Thanks for continuing to read and comment on my extremely random posts! I always look forward to interacting with you all, but especially now!
COVID-19 has affected my industry (interior office architecture) in many ways, one of them being that people are taking a second look at the trendy “open office” concept. Some of my teammates and I have been tasked with looking in to office solutions for how to get people back to work safely, and guess what? It’s difficult when you need 6′-0″ between everyone – the open office trend doesn’t easily support that. (Don’t get me wrong – I love working in an open office and being that close to people… the one day a week I am usually in the office.)
(When I started work after college I worked in an open office, and didn’t care for it. I was so excited to get my own 8’x8′ cubicle when I started work where I am now! Then, we started working at home, and they transformed our office (several times) providing hotelling stations and lots of reservable options. Now I am totally fine with working in an open office!)
Oh my gosh. I was really worried about looking at the amount of money in my 403(b) (similar to a 401(k)) with what is going on in the market. I finally looked at it, and realized a mistake I made years ago means it was barely affected. That mistake being 100% of my money was going in to highly secure funds. I changed the allocations when I realized what was going on, but didn’t move the majority of the money out of that funding. I don’t know what I am doing and should hire a financial advisor.
Our governor announced a five-phased plan to reopen Illinois (pdf here) yesterday. It gives me relief to see a plan in place, and it looks like we will be social distancing and wearing face coverings until the final phase. Thanks to Diane for sharing this link on Facebook.
Have you been getting fewer robocalls? I definitely got a lot less of them in March and April. They seem to be picking up now (three yesterday afternoon), which is inline with what this article (pdf here) says – we got fewer calls because the call centers shut down, but it’ll pick back up in May.
We haven’t done a single puzzle since we’ve been on our stay-at-home order! (We did a bunch of them in the winter, though.) Instead, I’ve been doing these paint by sticker books. Here are the four I’ve completed so far:
I also have another cat one, a bird one, and a “by the sea” one. I find these sticker books relaxing, and I figure doing them is better than mindlessly scrolling on my phone (don’t worry, I still make time for that!!!).
I credit Homeland for a lot of our stay-at-home happiness. We look forward to taking our lunch break together (that is not new – we’ve been doing that for years), and watching a show we enjoy makes lunch break even better. At the beginning of our stay-at-home order we started The Wire, but it was the wrong vibe. Homeland is so much better. Thank you, Homeland!
We had our first encounter where there was a line to get in to a store. Steven went to Menards Sunday to get roof stuff and there was a line of about 15-20 people waiting to get in. (It was a really nice day and I suspect people were getting yard stuff.) He didn’t wait, and went Monday instead. Has anyone else had to wait in line to get in a store? I haven’t, but have been bringing my Kindle to Aldi in case it happens there.
Bobbi very kindly asks if I need anything each week when she gets groceries, and I always tell her extremely crucial things. Like, last time, it was Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos. Ha. I had added them to my delivery from Woodman’s and Walmart but they were unavailable at both places that week. Bobbi was able to get me three bags at Woodman’s though. YAY!
These should last a few days
And… more food thoughts. You were warned!
- As we get takeout less and less, I realize there just aren’t that many places I like to eat out/get takeout from.
- We are running the dishwasher every other day, and sometimes more. Is everyone else running their dishwasher more?
- Since I am not snacking all day long (knock on wood) I am hungry for dinner a lot earlier, and since we have nothing going on, we eat a lot earlier… then go to bed a lot earlier! I love it! My new natural wake-up time is 5:00 am (which is common for me as the sun rises earlier in the late spring), and I don’t feel too horrible getting up then since we are going to bed earlier (that will get harder as the sun sets later and later).
- I have only had one alcoholic drink this entire stay-at-home order. Drinking at home (or out, really) isn’t my thing.
We’re definitely running the dishwasher more. I guess that comes with eat home more. I have to say that I’ve been indulging in more adult beverages. Not over indulging usually, but before I would only have a drink on the weekends if I went out. We never drank at home. But now, I’ve been having a glass of wine or a beer with dinner.
