Personal up date

[Libby]

Excited to start a new job working from home!  Which means I will have a lot more time for you guys!!! 2020 has been just horrible for me I've lost a a lot of animals but also a lot of family and even a good high school friend.  I'm ready to get back into things I once loved.  I know everyone is having a bad year but my doctor pointed out I've had an extremely hard year on top of the regular uncertainty.

I'll still get to board dogs and have 3 stays already in the works on top of the foster doggo Cleo that we've already had for 2 months.  No more frontlines for me at a grocery store.  I finally get to quarantine.  I can't tell you how thankful I am since they just let the mask ordinance run out in Tennessee. 

Check out my IG for picture of all the animal shenanigans. It's mostly dogs out of respect for the one remaining grandmother I have but there are a few reptiles as well. instagram.com/myparadog

[Tobi]

It's good to hear from you Libby. It has been a hard year for you, by the sound of things? I am sorry about all your losses of loved ones.
2020 will go down as not one of the easiest years, for lots of us I think. Life changed shape.

But it's good to hear you are doing okay, all in all.

Kind wishes, and take care

[Catherine]

I was starting to worry about you because we hadn't heard anything. I am relieved that you can work from home. You will be safer and being with your pets will be great.  They will be so glad to have you home.

I am sorry you have had losses. This has been a horrible year. I think all we can do is just get through it and hope 2021 is better.
It is rough that you have lost animals and people.  I think none of us will be untouched by this, but it sounds like you have had it very bad.

I look forward to hearing more from you.

[LPC]

I am sorry to hear that you have had such a hard year, Libby. I was wondering why we hadn't seen your customary posts about dogs, reptiles, etc. for a long time.

I send you my warmest best wishes for good health and happiness in the future. Stay safe during the extended virus outbreak. Why did they stop the use of masks in public in your area? That seems crazy when so many people have died, and indeed are still dying.

PS Just a silly question...What do mean by "frontlines at a grocery store"? Is that American language for shopping queues? Or does it mean being at the front of a queue? Sorry for my ignorance!

[Libby]

(10-02-2020, 08:44 PM)LPC Wrote: PS Just a silly question...What do mean by "frontlines at a grocery store"? Is that American language for shopping queues? Or does it mean being at the front of a queue? Sorry for my ignorance!

Frontlines of the pandemic. With grocery stores being essential we’ve been open through everything we are exposed to the virus more. I’ve got some wild pictures of the beginnings of the store shelves being empty of everything. Through the worst of it they gave us permission to be more verbally forceful if people got mean.

[Libby]

It has been one wild year. I’ve been so tired most days I just fall asleep as soon as I get home. I’ve been looking hard for a job like this I’m excited to get started. It’s a call center job but it’s inbound call customer service. I even have to do video calls occasionally.

[Catherine]

Quote:It has been one wild year. I’ve been so tired most days I just fall asleep as soon as I get home. I’ve been looking hard for a job like this I’m excited to get started. It’s a call center job but it’s inbound call customer service. I even have to do video calls occasionally.

I hear you about being tired. I do home care so I am a front line worker too.   People have been difficult  and getting home is tough. Our transit runs, but some routes are just too dangerous. It is a tiredness that goes beyond ordinary tired.

I saw some pretty bad scenes in grocery stores. I am glad you are out of it now. In the early days people were nasty,  shelves were bare  and line ups were long.
Sixty people in a line up and there is always someone who thinks they should go first. Even now it can be rough for the staff.

Taking service calls at home is not even going to seem like work after what you have been through. It will be safe and you will talk to nice people. We are all so isolated that they will be  happy to talk to you. Even the video calls will be fun.


LPC, it is interesting that you wouldn't know the term  Frontline Worker. Your experience of the pandemic has been very different  from what Libby and I have been going through. When we went into lockdown some jobs were declared essential service. Libby and I were both in essential service jobs. Frontline workers were anyone who had direct contact with the public. It was considered highly dangerous because the chance of catching the virus was much higher. Some companies actually paid people more because of the danger.

I don't know what rules apply where Libby is, but I wear a mask and gloves at all times unless I am at home. Now I am being provided with supplies, but in the early days I had to provide my own. (I was told to reuse my supply over and over, a highly dangerous practice) I have some wonderful friends who gave me masks when I desperately needed them. 

If I had to use one word to describe what it has been like, I would call it bleak.

[Catslave]

I'm glad things are getting better for you Libby sounds like you need a break.

[LPC]

Thank you both for the explanations! I have, of course, heard of the term 'frontline worker", but it was "frontlines at a grocery store" which I did not quite follow. I did not know that Libby was working in a supermarket, so did not make the connection. Now I understand. Apologies!

[Catherine]

I think it was a real revelation for us when we recognized that people working in grocery stores were actually front line workers. We have had to rethink a lot of jobs. They were more essential and more dangerous than we realized. Working in a grocery store was one of the most difficult jobs. I am glad Libby has a safer job now. 
Some nights when I was riding the subway home, I would look around and I could tell who was coming from work. We all had a certain tired look. Sometimes people had fallen asleep. I let them sleep. They clearly needed it.

I am still doing the same job, but my new boss is much more supportive. I am given a supply of protective gear now so I can work safely. That really helps.