It’s been a week already since I and 7 million plus other residents in the Bay Area have been asked to stay home and shelter-in-place.
Verdict: So far nothing to complain about. The previous week was mostly uneventful outside of the minor one with home WiFi. As I said I’m a veteran remote worker so no major shocks to shifting fully working from home.
I miss the banter of my co-workers though. I also miss interacting with people face-to-face. I’m an extrovert so I like social interactions. Social distancing is my Kryptonite. I miss going to the gym. I miss freely moving about whenever and wherever I want.
But…from what I’m reading, it seems that this temporary (I hope) pause in people’s lives around the globe is doing really well for the environment. Reduction in pollution is being registered especially in China and there’s a marked fall in nitrogen dioxide levels. Hurray for Mother Nature! This positive news at least gives me another reason to not mind being asked to stay home. The other one being it’s for the common good – flatten the curve – to slowdown transmission of this thing called CoVid19 and allow scientists and healthcare professionals some needed time to discover treatment and/or prepare for needed resources to manage the inevitable transmission.
Last night, I was checking fights to some vacation destinations I’m planning for the year. Just thought I’d check to see if deals are available. I don’t know if it’s an algorithmic mistake or price gouging but I was getting $7,000+ on Kayak as “best” fares. Are the airlines trying to discourage people from traveling or taking advantage of the situation?
Today started like any of my days during the past week. Meditation, 6-minute HIIT exercise, followed by stretching. Coffee, breakfast, shower and get to work. It is much quieter than any other past days though. Not even the family or band of wild turkeys were out. It’s turning out to be a gloomy cloudy day as well. I can feel the threat of rain in the damp air.
Work was at normal pace. Had a couple of conference calls towards the late afternoon then another item needed to be addressed. Ended at around 7 pm. This work from home is now taking more of my time in the evenings due to partners in Asia. Business is still humming though so that’s something to be thankful for and I hope it stays this way.
Investment Tips:
Haven’t looked at the stock market yet. For those of you who’re Gen-Xers like me and have 401K/retirement funds, I hope you’ve moved your investments to the bond market a while back, like 3-4 weeks ago. If you have, then just leave things alone and hang in there. You won’t realize those losses anyway until you decide to sell. So walk away and don’t look at your portfolio anymore. You can rebalance your positions again when this whole event goes away. If you haven’t, you may have paper losses now but don’t sell. Rebalance and move on.
- If you’re a Millenial – now is the time to have fun in the stock market. Start investing while prices are at a bargain!
- If you’re a Boomer, you still need to own stocks so don’t sell unless you absolutely have to. Try dipping into your cash reserves for now and weather the storm.
- If you’re Retired – still don’t sell. If you’re not required to take minimum distribution, don’t. Wait until recovery. Don’t panic, ride the wave for now.
Events will continue to be unpredictable and uncertainty will be around for a while. Best to stay calm and not to overthink things too much.
If you’re feeling anxious, try to meditate. If you’re feeling alone and depressed, reach out to your family and friends via phone or FaceTime or video conference calls. Lots of people are doing live chats these days. Do the same. Speaking of which, I need to set my alarm for my virtual happy hour meet up with my golf gang tomorrow.
Time to prep for bed. Tomorrow is another new and exciting day!
