Four years in, I got Covid
I am suffocating. I feel like it.
I travelled by airline to California to see my brother in the hospital and I got covid. On the airline the announcer said that people could wear a mask or not, their choice, and please respect each other's choice.
So now I got it. Four years into the pandemic, after all that time quarantining, I got covid.
What was I thinking? My brother is at death's door. His liver has pooped out. He started bleeding internally and went into the hospital over a month ago. I wasn't thinking about myself.
The first time he went into the hospital he was there for a week. They should have put him on a list for a liver transplant then but they didn't. He was out for a week or two and then he started to bleed internally again. The symptom was that he started to throw up blood. He lost a lot of blood.
The second time he went into the hospital ICU the doctors gave him blood and intubated him. He was unconscious for close to two weeks. Once he regained consciousness he was transferred to his regular hospital. Along the way he suffered a heart attack. Now I am hearing that he may no longer qualify for a liver transplant.
In order to qualify for a liver transplant my brother needs two caretakers to accompany him. They need to commit to 30 days, 24/7 to care for him during the recovery phase.
I said I would be willing to go to do that, although I am only one person. I don't know how I will do that. I have my own life and problems.
This post is about me. I quarantined for the last three and a half years. Early in the pandemic I got unemployment and the government pandemic payments. Now that money has run out.
I work from home. Mostly I have small business clients. Many of my previous clients are gone for a variety of reasons. Some have died.
The job search keyholes of looking for work through LinkedIn or Indeed are odious and creepy. Sending resumes to anonymous third-party recruiters feels fruitless. I don't like the idea that I am being tracked. LinkedIn or ADT or whoever is collecting and selling data about me.
I never get hired by recruiters who need to justify hiring decisions with a clean resume. Instead I get hired by business owners who want to get things done.
Meanwhile the state of the nation is really crazy. There is little chance that a Republican-controlled Congress will do anything to insert money into the economy. Instead their policies are to cut SNAP, de-fund education, cut Social Security, end ObamaCare. Meanwhile over at the Fed, the banker's plan is to cut employment as a blunt way to control inflation.
America has a nation-wide housing crisis with a swarming homeless population. Meanwhile refugees from around the world are flooding into New York. Prices have risen. Everything is so expensive.
Last month my landlord raised the rent abruptly, without proper notice. My roommate has disappeared and I am afraid she will move away. Right now is not a great time to travel across country to be a caretaker. My brother is losing his apartment. I don't want to lose mine.
I can travel and work. In order to get a liver transplant my brother will have to go to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix Arizona. Apparently they supply a tiny apartment. for the patient and caretakers to stay for the first month after transplant. I can work from there.
Many times when I apply for a job a recruiter calls, usually from India, asking if I am willing to work hybrid. I'd like to see statistics about how much of the tech employment sector is controlled from India.
What do I want to do? I want to work for small business clients like I have been. I need to advertise outside of LinkedIn or Indeed somewhere. I'd also like to work for an ad agency where I would be doing the same thing, serving multiple clients.
This week I have been participating with a pair-programming Meetup that meets on Discord. I am connecting across the Internet with other programmers using LiveShare on VS Code. I've also used StackOverflow a bit. I want to be a team player.
Earlier this year I built a new website in WordPress for a client. I helped my client to write the content for the website. We met by phone and wrote copy together on Google Docs.
Helping a client to write website content is like being a therapist. I am helping to envision what services are offered. I am helping to create and define the brand identity.
I am coming out of quarantine. I am returning to business. I just wish I didn't get covid. Covid is such a drag.