Changing Situations

So our personal situation has changed since the last post about how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting our lives.  Apologies to my descendants that I'm not doing well documenting everything in real time.

Thursday at work had several meetings to discuss allowing us to work remote.  While they had been letting people with special circumstances request the ability to work remote, the teams were unified that if everyone didn't have the option, they didn't want to be singled out and request it.  Then it came to light that one of my employees was exposed to someone who was exhibiting some symptoms and a second person in my immediate area also was home exhibiting some symptoms.  Nothing confirmed - it might just have been the regular flu, but out of abundance of caution, they allowed us to make the choice to work remote.

My entire team did so and worked remote starting on Friday.  That day was packed with meetings and emails as we kept hearing about state after state being on lockdown.  This will be affecting our customers and of course, cash flow.  How we manage through this will be critical.  Being in credit & collections and trying to make sure companies pay you is hard enough when the world isn't on fire.

Additionally, Eileen's work has suspended basic operations for the next month except for key individuals.  She has been designated one, so keeps working for now.  Fortunately, we've been eliminating debt in the past few years, so financially we should be all right - but a lot of people won't.  There is a government stimulus check coming, but it might be too late.

Social media is full of panic - from stories about martial law to empty grocery shelves.  People are starting to share stories of how it is hitting home because they know someone who has died from this.   Grocery store shelves are empty and you cannot request online pickup dates or order items from Amazon as they are marking things out of stock.

I'm checking in more with family via FaceTime.  We did go out yesterday to try to find some meat - went to the Amish market and was able to get some things.  Yeast is another items that is running low - too many people making their own bread now, apparently.

Today is a new day, and I wonder what new craziness awaits us.