Inverted

Called in sick from work today. Was up all night with a splitting headache and a cough and slept most of the day. If I hadn't been homeworking I would have been given a week off. But, since I'm already homeworking I'm back to work as soon as I feel better.

Trying to finish this book I've been working on for a while. Going for jogs. Eating probably more than I need to. Trying to rekindle my interest in the Paradox Interactive classics.

One other thing that makes it tricky to assess Germany's situation is that it has by a large distance the biggest population in Europe (besides Russia or Turkey if you want to count them). Comparing it in absolute terms to the UK, France, or Italy isnt very useful since their population is about a fifth larger than any of those countries. At the same time, thinking proportionally also isn't that easy since Germany is doing so much more testing than everyone else.

Globally, experience seems to suggest a strict shutdown of non-essential movement is vital for buying time, and then then any kind of a solution first requires aggressive testing. In Europe, Italy wavered and is suffering for it. The UK briefly flirted with an alternative, realised it was based on several over-optimistic assumptions, and belatedly went into lockdown. We might still suffer from it. Germany acted promptly with testing from the start, and seems to be in best shape, but also could be influenced by strong starting position in terms of hospital capacity. America is doing next to nothing and could be facing disaster.

I miss my usual Friday night routine of ordering a pizza and watching football. Then waking up on Saturday and watching football until going out in the evening. Also miss seeing the girl I've been going out with for a while.

Probably just being able to just have a stoat around some bookshops, stop for a coffee, stop by some music stores. Just having a chill day out myself.

Apparently banking services over the phone are "key" so I'm still in work tomorrow. I would disagree since many major banks operate without telephone banking, but hey.

I'm feeling more and more worried that I have it and am carrying it, without showing major symptoms. I've had a very mild, niggly cough for about a week now - if I go for a run, or a walk in the cold, it makes me cough quite a lot, but just in the office I normally only cough once twice in a whole shift. Also been feeling a bit more lethargic recently.

Lots of guitar playing inspiration from this guy recently

Im quite introverted and love a night at home to myself, and I'm still going to work, but im already getting a bit bothered by the distancing. I think it's just the idea that you're not doing it by choice. Normally I'd go for a pint or some food once a week or two, and that's enough group socialising for me, so it's not on paper a huge adjustment at all. I think I'll need to be a bit disciplined and get back into some kind of schedule , like start reading a book a week, or practising an instrument every day for an hour, or going for a few more runs a week.

Something like a lock down for leisure and hospitality now. Better something than nothing. Job retention scheme, and increase to UC introduced. Finally a modicum of leadership.

People are always quick to condemn political violence when we look back at history, but it's a simple fact of life that there are people who have no place in society, except at the bottom of a ditch.

Yeah I can imagine it's equally as bad in branches, if not worse, than for us in the offices. I presume every bank is experiencing basically the same problems. A lot of our branches are having to reduce opening hours to due to staff shortages, and most appointments are being cancelled. This is something each branch is having to decide on it's own; there's no overarching policy. So we are told to refer to branch as required (security checks, document hand-ins, etc), and book appointments if the customer wants one, in the knowledge that there's a high likelihood that they're not going to be seen. Again, because this isn't happening as part of some overarching policy, we aren't to communicate these issues to customers. If they turn up and the branch is shut, or their appointment is cancelled, then that's just an "individual" branch issue. Everything is falling apart at the seams, but on paper we are just supposed to be soldiering on as if nothing has happened. It's a feeling a lot of people in a lot of workplaces have at the moment, I can guess.

Sometimes I try and calm myself by reminding myself that they have a very old population.Then I also think of the fact that their healthcare system is considered of the world's best. There is a slight feeling of dread coming on now. We're heading for some truly horrendous times.