Pandemic Atlanta Lockdown - Week 4

Skyy Vodka, Kahlua, and ice cream

Busy despite the lockdown

We are reaching the completion of the 1st month of WFH. Although the WFH and the lockdown looked like I will have too much time with nothing to do, the reality was far from that. The weekdays went with work. In fact, thanks to collaborating with some workaholic colleagues, my work time stretched from my regular 7:25 a.m - 4:45 p.m to until quite late. To adjust to that, I also started a bit later this week, around 8:25 a.m instead. I will see how this goes in the upcoming weeks.

 

Weekdays are quite busy with work and then cooking and cleaning. So only weekends I got some extra-time, that I spend with music videos, Twitter, learning Portuguese, and writing these weekly blog posts. I have finally reached the Diamond League (the top-most one) in Duolingo! That's an achievement on its own. As usual, we also had the virtual coffee hour on Friday at 3 p.m. This time, we had some important work topics mixed with our fun hour. Consequently, the coffee hour lasted until 5 p.m!

Groceries and delivery

Full fridge again!

On Monday morning around 9 a.m. I ordered grocery items from Kroger. Although I asked for the 1-day delivery, the earliest time available was only 4 p.m - 5 p.m on Wednesday. I chose those slots. The delivery was further delayed, and I receieved it by 7:51 p.m. The person who did the delivery was awesome. She made sure to get perfect substitutes for whatever item not available. When in doubt, she sent a message to confirm. 

Although I asked for a doorstep contactless delivery, I realized that the weight will be too much for the delivery person to handle. So I went downstairs as I would do usually to get my groceries to the entrance of the building near to the parking. But with a safe distance of 10 meters, I told the Instacart delivery person to leave all the groceries at the side near the parking. She happily obliged. It is safe for both of us. Then once she was done with unloading and bidding goodbye, I went and picked all the groceries to my 2nd-floor apartment!

Friends with a distance

Reaching the Diamond league!

The only times I went out these days were to throw the trash. On the way, I saw a neighbor I usually make a chit chat with. We both intentionally slowed down and walked further from each other. After reaching a safe distance of at least 10 meters from each other, we turned back and talked as usual. I mentioned to her that "this social distancing" pointing to the space between us, and she nodded with a smile. We both knew what we were doing.

Yes, I take social distancing seriously. I know sounds weird for a people-oriented extrovert. But I am not an idiot to ignore science. These are difficult days, and as such we have to make small steps to help slow the pandemic spread. We still have a long way to go. Even we are planning to work on some work related to COVID-19, and every small contribution helps humanity to overcome this huge crisis.

80% of the residents who live in this Atlanta Senior Apartment Community have tested positive for COVID-19, according to FOX. 6 people have already passed away from this community due to COVID-19. Very sad and scary because that community is for seniors. i.e., a high-risk community. When I live inside my apartment perfectly sealed off from humanity, I do not witness the bad news first-hand. But the threat is real and is at the doorstep.

One of the papers I co-authored last year eventually got accepted. I was happy about this positive news amid all this negativity. I was more stable this week as we are getting used to WFH and lockdown life. However, that didn't prevent me from feeling bad and down once in a while due to the pandemic and its local and global impact. I hope we overcome this pandemic soon and also manage to keep ourselves safe and sane in the meantime. I don't want to return to humanity as a lifeless zombie once everything is over. Let's see how everything goes in the upcoming weeks.

I have been to 46 countries. But no other country touched me the way #Portugal🇵🇹 did -- not even a fraction. Every little corner of #Lisboa is filled with hundreds of my memories. ♥️ #saudade

[#Lisbon, October 2012] pic.twitter.com/ERxqC5oIMq

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) April 11, 2020

1. A weekly blog post on locked down life.
2. Recalling good old days and past travels more
3. Twitter threads (not fights. No energy for that)
4. Music videos in my projector and pretending I am in a cinema.
5. Sending messages to old friends.
6. Collaborations with workaholics. https://t.co/EQj03F21Ag

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) April 11, 2020

Reminds me of my first apartment mate. New to Lisboa, I mistakenly had bought sweetener instead of sugar.

She noticed, "Why not sugar?"

I said, "I thought this is sugar."

She replied, "No, it is a sweetener. Don't use it. Sugar is açúcar. You can use mine. I have plenty." https://t.co/a1wOujqtQk

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) April 9, 2020

Cry cry, can't you see the music...