Merkle quarantine diary - week 4

The lunch break has a similar structure: I watch two episodes of Modern Family. What I wouldn't give right now for a "No onions and spicy, right?" and the accompanying food coma walk back to the office. This is a real Grumpy morning today.

Fortunately, the afternoon is finally all about programming. With a coffee and two chocolate drops in the sun of the small courtyard and then the success of the day: The implementation of a successful, meaningful frontend test in pair programming mode. And today I am again of the opinion that the professional group of physiotherapists can hardly be saved after this whole spook of orders. My dinner consists of homemade bread. Afterwards I sew two breathing masks or as the DIY-Vlogger calls them "BMNS masks". Meanwhile I wash my hands with homemade liquid soap (I hate you, you hamster buyers!).

7:40 am: I stand in my tidy kitchen and don't know what to do anymore. All right, then I start working before 8:00. I check the schedule at the bar table in the newly appointed meeting room, then I set up the screen and equipment front. Today is css day, so I need the second laptop. Unfortunately, my desk is not very big. When I moved in here, I converted my beautiful university desk into a TV bench. "I don't need a desk anymore. My studies are over and I'd much rather go to the office to work anyway", I thought to myself. It worked out really well.

Back at the PC, Microsoft Edge sells me that it's new and fast and I can do more with it because of that. "Ha ha no, you're definitely not going to be my default browser," I think to myself. But here you can also "open the page in Internet Explorer". Why would anyone want to do that? I think it's funny. My sense of humor has definitely changed since I've been out of the office. After all, today I'm laughing at bad jokes together with my favourite SAP colleague.

After I can't get into the customer VPN anymore because my old building probably won't let any text messages through the walls for today, I'm going to call it a day. Today would be the perfect evening for a cold drink in the evening sun or even a barbecue on the meadow in front of the office. But then again, the breakfast smoothie isn't gonna make itself.

Overnight I received three access codes to the customer VPN. Woo-hoo! But they were only valid for 60 minutes each... Try again - and it works. I watch the build process with a toothbrush in my mouth. Back in the bathroom again, I think of a new approach to solving the behavioral problem of my checkboxes. Hey, my bathroom is a think tank!

Between some meetings I finally manage to solve my checkbox problem and it happens, which often happens to me when something I've been tinkering with for a while works: Reflex-like my arms burst into air. And so I sit there: In front of three screens, with the checkbox checked and both arms in the air. Alone in my apartment. Yep. Woo-hoo. I'll, uh... I'll just get back to work. It sucks to be happy alone.

Just as I'm about to leave work and go for a run, Alex calls me and we fiddle around for another hour. And it's worth it. In the end everything works out and I can start jogging with a good feeling.

I spend the rest of the evening in front of my laptop again: With one or two beers (or wine. Later gin and tonic) in the virtual kitchen with the people who normally sit around me for more than 40 hours a week. How long has it been since we were stuck in the real kitchen? When was the last time we went running in the Olympic Park and replenished the calories we burned with beer? When was the last time we had an 8-person kicker with hats?

The positive thing about quarantine is that I am shown (painfully) every day how much I enjoy working with these people. And that is a privilege.

I spend the last hours of my working week with Thomas again. We debug together and at the end we pull up our arms in the air together. A nice week-end closing with my coach.

Tonight the cordless screwdriver is waiting for me. I haven't built anything in a long time. And this weekend I have to do my tax return; and the uncleaned bathroom, and the attic. So if anyone still needs ideas for recreational activities, I have a few things on the agenda (more fun ones of course). I used to think I wasn't an office guy and I couldn't spend 40 hours a week there. I'm just wondering when I will be able to go back there again. 

With this in mind: I wish you happy Easter, relaxing holidays, don't bang your heads, I am really looking forward to seeing you again!