They definitely go hand in hand!
That is fun! Have you done any cocktails? I just saw a recipe yesterday for a “Chai Me a River” that piqued my interest! https://www.shape.com/recipe/chai-me-a-river
That chai cocktail sounds delicious! I made a strawberry mint simple syrup and we’re been using that in cocktails. I used that in a vodka tonic and Mike used it with a peanut butter whisky.
Oh yum! That sounds good!
I was just listening to a podcast that mentioned a PB whisky today! It sounds intriguing! Do you like it too?
I’m very interested in what changes we’re going to make at my office since we are not only an open office but many of our staff don’t have laptops so they can’t work in meeting rooms or away from their desks!
I love “paint by sticker” books. I have two but want more. Did you find them on Amazon?
We’re definitely running the dishwasher more often. Eating all three meals at home (plus snacks) uses so many dishes. Thank goodness we have a dishwasher!
So far the only store I’ve been in is Mariano’s and, to be honest, they are not doing much to change. They put up signs saying that they may restrict the number of people in the store but I haven’t seen anyone enforcing it. Hence no line.
Oh wow! Your staff still has computers with towers? Yeah, I am curious to hear what they will do too. Keep me posted!
Which ones do you have? Yes, Amazon, and Target.com!
Yeah, when I posted that I was thinking how grateful I am to have one. One of my coworkers does not. HORROR.
Ha, I hope that it never gets too crowded there and you don’t have to wait or feel stressed about shopping so close to other people!
Yes, the dreaded line at Menards. We are in Des Moines and went to get mulch a couple of weeks ago. The line was too long so I went back the next day. We almost had to wait at Trader Joes… Oh, and cannot forget Costco! Gaaa. Hate lines.
We are running the dishwasher ALL OF THE TIME. I have two teenage daughters and with four of us eating (almost) every meal at home, we are running it every 4 to 5 meals. (Yes, I counted yesterday.)
I am a commercial real estate developer and it will be very interesting to see what office changes come about as the result of Covid-19. Nationwide, which has a large presence in Des Moines, announced today that it is closing offices in their smaller markets and having all employees work from home. I would not be surprised to see other large employers (Principal, etc.) do the same. One thing we will be sure to do is make sure that adequate internet is installed in ALL residential units. We are also looking at more coworking space. Some employees might be told to work from home by their employers but for some reason chose not to and they will be looking for safe options out of the home.
The lines sound annoying, but I really feel like Menards has been doing a great job with implementing social distancing and face coverings early! I heard about the TJ’s lines but I didn’t know they did it at Costco too! It’s interesting Iowa has stores following their national policy when Iowa itself hasn’t had much of a policy (or have they, finally? I am from the Waterloo area so I have been trying to follow what is going on there.)
Ha! I am surprised you are only running it every 4-5 meals with four of you!!!! How are they handling being home?
So Nationwide is doing that until there is a vaccine, or, forever? I can see going either way. It is going to be VERY interesting to see what happens to commercial space, especially coworking spaces. The ones I have visited in Chicago don’t seem like they’d meet fire code, let alone social distancing. I wonder if these will be permanent changes in the real estate landscape, or temporary.
Ooh, that makes so much sense about open office concepts! I know my company is looking into setting up our office to make it more remote-friendly (i.e., a less structured cubicle environment). I haaaate the open office concept, though, because I like the seclusion of a cubicle, haha.
I haven’t encountered any lines, but then again, I’m only going to my grocery store and typically only on Saturday mornings when it’s much less crowded. Almost everyone wears masks, though, so that’s good!
I feel the same way about takeout. I’m still ordering it a lot (because I’m lazy), but usually disappointed by it. And it’s so expensive! Argh.
I don’t use my dishwasher (it would take me forever to fill it up since it’s just me!), but I do notice that I’m needing to get dish soap way more often! It’s now almost a weekly purchase!
