess it’s
because the school start in September in England, so they want to get the
economy moving. Though with the news
that Aberdeen is going into lockdown and cases are rising, who knows what’ll
happen next week, let alone September!
Fingers crossed.
Finally, had a video call with the Brazil crowd; the girls
are really excited to travel, bought some new headphones for the plane
(honestly can’t remember whether they had headphones available on my flight – I
used my own) and new comfortable shoes to travel.
Time for bed now, good night!
Day 6
Thursday. Wake,
shower, breakfast, work. Lunch, work,
dinner, tv, reading, bed. Each step divided
by hand sanitisation and wiping down surfaces.
Nearly halfway there!
Day 7
Halfway through the quarantine! Only 7 more days and then I’ll be free! Presuming COVID cases don’t increase,
starting a new lock down, of course…
Fingers crossed!
Today I did my paperwork for (re)starting with the UK branch
of my company. After years of Brazilian
bureaucracy, it was so much easier!
Instead of CPF, RNE, work booklet etc, I just need my national insurance
number. To sign up for the company
health plan, I just need to put my name, date of birth etc on the form, sign
and return it. And I could digitally
sign it! No more going to the office to
fill out a dozen forms by hand, each one with my name, my wife’s name,
dependents, address, parents all the numbers in existence then signing them so
they have it in original ink! Andy
holidays when I want (within the limits, of course) but crucially
flexible! No more blocks of 20, 25 or 10
days, no more collective holiday, just a simple, common sense solution where
I’m trusted to make the right decisions for myself! On Monday, I wrote about feeling
institutionalised; now, on Friday, I feel free!
Day 8
It’s Saturday, and
I’m now past the halfway point, 6 days to go!
The only problem is that being the weekend, I don’t have work to occupy
me, so I worked out a strategy. Start
off lying on my bed listening to a podcast, switch to my office for a bit of
sketching, a bit of tv then back to my bedroom to read for a bit. Swapping room from time to time and a cuppa
to keep me going! And a bit of time
looking at cars. When my quarantine ends
and I go to find a house, I’ll need transport so it’s back to the car hunt. That will use up some time!
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