Tag: Writing

Sunday is still not so fun day when there’s a pandemic on a holiday weekend

Photo by Haidan on Unsplash

It felt odd to take time off from work during the current quarantine, but I’m glad I did. My days off have been moving along fast. Then again, being in quarantine in solitary confinement screws with my concept of time.

Here’s how I spent my Sunday:

  • I watched some Kubernetes training videos on LinkedIn Learning after much procrastination
  • I did some edits on a personal writing project I plan to publish later in the week
  • Watched Dinner with the Gaffigans, a YouTube show I’ve grown to enjoy during the quarantine

Tomorrow is the unofficial start of summer. I’m usually spending this holiday weekend at the pool. My local area shut down right around the time I normally send in my membership fee for the summer. I held off on sending my check. It remains to be seen if my neighborhood pool or any pool in my local area will open at all this summer.

How was your Sunday?

If hump day falls during a pandemic did it really happen?

Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash

I’ve been wanting to write on this blog a lot more in the past week but haven’t had a chance. My days still bleed together 

Here are some highlights since my last post:

  • I usually spend Mother’s Day visiting my Mom. Taking her out to lunch has long been a tradition since I moved out of my parents’ house. Not so this year. I had to send her a gift card to get curbside service for her Mother’s Day dinner. It’s just her and I left in my direct family so the entire day felt a little bit off.
  • I got a note from the chief editor at opensource.com to celebrate writing over three posts in the last twelve months, which puts me in the Contributor Club. Hopefully, I should be able to get a few more contributions done now since I have some free time coming up.
  • After work naps are sneaking into my daily routine…just saying. There are days that I try to fight it, and other days I just go with it. Today I just went with it.

It’s almost the beginning of summer here in Northern Virginia. Pools should open as Memorial Day is almost upon us. I’m taking a long Memorial Day weekend. My plan is to work on some personal writing projects, read for pleasure, binge watch something on TV, and do some projects around the house. Let’s see how many times I lament not being poolside.

How was your Wednesday?

Self-isolation: A week in review

Photo by Sarah Kilian on Unsplash

Yet another week in self-isolation has blown by for me. I only wish. While this week dragged on like every other week in lockdown, I saw and felt some noticeable gains in my productivity.

Here are some highlights from the last few days:

  • Exercise became a regular part of my schedule again!
  • I submitted two new articles to TechTarget which is always a wonderful thing.
  • Over the week, I made a lot of progress writing an article about cloud migration for a new market.
  • I sent my elderly mother Celery Seed and toilet paper via Amazon.com. She could find neither in her local grocery store. Also, she’s not online so when she needs an Amazon order she goes through me.

I got an email today about the reopening date of my favorite hotel in Ocean City, MD. At the least, the note made me feel like life getting back to normal is slogging ahead. My original plan was to go to the beach in August. I guess that gives me time to see how the reopenings go. Fingers crossed.

How was your week?

Self-isolation: The good and the bad

Photo by Mish Vizesi on Unsplash

After four + weeks of social isolation, I still say it’s challenging even for a person like me who enjoys their time alone.  I continue to put one foot in front of the other and move forward.

Here’s how I’m seeing self-isolation:

The good

  • I’ve been full of ideas for personal writing projects that I plan to publish on this blog, LinkedIn, or Medium.
  • I have the time to read a lot more.
  • I have a job and a career that lets me work from home.
  • I’m still writing about the cloud and DevOps for TechTarget.


The bad

  • I continue to feel like my wings are clipped because I’m stuck at home.
  • My days are bleeding together and my first words on some mornings are “Alexa, what day is it?”
  • I can’t get to the gym and struggle to find the motivation to exercise at home
  • Grocery shopping remains a challenge because there are still some shortages in my area that make it hard to experiment with new recipes which were part of my plan to pass the time.

How is self-isolation going for you?