You know what? I’m feeling alright. I hope you are, too. Our new normal and what we are all going through is tough, but we’re finally finding our groove. We are doing everything we can to stay safe and stay sane. Of course we have our moments of anxiety and doubt (who hasn’t?!), but we’ve been intentional about communicating and listening to each other. I have gotten so many messages, DMs and @s – and I appreciate all the kind words. I’m trying to provide as much fun content that I can, in an effort to keep it light, provide a bit of an escape and put a smile on your faces.
Now, we’re almost a month in, and a couple things have evolved:
First, my hair. I didn’t think about it, but I don’t have anywhere to get a haircut. Not sure if I am ready to let Mrs. RCS trim me up either. Instead, I think I’ll let it go. I’ve let it grow out a bit, and by mid-March, I had a nice, Dansby Swanson mid-season flow. Now I look more like an underage sophomore fraternity guy who gets into bar fights. I love it. So…WHO’S COMING WITH ME??? Let’s embrace it. I figure that the lot of us will look like the cast of ‘Dazed and Confused’ by the time we all emerge:
Second, my dress code. I still get up every morning and take a shower, shave (about) every other day, and make our bed. However, I have noticed that the dress code is getting a little more casual. Not only with me, but with all my folks at work. Safe to say the corporate ‘flex’ is over. I haven’t put on a button up in a week and find myself wearing polos a lot – lots of Criquet, Rhoback, Holderness & Bourne, and the like.
I’ve also enjoyed the new Duck Camp bamboo shirts (full review on Instagram this week).
For pants, I’m wearing mostly 5-pockets: the new Onward Reserve performance jobs and the Duck Head Field Pants. They are basically easy jeans, and still look somewhat professional.
For shoes, I’ve stuck with the Oak Street Camp Mocs, as they have essentially taken over as my WFH slippers. They are great around the house, as well as on walks, getting the mail, and throwing the ball for the dogs. Obviously worn sans socks.
Lastly, and most importantly, we’ve been reflecting on many of the things we used to take for granted. Those cookouts with neighbors, Sunday afternoons with our families, date nights, vacations, mental time away from work…all of it. What we wouldn’t give for a back porch party right now. I’m curious to see how our current situation impacts our ‘American’ way of over-working (I don’t mean to sound like some hippie; bear with me). I’ve always put in more than most in terms of hours at work, and have usually given back some PTO days at the end of the year. When we get through this, I’m not doing that again, and I don’t think many will either.
Whether it’s taking off a random Tuesday to go fishing with Dad, or an afternoon to get in 9 holes with Mrs. RCS, or a long weekend away in the mountains with the kids… I can’t wait. We can’t wait.
What about you? How is everyone doing? What are you and yours most looking forward to?
I got my last haircut on Feb 27th, so at this rate, I’ll be pushing a solid two months. I usually go 6-7 weeks between haircuts, so this will be pushing it. I’m a bit afraid how long it will take to get an appointment booked once things reopen. Barbers are going to have YUGE month in May (hopefully).
All I want to do is sit inside a Mexican restaurant. Order a margarita or three. And gorge on chips and salsa. Soon enough…
Given my hairline has closely resembled Mark Richt’s (though I’m several decades younger), growing the mane isn’t in the cards however I did grow a stache last month that Burt Reynolds may have deemed acceptable.
Any podcast good podcast recs? Need some background listening as I WFH and my regular podcasts have become stale with no sports going
Brad, in regards to podcasts I would recommend The Grey NATO, Hodinkee Radio, Spike’s Car Radio, and 13 Minutes to the Moon.
We are looking forward to throwing our non-COVID influenced wedding which has been postponed for a year. Over it now, but that decision took us for a quite a ride. Now we’re looking forward to back porch bbq’s and beer and Braves baseball.
I got my haircut on March 25th right before Mecklenburg. County went into Shelter in Place. I have one scheduled for the day after the mandatory order ends on 4/30 and would LOVE to be able to keep it. Time will tell.
I have been wearing a lot of jeans while I work from home.
J – Have really enjoyed the content during this time, and have looked back on some older posts as well. Thanks for providing some content to help us balance out the other news. I enjoy seeing what this community means to us all.
CVL
We still hit the trails at state parks for hikes each Saturday. We venture out about 1.5 hours outside of town to avoid the crowds around ATL that pack the beltway, the Chattahoochie parks north of town,
and Piedmont Park. This past Saturday, we encountered 3 other hikers during an 11 mile hike. Better than our average during a Kroger visit.
