Crazy Times - Time to Calm Down and Relax

Well as the world has gone absolutely nuts over the Corona Virus (COVID-19), I have watched and waited until it entered my sphere of influence.  It has now affected a person I admire and whose work I have enjoyed for many decades and my employer has now jumped into the fray.  

Tom Hanks has been an influence for me since high school and for these 40 odd years he has rarely disappointed.  I was saddened to hear he and his wife had tested positive for the virus.  Since he was working on his next opus, I get that risks must be taken to advance his career.  However, I am a little disheartened to think someone would have exposed him and his lovely wife to this illness.  Anyway, word is that they are both doing just fine and are quarentined for their and everyone elses safety.

My employer which is a multinational corporation has now joined in the preparation to protect and serve their employees and clients.  For today, we are all (at least in the US and Canada) working from home.  The plan is to split teams into 2 groups whereby 1 group will work from home for a week while the other team will occupy the office.  They are being very lenient with respect to people who may not feel comfortable working in a corporate office.  I applaud their efforts to protect everyone and hope this plan does not need to be enacted for a long time but it will be interesting to see how everything works out.  Being a technology company of sorts, we do have the necessary tools to allow a vast number of people to complete their work offsite which is fortunate.  So far, connecting to our network has not been an issue but as time goes on we will see.

My hope is that this experience with a pandemic will enlighten people to pay more attention to hygiene and realize how easily the world can be affected by a disease such as this. I know I am more attentive to washing hands and limiting physical contact with people and disinfecting my work area since it is a shared situation.

Be safe, be calm and remember as Tom Hanks has reiterated, There is no crying in baseball.