I’m not much of a drinker, but I’m finding I am enjoying having a White Claw once a week. (Well, when it doesn’t make me break out in hives, sigh!) It’s a fun little treat for a Friday night now. 🙂
You will have to keep me posted what your office does. If you have cubicles now, it seems better to keep them, for social distancing AND for the type of work you do!
That is great almost everyone is wearing masks! I am still only seeing about 50% wearing them out here, but I shop over the state border in WI and I have NO idea if they are mandatory there like in IL!
Ugh, that stinks you are disappointed in the takeout. It never tastes as good as IN the restaurant, imo!
I need to try a White Claw at some point! It’s like a hard seltzer?
We have also noticed that we are running the dishwasher more frequently because we are home all the time. Our grocery bills are also higher, partially because of added delivery costs and because we’re eating more meals at home (like, all of our lunches).
I’m glad you have a plan for re-opening, it helps to have some things to visualize! I realized that I’ve been worried about reopening because I don’t know what it will look like and whether I’ll be able to handle it (versus now, which I *generally* feel like I can handle day-to-day with only minor disruptions and worry).
I think I told you this, but our company announced recently that we weren’t going to going back to the (open) office until the end of July, at the earliest. And today we announced that our major annual conference, which had been postponed until the end of September, is going to go fully online. I’m not sure what the open office will look like when it does finally re-open!
Were your lunches provided at your offices before? I should really look at our Feb vs March and April grocery bills. We have the added delivery cost too, and sometimes I order two of something instead of one since I am paying for delivery and have room to store two!
That is exactly how having a plan made me feel! Does CA have something like that yet? I hope when you get it, it eases your worry.
I wonder if you guys will even be back in July!!! I bet it will get pushed back. I am starting to doubt if we will be in our office this summer, at all. You and I are both lucky we are used to WAH and are equipped to!
I wonder if my bosses will reconsider the open office format we have in part of my office. I’ll miss it. I’ve really grown to love it. Never thought I would.
There was also a Doctor from Northwestern Medicine who suspects we’ll be in phase 2 for a year. Ugh.
We haven’t done any puzzles either. I have no idea why not.
The only place we’ve hit lines have been Home Depot.
Finally, we are also running our dishwasher more. Maybe 2-3 times per week. They say it’s better because a dishwasher runs 3-4 gallons per cycle but hand washing dishes is 4 gallons per few minutes. But I suspect that cost savings may be offset by the energy needed to run the dishwasher and the cost of detergent.
Keep us posted on what they do at work! I hope you get to keep it since you love it, and that someday, it goes back to how it was.
Oh gosh, a year? LOL. We have a lot of cases in Chicagoland, so that isn’t too shocking of a prediction.
What is the biggest puzzle Nathan has done? Do you somehow have a ton of Star Wars ones like me? Sigh. Let me know if you need some Star Wars puzzles shipped your way 😉 (I am not joking – I will send them.)
Oh wow! That is good to know about running the dishwasher vs handwashing. I bet you are right about the power and detergent. Just stuff that dishwasher really full to make it count 😉
While the big thing was hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer, I should have been stocking up on dishwasher pods and trash bags because holy moly are we going through these! Yes, we run the dishwasher every day. Kind of wish I’d bought paper plates too, haha. Not really, I like our Fiestaware. 🙂
I didn’t think about cubicles but yeah, that’s an issue for distancing, isn’t it? Very cool that you are working on solutions for that.
I have paint by sticker books too. I like them because they are quicker to finish than a jigsaw puzzle, so I trade off between them.
I wonder if you are predicting the next shortage! When we do our summer trip with Gina and fam we buy a big stack of paper plates to use. Wasteful, but we’re cooking big meals and we already have all those pots and pans and etc to clean up. Paper plates make it so much easier. I’d love using your Fiestaware though!
Thanks! The solution I was coming up with was for something pretty neat and it’s exciting I get to do things like this, working for the government!
Have you had any faves? I am liking one brand the best because the stickers are the stickiest and fit in their spots perfectly!