Random Thoughts

Alexa woke me up this morning at 7:15 and started playing some smooth jazz music. Somehow it irritated me. I asked Alexa to stop. I reached for my phone and found some messages sent overnight. By 8:30 I got out of bed and started debating with myself whether to go to the gym or go for a walk. The debate continued over a light breakfast and while I was looking out at the harbour view outside my window, other concerns started to run through my head. It was too much so I decided to finally go out for a walk.

On a normal day at 10:15 AM, I would usually see students walking around in our neighbourhood, workers taking a break under the shade of trees, and just regular people going about their usual routines. This time as I was walking towards the harbour I only met a handful of people along the way, and the harbour was very quiet it felt gloomy despite the sunny weather. 

I decided to sit down by the water for a few minutes, take a deep breath, and take in the scenery

before me: Sydney's harbour with the bridge, the Opera House, CBD skyline, Luna Park, bright blue sky, and even the moon (yes, I can still see the moon). 

     

I like peace and quiet, but not this kind of peace and quiet. It felt different. It felt sad. This virus has really affected everything in this world. 

I don't really watch, listen or read the news because I don't like hearing all the negative stuff they usually talk about. So the first time I heard of this virus is through a friend, can't remember who it was though. I have friends who are in the medical field and some in the public office so I find them reliable enough to get and pass on facts, I prefer them over the media. 

Back in early February, one friend came back from a long holiday in Hong Kong. I messaged her and asked how she was doing. She told me she was not feeling well at that time and that she was surprised at how lax Sydney airport was, "crew and staff not wearing mask and no sanitizer too". She said she was coughing really bad and yet airport staff did not seem to care. She quarantined herself at her home and her boss and the HR at work kept asking her to go to the office to work. When she went to see a doctor she was diagnosed with the regular flu. On the last day of her self-quarantine she told me she's recovering, and since it's been over a month now it's safe to say the diagnosis was correct. We still haven't seen each other since she got back, "social distancing"?, but we keep in touch via WhatsApp. 

As more news of people getting infected comes out, more and more people have finally taken notice to take precautions. Others have gone to the extreme of panic buying stuff like toilet paper. Until now, no matter how hard I try, I still don't understand the need to hoard toilet paper. Just last night I received several email notifications from different shops informing us of changed store hours, purchase limits, and change in return policies. Apparently, those who have hoarded packs of toilet paper have realised they actually don't need that many and want to return them to the stores. 🙄 Some cities have been locked down, countries have closed their borders, and whether we like it or not we are to stay at home and avoid going out to prevent possible spread if you are a carrier or prevent possible infection if you are not.

Now this here is one of my concerns. Because despite all this news of a fatal virus, we are getting kicked out of our current unit. Apparently the owner has sold our building and has given us until 12 April to vacate the place. This means we have to actually go out and look/inspect apartments we can move into. In fact, we spent the last two Saturdays doing just that. So you see, even if we wanted to isolate ourselves we can't because we have to look for apartments.

Just as I was walking earlier today, I had calls from property agents regarding the apartments we inspected last Saturday. So I had to think over the options as I was walking, too. So many things to consider: space, location, transport, price. I gave myself a time limit to make the decision, and by the time I got back home from my walk we finalised our choice and immediately had to pay the holding deposit. Next step is to start packing and plan the move. It has been and will continue to be a stressful week for us.

It's already mid afternoon. I know I have to start packing, but at the same time I don't know where to start exactly: my clothes, beddings, books, art supplies... the list goes on. 

That's why I'm writing this blog. I'm not even sure if the flow of this content is right. I just know that I needed to dump all these thoughts running through my head and get it out. Maybe I'll take a nap after this and decide what to do next when I wake up. And change Alexa's wake up music.