Waiting
We've been sheltering in place due to COVID-19 for nearly three months now, and it's started to feel normal. I lost track of what day of the week it was today though; I thought it was mid-day Wednesday and was saying I was pretty sure a summer associate could get an assignment done by the end of the week, but I had to check myself after realizing that it was 3:30pm on Thursday, and it would probably be a little cruel to make the deadline the very next day.
On the one hand, the days are flying by because, working from home (and working a lot), the days just blur together and pass unnoticed. It's all routine, and even weekends don't break it up, both because I'm working almost full days even on many weekends and because there's no change of scene on weekends relative to any other day. Firm management is saying that, although the office might open on a voluntary basis sooner if local health orders allow it, we won't be expected to return to the office until at least the end of the summer. Our summer associate program is all virtual this year, conducted over Webex and Microsoft Teams, which makes it harder to get to know the summer associates, and probably isn't much fun for them either. Hopefully it still turns out ok in terms of recruitment and retention, since we rely on our summer classes for our fall hires, almost always extending offers for all of our summer associates to return full time.
On the other hand, the days are dragging, because my wife and I are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our first child, a son, and the weeks can't come fast enough in that respect, though we do still have a fair amount of preparation to do. We've been thinking about names, but haven't reached agreement on that yet. I'm of the view, at least until I get overruled, that we shouldn't repeat names that are taken by living close relatives, but my wife's first choice is also our nephew's name, and her second choice is my father's name, etc. She doesn't like my favorite names either, so we will have to keep thinking. I will probably ultimately cave and agree to one of her favorites -- they're not bad names, but I have a hang-up about repetition. I submitted my parental leave plan, but haven't heard back yet about whether they will approve it.
The time is passing either way. I'm enjoying blogging again and listening to music. It's a bit solitary, but my wife is spending a lot of time in bed due to pregnancy discomforts, and I'm finding this much more mentally stimulating than just browsing the web or checking Facebook. I do need to get to bed though. The meetings seem to have gotten earlier since the lockdown started -- I guess with nobody commuting they all want to start their days earlier. I, for one, could use the extra sleep, or at least a second cup of coffee in the morning before settling in at my desk for the day.