I should be halfway around the world right now, dining on exotic delicacies.

Instead, I’m at home ordering mundane, yet much appreciated, delivery.  Yes, that’s right. I had to cancel my trip. Thanks to COVID-19, I, and millions of other people aren’t going anywhere, any time soon. %$#%$#!!^%#. Sigh. %$@$^$!!^#$

In a miracle, I was able to get most of my money refunded. However, I lost at least $1,100 from non-refundable charges. 😦 Well, now I get to work more instead of taking a vacation. Yay me. (Not!) 

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THE JOB

Work continues to be exhausting and stressful, but it’s paying the bills. I still haven’t gotten fired, although my manager is giving me subtle and not-so-subtle hints that I need to promote myself more. Self-promotion is a big thing here. Ick.

I prefer to just do my work and go home. But no, you have to be seen making big contributions and impact or, more commonly from what I’ve seen, making it look like you are. I’m not the type of person that has people taking pictures of me doing my job so I can toot my own horn or the type of person that sucks up to executives. I’m not looking to climb the ladder like some of my teammates are, I just want to keep my job for the time being.

A couple of weeks ago, someone got let go for poor performance at work. This was someone who was always very nice and pleasant to me, and that I had grown to like, even though we didn’t work in the same department. I always feel like I’m on thin ice at this place. Maybe they do it so employees don’t get too comfortable in their jobs. But with COVID-19 happening, I hope my group is loath to make any personnel changes.

On the bright side, I got a 2.2% cost of living salary increase at work along with 90% of all the other employees at yearly review time.  This is unusual for me because most companies seem to make new hires work an entire year before they become eligible for any additional money whatsoever, even cost-of-living adjustments. At least my last two jobs were like that. No complaints on this good news at all! Every dollar is appreciated. No bonus though, which is understandable.

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THE VIRUS

Yeah. THE virus. The virus that ruined my vacation plans, broke up the Beatles, and wrote and directed the horrible movie, CATS. Jokes aside, this virus is terrible.

The ONLY good thing about this virus is that starting today, I will be able to work from home! My employer dragged their feet for a while, but finally allowed it, at least for the time being. I’m happy to be working from home because the wear and tear of the commute added to the stress of the job, was starting to beat me down physically. I’m hoping that working from home will help me cope with the job better.

I also don’t want to get the virus. I have existing lung issues and other health issues which make it likely that I would have a more severe bout than others my age. Having to take public transit to/from work every day was not helping my concerns.

Until this blows over, I’m pretty much self-isolating in the house at this point with one of my roommates, or as much as you can when you have two other roommates who are still coming and going from the house all the time. If one of us gets it, we’ll likely all get it. It’s times like this that make me wish I could afford my own apartment. Sigh. I’m also worried about my parents. Both of them are elderly and have existing lung problems.

I’m reading and hearing to expect this virus to keep us indoors for weeks, maybe months?! For the past few weeks, I’ve been stocking up on over-the-counter medicine, toiletries, food, nutritional supplements, etc. As a result, I have a credit card bill that I am paying off. I hope I have enough food. Don’t get me started on how I think the government and CDC are handling this pandemic. 😡  😡

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THE MONEY

I’m still dealing with my 401k over-contribution kerfluffle. I need to get an additional signature and then resubmit my paperwork to my 401k provider. I will also need to get my W-2 re-issued with the correct amounts showing so I can file my taxes.  I may have to file for an extension on my taxes because all this is taking so long.

So, the stock market… What a roller coaster! I have no idea how much I’ve “lost”. I refuse to look. I know you don’t actually lose money until you sell, which I have no intention of doing. Stocks are on sale right now. Unfortunately, all my cash is going into stocking up and paying off the credit card bill so I can’t take advantage of the investment discount right now. Ugggh. 😦

It’s time for me to pay off this credit card, and increase cash savings and investments, in that order.

STAY SAFE, EVERYONE!

I can’t believe how time flies. I’ve been so drained of energy because of this job to write more. Now that I’m working from home for a while, I hope to have more opportunities to write from time to time. Stay safe. If you are in a hot zone and are fortunate enough to be able to do so, #StayTheFuckHome.