Alice and Radar play ball on Cook’s Beach every day
For those of us not on the front lines to combat COVID-19, let’s make a gift of our additional time and be creative with our newly acquired spare minutes or hours. That includes those now working from home who are no longer commuting and polluting the air or merely wearing down electric batteries and shortening their vehicles’ lifetimes. Let’s enjoy our pristine air, even if it’s only from our balconies or steps from our doorways.
Because I’m seventy-eight and semi-retired, I’ve slowed down from my energetic self of previous years and no longer work over forty hours weekly. I do, however, miss driving here and there and social engagements. In place of those, I walk, hike, and cook more—but also eat restaurant food as much or more by ordering takeout. My reading—a book every five days—hasn’t increased, but time digesting newspapers and viewing the stock market certainly has. Those of us who can either adapt our jobs to our homes or merely continue to work from home offices as I do should count our blessings. Also fortunate are those in essential businesses with little or no danger of infection.
My business, Vulcan Wire, is lucky it’s essential to supermarkets, box manufacturers, and recyclers. That’s because all three need baler wire to condense their excess cardboard: 1) If a supermarket’s used boxes weren’t condensed into bales and transferred to a recycler, then there would be an overflow disallowing room for groceries; 2) If the box manufacturers who supply needed boxes to the supermarkets and other essential operations were unable to bale and transfer their cardboard scraps, their factories and warehouses would be overwhelmed; and 3) If the recyclers weren’t supplied with the extra-strong wire needed to further condense their smaller bales into the size and weight required by businesses that utilize used boxes and scraps of box material, their property couldn’t contain the small unsellable bales.
Our headquarters, a 7,000-square-foot office and overflow warehouse, is now inhabited by only three employees; the others are working from home. Thanks to rotating shifts, our 14,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and warehouse is also physically manned by a small crew. In all cases, it’s easy for everyone to maintain six-foot distances from each other.
Our Vulcan team is grateful to have nearly the best of all possibilities. I write “nearly” because our customers purchase on credit, and many of them are closing down or are experiencing weakened sales. Despite the government’s assistance, we anticipate an excess of bad debts. Currently, however, our sales aren’t down because half of our customers are supermarkets, which are gobbling up more baler wire than ever before.
As with everyone else not on the front lines of danger, we at Vulcan applaud the brave warriors who report to work despite the risk. Of course, we’re especially grateful for the bravery and generosity of the people who are helping free of charge.
Now is the time to email and call neglected, but valued, friends and make sure they’re COVID-19 free. One plus is that social time on the computer and telephone is less fattening than socializing. Eating more healthfully and additional outdoor time has helped me fit comfortably into my formerly too-tight clothing.
My husband and I have an energetic dog, Radar, who not only accompanies us outdoors but also amuses us indoors. If you’re an animal lover and can afford to pay for their care or find reciprocal dog or cat-sitting partners, arrange to get a pet from your nearest animal shelter. To date, neither dogs nor cats are known to be coronavirus carriers.
Facebook and other social media are great escapes for the extraverts, but what about those who are social media saturated? What about trying to get lost in a good book? I hope you’ve read my book, The Lady with Balls: A Single Mother’s Triumphant Battle in a Man’s World. If you haven’t, you can easily find it online or in any bookstore. It’s available in print, audio and e-book. In my next blog I’ll present a list of books that relate to The Lady with Balls.