One day at a time

Here we are again, lock down!! Although it has a new name - Circuit Breaker! 7 days across the whole state of Victoria, so back to working at home and not going out further than 5 km for shopping. It is disappointing, although not surprising that we have gone back to another lockdown. After spending a day in the office having to wear a mask, stay at home is much more preferable and I am glad that I don't have to use public transport at the moment. I will be taking a care package to my elderly aunt to make sure she is okay during the lock down (sorry I mean circuit break!). Work is remarkably slow at the moment, in a normal year I would have been in the UK by now and I usually take around a month off work, but at the moment, it looks like even my trip to Hobart later this month is in doubt, depending on what Tasmania does when the lock down (circuit break) is lifted. There is no point going down there if we are required to quarantine for longer than the planned break. We've had ...

There has been a complete change of pace at work, from completely hectic to completely dead. With the completion of the budget, there is now a pause before the next product until July. I have started preparing for the next products, but there is a limit that I can prepare before closer to the date of the products. I am now going to be taking four trips outside Victoria, with trips to Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide and Christchurch now all booked. Apart from New Zealand, there is no other countries that we can travel to at the moment and international borders are likely to remain closed until 2022. I am eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination here due to my age, but since I recently had a flu vaccination then I have to wait at least 14 days before getting the COVID one. I will probably get it, but there isn't much urgency here to do it since there is very little local transmission at the moment (unless one of the new variants gets into the country). I have been waking up early to watch the ...

It's strange how quickly life returns to "normal". I am now regularly working three days in the office and two at home. The commute is still relatively pleasant with few on the trains in the morning, although the evening trains are more like they used to be. I have been feeling miserable again, but I think that is due to work and the changes that keep happening with the product that I am working on, and the timetable that expects people to work over the weekends, it's basically built into it. I don't like it when I am not given time to finalise my work to the degree that I am satisfied with. I have to just get things done and hope they are acceptable. I did weaken and made a totally impulsive purchase of another smart watch, this one is supposed to have NFC payments via Google but I am yet to see it work and the battery life has not been very impressive but I have only just started using it so maybe it will improve. The Eurovision Song Contest kicks off soon but t...

It's been a disappointing week. I'm sending back my replacement computer because I don't like it. Hopefully they will give me a refund. I have reset it back to factory settings. I liked my old computer far more and will be looking for something similar to replace it rather than the latest version. I haven't done any work this weekend, which feels strange. I should have enjoyed the break but I'm not enjoying my work at the moment so are not looking forward to Monday. The weekend was pleasant. Saturday was spent with my elderly aunt and it was a long day but the lunch was nice and she accepted the new phone easily. Sunday was frustrating. Brunch took forever for the food to arrive and shopping was so busy I didn't bother buying anything. The highlight of the week would be the radio program. It was the station's radiothon week and we managed to raise over $2000 during our show.

 This week has not been a good one for me.  So it started off with a minor road accident, when someone drove into the back on my car. We exchanged details and I was able to put my claim in online and organise for my car to be assessed and fixed. I took it in on Tuesday and after a few failed attempts with Uber, I picked it up on Friday (repaired!). Then I also fell over and rolled my ankle and the same day I discovered my mac mini had died. I ordered a replacement which wasn't cheap. Plus I have had a frustrating time trying to get someone to fix my aunt's phone. But on the COVID side, it's still not clear what is happening with the vaccinations, as they are restricting who gets the AZ jab because of the blood clotting issue. At least my family in the UK have been released from lock down and can meet up (even if it is only outside). 

I had the first week of three days in the office and it went smoothly, although meetings are proving to be a challenge (we don't have the right set up in the meeting rooms). Still waiting for information on what adjustments need to be held centrally but apparently this should be coming soon (someone suggested they would be available on Sunday!). Other big news was the passing of Prince Philip. The ABC sent out lots of notifications but not many from the BBC. I realised that my dad and aunt are part of a rare generation, the one that lived through the WWII.  From Friday, workplaces and indoor entertainment venues can have 100% occupancy. So can expect even more people on the trains and in the CBD. I hope that we can hang on to the advances that we have achieved during lockdown in working remotely.

Went to the office twice this week and saw more people in the office. It is nice not having to wear a mask when shopping but I wish more people would wear them on the trains. Thankfully the trains haven't been very busy and on Thursday they were unusually quiet. Easter weekend so a long weekend and time to enjoy the good weather that has come along with it. It was actually too hot to stay on my balcony today and according to my weather station it is currently 35C outside. Going to see my aunt tomorrow and try a new place to eat. I think I will take back the phone system that I had purchased for her as I am not sure that she would be able to cope with it, hopefully the shop will take it back - they do have a 30 change of mind return policy.