Wow, the 6th of April already. It has been too long since my last blog. My apologies. I am sitting outside on a Monday afternoon on my back deck enjoying perfect mild temperatures with a light breeze. I hope all of you are doing o.k. I walked my dog earlier and ran into a few neighbors who gave me updates on how this COVID crisis has affected them. For every person its different. One couple talked to me about how it affected their kid's final Senior year (like my own) and how she has been affected directly as a nurse working in a Kemo ward. She has been super busy, while her husband is able to work from home. But she also told me of other nurses who may be furloughed because non-essential procedures have been canceled. I would have thought they would be playing chess moving pieces around (medical staff) to other areas in need especially when you hear of other hospitals overloaded. Of course, they may be brought back on shortly if the crisis continues and gets worse as they expect it will do over the next couple of weeks.
The surgeon general of the USA is saying this next week or so will be our "Pearl Harbor" and the worst part of this virus as it expands to its crescendo (hopefully) and then starts to go back down. Many are expecting this could go on for months. I believe then a new order will have to go in place regarding how businesses operate going forward. We cannot close business indefinitely. That would throw us into another Great Depression at this rate. Crazy stuff. Hopefully, we will all get past the worst of it over the next few weeks and then will see what they come up with. Now I still believe that our grandparents (or for many of you, your great grandparents) lived through something far worse than most of us can even fathom. COVID-19 is very serious, but for most of us, it just means "Stay-Home" if you can, or if you must go out, be careful, wash your hands a lot, and use the 6-ft rule at all times. Just think you get to binge-watch your favorite TV show, or get that yard work or house projects done that you always wanted to do. Now no excuse.
I was forced to stay home for a workweek after being tested for COVID-19 myself, which was a really bad time as the fears were rising and not enough information was coming out from the government over how dire it was getting. I had to end up closing down my store via the phone to all walk-in traffic over the safety of my employees and our customers. We like many businesses that are considered essential can remain open but are adjusting and learning as we go along in our new reality. We now only allow business to be done by appointment only which has cost us a lot, but at least we are still open and my staff is safer. Many employees are currently taking time off or working reduced hours. Frustrating and worrisome for many, but we are not alone. This is happening all over the world. My own family located in the UK has already gone through having COVID-19 and luckily have gotten through it safely and are recovering safely at home now.
I hoped the week I was off (as I waited for my results from being tested for COVID-19 myself), that I would have been able to work on my writing at least, but unfortunately due to the constant crisis at work that was changing by the hour, I was not able to since I was continually talking on the phone with other dealers, as well as employees and higher-ups in my corporation over the then ever-changing protocols for safety. Last week I was able to go back in and be more helpful again as we all learn how to best deal with this situation. Now it has been a constant flow of crisis after crisis, as well as the normal things like payroll, sales deals, and end of month accounting that I am "attempting" to catch up on.
So I finally got two days of peace as we are closed Sundays and Mondays each week and I am here writing again. Yay. I had hoped I would see more chapters in my in-box from my editor since she was on a roll for a couple of weeks ago which got me excited seeing a light at the end of the tunnel since she is now up to Chapter 57 of my 73. But looks like she has gotten busy again, so I figured I would work on my blog and book 2 while I wait. Book two took off like a bat out of hell for me a couple of months ago but then has gone stagnant since I haven't had much time to work on it. It is a sequel to my first book with more adventures of Joe and Katherine and their team. Bigger and better so far which is nice. I am enjoying it when I do get a chance to work on it. Miss my critique groups and hoped to review some of the other member's writings via an online send they sent out, but between feeling under the weather (which prompted my COVID mandatory test) and now buried at work just been too tired. Need some more energy!
Hopefully today I will knock out some more to that story. I hope my fellow "Write-On" critique group members here in the Cary area are more successful than I have been over the last couple of weeks. Part of me wishes all businesses did just shut down solid for a couple of weeks during the peak of this outbreak so we could mentally get our heads around it better, be safe, and then I could write like a storm. That is how I originally wrote my first draft of my first book was while recovering from neck surgery and out of work. I knocked out 70,000 words in 90 days. Felt pretty darn good about that. I need to rework my schedule to give more time to writing in my daily routine, as well as more exercise. I enjoy the time while I was at home back when out of work and writing because I also got to exercise a lot more that I seem to be able to when I am full-time working.
Another reason I hope to make it as an author. The time and money that will allow me to make better use out of my time for both writing, exercise, and family time. Probably the reason many of us want to become successful writers. Time Management as an at-home entrepreneur is something many of us crave and what gives us our drive. Especially those who are older like me and have been involved with retail management for their entire life and just want to be able to travel, be inspired, and use our creativity for income. So we continue to push ourselves using our free time as much as possible (sometimes needing a swift kick in the rear) to make the dream become reality. Obtainable goal setting is the key. I have even started to lose sight of that a bit as of late since I did not reach my timetable goals as expected due to things out of my control. So, reset those goals and push, push, push. If you really want it, you will have the drive to make it happen.
Be smart out there, and I hope you and your family and friends are all safe as well. Sometimes major emergencies or disasters are what trigger something in us to make our lives better or make a change. The 1994 Northridge Earthquake forced my wife and me to leave a condo we were renting in the San Fernando Valley which had gotten heavily damaged and brown tagged (Brown Tagged = Potentially unsafe, compared to Red Tagged- "Too Dangerous to inhabit".). That forced us to move to a better area which led us to better jobs and happier life for us for many, many years afterward.
Thanks for reading. Be safe out there, and I hope you and your family and friends are all safe as well.