We’re almost a week into the current “lockdown” measures, and over a week into the pubs being shut in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s certainly made some changes.
I’ve spent a week working at home, working with the team via email, phone, and videoconference. It’s been a challenging week and a half, sorting out the countless users that either haven’t had remote access before, or haven’t used it ever, so all their RSA software tokens have expired. They’re using their own PCs, or a selection of laptops hurriedly repurposed, they don’t have Citrix clients, they’ve never used this before. This works as easily as you’d expect, and when you throw in gateway devices that were sized for a handful of remote users being pressed into accommodating 10 times that, it has not been an easy week for the team, but at least we’re not staffing an NHS hospital without PPE, eh?
Still, we managed. We’ve cleared the backlog, we’ve re-issued RSA tokens and passcode-on-demand devices like there’s no tomorrow. We’ve emailed install instructions to the more technically able users, talked the middle ones through it, and remote-controlled the more challenging machines and users. I’ve used my business mobile more in the last week than in the last year, and discovered my bluetooth headphones are invaluable for doing that hands free. My dining table has become an essential part of IT operations.
On a personal note, this arrangement is quite suiting me so far. I’ve been productive, I’ve maintained a structured work time, and I’ve had more time for my government-authorised exercise , fitting in a bike ride before work on a couple of days. I can listen to Planet Rock without the yoof whinging, I have puss-cat company:
Speaking of government-authorised exercise, I see the facebook curtain-twitching arseholes are at it again. No longer is it looking for east Europeans in the street, or people having the temerity to drive a tatty van, now they consider themselves the enforcing authority of the rules announced by the government, except they’re interpreting them as as they see fit. Welcome to the Stazi, who will happily report you on Facebook for behaving in accordance with the rules, or at very least for a minor transgression, happily forgetting in their neo-puritan, authoritarian wank-fest that the people they’re reporting may have legitimate reason to do whatever they’re doing. It should be remembered that there are many people who are key workers that may not appear to be: there are specialists working on stuff most of the population should be grateful they may not ever know about.
Talking of the rules: they were announced by Alexander wife-beater Johnson at the start of the week, where he showed, for him, remarkable clarity and direct speech. This caused many people to suggest he was Churchillian. The current PM may have the casual racism, bluster, entitled public-school attitude, and arrogance of Churchill, but sadly he doesn’t have any of the good points Churchill possessed, like actually looking after the countries’ interests, and he’s several years too late for the myth of British exceptionalism. We can only hope that like Churchill, once the crisis is over, Johnson is despatched.
Meanwhile, the country struggles on. The NHS struggles on. Undervalued NHS staff, many below the £25k salary that the fascist’s favourite immigrant [correction: daughter of immigrants], Priti “Vacant” Patel, (the Home Secretary who doesn’t know the difference between “terrorism” and “counter terrorism”) deemed “unskilled” continue to put in the hours and take the risks, while the best the country can do is clap on a Thursday evening, instead of paying them properly.
Suddenly, loads of workers that were previously unvalued are key, because they stock our shops, drive trucks full to the supermarkets, and stock the shelves while the general population of our great country fight over bog roll in the aisles and panic buy. Great Britain, indeed. Meanwhile, the same dumb fucks are planning street parties for afterwards, just to ensure the virus gets a chance to spread again. Just when you think you’ve reached peak stupid, the great British public show you there’s always somewhere to aim for.
Back to more personal things: suddenly, that last pub adventure trip seemed like the best idea ever, now that the pubs are shut for an undefined time. I managed a (probably ill-advised) couple on the last Friday night after a truly awful day, since then, it’s been the sofa, the TV, and Backyard, who have shown that our businesses can actually innovate and react, by offering home delivery where they cannot open the sales onsite.
What happens now remains to be seen: we’re in for a tough time, we’ve got an incompetent government, a difficult situation, and people will fight you for the last bog roll, never mind a food shortage.For now, we just have a few inconveniences and a new way of working for some. others, of course, are self employed, or employed by the sort of bastard that takes advantage of minimum wage staff when times are good, only to fuck them off the moment things turn sour, reconsidering when people point out that’s pretty reprehensible behaviour, But then, arch Brexiter who relied heavily on staff from continental Europe Tim Martin might know about serving up cheap alcohol and unexceptional but bearable pub food, but he’s still a pretty unpleasant person.
I’d like to hope the people would learn from this experience and finally lay to rest “there’s no such thing as society”, but I doubt it.