I have been rewaxing jackets, sewing up holes in briar britches and shooting vests, sorting my fishing tackle, and
shopping for a new to me Disco 2 to buy when this thing ends. I just nabbed a vintage Purdey 12ga cleaning kit from eBay, so looking forward to that arriving in the mail.
I have also been churning through our finances, taking snap shots of debt and cash flow so I know where everything sits in case the economic zombie apocalypse hits in June.
As for when this will be “over” and we can get back to some semblance of normal? My assessment is that the current situation will probably not resolve till early June at best.
Can we all hold on for 8 more weeks of this?
Cheers,
BSR
Am I the only reader with real concerns about his business being lost to this shut down? I certainly have faith, but how do most of you maintain energy for recreation and other pursuits in the face of rising unemployment and potential for job loss? I have colleagues in just about every corporate industry, from communications to IT to manufacturing, and most of them are staring at balance sheets slipping into the red.
Not trying to be snarky or a downer…genuinely looking for coping methods. And I emailed my barber this morning and she’s got me rescheduled the 2nd week in May which will be about 10 weeks for me.
It’s not just you and you’re not alone in this. I’m not a therapist or a small-business consultant, so I don’t know that I’m particularly suited to give advice other than repeating what I’ve been told. Try to stay healthy, communicate with your friends and family. Isolate physically, not emotionally. I’m not sure how these other guys are doing it — after a day of calls and walking my girls through their school work and the extra chores that have to be done because everyone’s home all the time, I’m completely beat. And then I get to do it all again the next day.
While I don’t own my own business, and am not worried about losing my job (at least at this point in time, given the industry that I’m in), I have been working from home and haven’t really found this time to be much of a vacation. I haven’t really worked on any projects or taken up any new hobbies. I haven’t gone fishing or hunting. I did bake my first loaf of bread, which was nice, and am planning on building a pull-up bar in my basement, but that probably won’t happen until Saturday. I work out five days a week after I get done working around 5:00. Sorry you’re going through a tough time. I guess the only advice I would give is just realize that you can only control what you can control, and if it’s out of your hands, you just have to do what you can to not think about it.
I completely agree. It’s nice to work in a field where WFH is possible, but I struggle relating to people holding up stringers or fish, or tom spurs, or are doing Star Wars re-watch marathons. My experience has primarily been that work seeps into all waking hours.
I have concerns just like you. I am still coming in to my office though – I shortened my work week drastically but my company is deemed ‘essential’. I am extremely concerned for the economy. A recent article I read said we lost 21 years of economic growth just from this short shut down. Death is extremely awful, but it happens. Most stats I read are elderly with underlying health issues. I am NOT justifying anything – I just feel those who are susceptible should shelter down more or even those who are still scared should stay in. I think the economy needs to start back. I also am concerned about education and our youth. Lots of cheating is going on due to on-line classes and the lack of supervision. Younger kids need in person interaction/learning. These are the kids that will lead our future and wow it is not a bright one. The harm we are causing 20-30 years down the road for a short time now is not the right decision. This is just my opinion.
Agreed, and good luck to you.
I have been working from home for three and a half weeks now and it has been hard to make the adjustment. The company I work for just laid off several hundred employees and while we have been assured that our area will not be hit with the same fate (state institution), it is still difficult not to dwell on the possibility, especially since I am on the financial side of the business. Right now it feels like keeping your head above water but I have tried to make sure I limit the amount of television/news I am watching as well as the amount of alcohol being consumed. We are trying to make it a point to get outside for a daily walk at the very least in order to get some fresh air and to keep the cabin fever at bay. I have done a couple of virtual happy hours with the college/fishing buddies so that I have some face time contact with people other than the significant other. I have also used this time to ramp up my artwork output since my daily commute has been removed. It feels great to create art or do something you enjoy, regardless of how good you think are. Even though things will be tough when we come out on the other side, we will come out on the other side. Keep your chin up and try not to be too hard on yourself or those around you.
We spend a lot of weekends in the summer on Lake Quachita here in Arkansas. I think instead of leaving after work on Friday’s this summer, I may leave a few Thursdays as well.
We also miss community too, we have two little boys, and our 3 year old so badly wants to go to to a friends and asks, “can we go inside and play with them?”. We will be excited to do that as soon as this is over.