what a day

April 2, 2020. It’s been a memorable and unusual day.

First, I got furloughed from my job. It’s essentially an unpaid and indefinite leave of absence. I’m still an employee, and still get my employee benefits. But I don’t get paid. This doesn’t surprise me too much. Obviously, the economy is in trouble right now, and there’s no way to tell when it’s going to improve. Maybe in a month, maybe in a year. So I suddenly have a lot of free time on my hands, which is great! I have a huge list of projects I’d like to work on – books to read, movies to watch, photo essays to finish, etc. I don’t know what I’ll do, but I do know I’m in no hurry to go find another job at the moment. I’ve got a CD that I’ve been paying into for a few years that I call my Layoff Insurance fund, just for this occasion. It may be time to break into that piggy bank.

Second, my other birthday gift to myself arrived today from China. It’s a brand spankin’ new MacBook Air. I’ve never had an Air before. I bought one with almost all the upgrades, and occupied myself for much of this afternoon getting it set up.

Yeah, if I knew I was gonna be furloughed, I wouldn’t have ordered a new computer. But oh well. It was time for a new laptop, and I wanted something smaller and lighter. So when they announced the new Air, I pounced on it.

Some other good news: Doing Weight Watchers is paying off. I started in mid-February and as of today have shrunk 17 pounds. I’m continuing to do Pilates as my main workout regimen, though classes are all virtual now. Somewhere under this belly fat, I’ve got some decent core muscles aching to be seen.