Working Remotely

I've been working remotely for the past month or so. Some aspects have been difficult to navigate, but I've been putting in enough effort that, when I was called off duty for Easter weekend, it felt like a break.

When I last connected with you all, I was sort of predicting what remote work would look like for someone in my position. Now I can say that I've been doing it long enough to offer a perspective on how it looks in practice.

We've been using Google Hangouts to host Monday group meetings, which are what we do at WALES to develop schedules for our members throughout the week. Obviously we've relaxed the sense of obligation surrounding that, but we're using it as an opportunity to share strategies to help cope with feelings of fear and isolation. We are also hosting some of our training sessions using this technology, such as 30 Ways to Shine, Creative Pathways, and Conversation Group. We are also supporting our members to connect with each other, as well as friends, family and community connections remotely on their own. A number of our resources such as community centres are offering remote alternatives, such as yoga, zumba, and meditation, and we're helping people connect with those. We're doing a weekly newsletter, we're discussing funding (we got approved for a furniture grant, even though we can't be in the building), and we're revamping our Facebook group. We are also attending agency and staff meetings to help unify our efforts going forward.

I have recently been put in charge of supporting people who don't have access to video chat technology. Just the other day, I learned how to make a conference call. Today I gathered data on interest for this group, and I will be scheduling a meeting for next week.

I just got a raise. This can't be sustainable. Prices keep dropping and my income keeps going up.

Waterloo Region has bylaw officers patrolling the streets now. We recently issued our first fine of $750. In Guelph, they can top our story, because they've made an arrest. I know this, because it was my mother's neighbour.

Apparently, he was approached by someone who questioned him on his social distancing. He told them to "F off". Turns out, he didn't realize that person was a bylaw officer and got arrested two days later.

Waterloo Region has been posting stats on COVID 19 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Recently, we hit an all time low for for new cases. followed by an all time high, followed by a low. Since then, over about ten days, we've had four reports signifying decreasing cases of newly infected. This is the first time where I've felt like we've begun to gain control of the situation. Turns out, those guys who were playing basketball, cricket, and soccer against recomendation were actually the problem.

This doesn't speak for Canada or Ontario, and in fact, I don't encourage people to relax their cautionary measures. These positive numbers represent an opportunity, not an accomplishment. If we can maintain our efforts, these numbers will stay low. If we relax, we will be worse off than ever.

I went for take out for the first time since my agency shut down. My brother works at a hot deli counter at Zehrs, and he says they're only getting like, four customers per day, which is crazy because they used to get a pretty consistent stream of customers. My understanding is that people are less likely to buy your food, if you are seen preparing it.

I am going to make the audacious claim that my little podunct corner of ghetto Kitchener has not only the best pizza, but also the best shawarma in Waterloo Region. I know the spot that people says has the best shawarma, and that's Highland Halal, and I can attest that their shawarma is fantastic.  Ours is better.

When I say our pizza is the best, please keep in mind that, my mothers' local pizza joint is Victoria Pizza, the highest rated spot in Guelph. That is what she was using as a reference when she had pizza here, and I did not ask her to make a comparison, but she voluntarily stated that our pizza was better than Victoria's.

I really don't want either of these places to go out of business.

I've been a little coy about the specifics of where I live, but there are hints if you look deep enough. I'm in Kitchener, I'm in a two bedroom townhouse, and I'm near the best shawarma and pizza joints in Waterloo Region. The pizza joint has a good enough reputation that I think it might survive this. I see well-established restaurants go out of business unexpectedly all the time, but it feels like every strip mall has a Mom and Pop shop, as well as a major brand like Gino's, Dominoe's, or Pizza Hut, and neither brand dies. Pizza is the easiest thing to move, I guess.

Shawarma on the other hand, while being great street food, doesn't always see the same success, and since this establishment has not had as long as its' pizza counterpart to develop a reputation, I was sure that it would go out of business. So I decided to go to this place, understanding that the government had made it an "essential service" and using the justification of "supporting local businesses".

When I've been in the past, the fastest moving items were plates and wraps. As I've stated before, shawarma joint in my area have seemingly unanimously decided to adopt the fusion food "shawarma poutine".

I've always felt this was a stupid product, as the vibrancy of the flavours of shawarma are dulled by the gravy and potatoes. Lee-Anne feels that the shawarma takes away the purity of the poutine. However, at this specific location, we were able to agree that both the shawarma and the poutine were improved, and after over four weeks of home-cooked meals, this became my first deviation from standard survival tactics.

I have got to say that, since my shawarma spot put up signs in their window, written on carboard with sharpies, saying "WE ARE OPEN" I saw it as an act of desperation, but when I went in there were four other guests and I had to wait outside to observe social distancing. These were also not people just ordering for themselves. There was a person from Uber Eats picking up four meals, and the person in front of me ordered five shawarma poutines, For some reason, everyone in the restaurant was getting shawarma poutine. It's anecdotal, but from my experience, they appear to be thriving during this time.