It would be hard to work in the same place as your fridge
As self-isolation enters its seventh week, I remain one of the lucky ones because I’m able to at least go to my office. There’s never more than three in our building at one time and due to its vast size, we can easily spread out.
Our reporters and advertising representatives are working from home.
Obviously, our carriers and drivers are still on the job as newspapers have been deemed an essential service.
For me, working at home is problematic. I need to get into my zone and distinguish between personal/private time and working hours.
I get about twice as much done from the office, especially now that nobody is dropping by and phone calls are minimal.
Some workers, I realize, have no choice and it’s the safest option available.
For people with spouses, kids and pets at home (unless it’s a hamster or goldfish), it must be incredibly challenging because there would be constant distractions. For me, it would be the refrigerator.
As a boss, you have to trust you’re getting maximum production from your employees because they’re unsupervised.
But, if you can’t trust them to work independently, then they shouldn’t be on your staff to begin with.
I’ll stop complaining. We that are working — whether from the office or remotely — are fortunate. I sympathize with those who have found themselves out of work and through no fault of their own. The worst thing about being unemployed is the feeling of helplessness and the uncertainty that comes with it.
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I’m a week late, but I thought the “Stronger Together” concert, featuring Canadian musicians, athletes and personalities was superb, even better than the American counterpart.
The best performance, I thought, was from Aboriginal singer William Prince — what a voice, what great lyrics.
“Lean on Me” with Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne and friends was cool as was the choir of female physicians singing “We Rise Again.”
I’m a quite partial to The Beatles and loved Sarah McLachlan’s version of “Blackbird,” which she first recorded in 2002 for a movie soundtrack.
It was also incredible to see the “A” list of Canadian athletes and personalities (Chris Hadfield, Mike Myers, Rick Mercer).
As the only negative, I’m disappointed so many of the songs were abridged to one verse and one chorus. They could have easily expanded the show from 90 minutes to two hours and allowed the great line-up of talent to perform signature songs in their entirety. I want more than two minutes of “Life Is a Highway” and “Takin’ Care of Business.”
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One good thing from self-isolation — the drive-in movie theatre is making a comeback.
We’re lucky that Enderby still has one because so many have closed over the years, dating back to when the
VCR came into most homes in the
1980s.
A double feature (sometimes triple on holiday weekends), is by far the best bargain in entertainment. And the drive-in is timeless, not to mention perfect for social distancing, provided the people inside your vehicle all live in the same house.
When I was a kid, my favourite part was when dusk came and everyone became impatient and started honking their horns to signal the start of the movie. (I also loved when the hotdog jumped into the bun and the dancing popcorn during intermission.)