Hello again

Well, it’s been six years since my last post. To be honest, after working for several months, I never expected to start posting again. I simply didn’t have the time. I didn’t even finish my last story. Being so busy Jon & Richie weren’t talking to me anymore. ;)

But these are weird and unusual times for all of us. And I thought I start writing things down, so I can remember everything in the years to come.

Ok, so let’s get you up to speed…

So, after re-taking my 2^nd State exam and getting a better result (HOORAY!), I quit the job I was doing and started working for a law firm. Being the new kid 80 hour weeks were normal. My private life didn’t exist anymore. I barely managed to get my grocery shopping done in the few hours I had off. My parents had to schedule appointments with me, so we could talk on the phone for a few minutes. Things were CRAZY!

I managed to do that for roughly 15 months. Then my body told me enough is enough.

I ignored the signs my body gave me for several weeks…ok, maybe months, but one morning, I literally hit the floor after getting up. While laying there, I realized the symptoms I was having, could point into the direction of a heart attack. So, not favourable shortly after your 31^st birthday.

I managed to get myself to my doctor. After a few tests it was clear I wasn’t having a heart attack, but my blood pleasure was through the roof. My doc asked what the hell was going on. He already knows me for quite some time and was a little confused and worried.

I told him about my job and that I would sleep maybe 4-5 hours a night during the week and on the weekend 14-16 hours. Well, yeah it’s not normal and yes, it’s not healthy. He basically told me, that job will kill me, when I continued. So, for the next couple weeks, I was home with some medication controlling my BP.

I had to figure out how to continue with my job. 

After studying law, becoming a lawyer is the most common thing to do. But I wasn’t sure if this was right for me. So, after a rather long deliberation, I stopped being a lawyer and applied for a job in government service.

I wasn’t sure at that point if I would do it for years to come, but at that point in my life and my health, it was the best decision I could make. The pros simply outweigh most of the contras. So, all of a sudden I had a 40 hour work week…with about 300 EUR more income after taxes each month. A better pension plan and a commute of less than 45 minutes.

Coming home in the late afternoon every day, made me realize I have free time to do what I wanna do! 😲😲😲

For a while I thought Mister Right entered myself. But at the end it wasn’t meant to be.

I moved to a really nice apartment. And have the “luxury” of a huge balcony and an office at home.

And that brings us to March 2020. It’s the first time I’m actually using my office as an office. Since Monday my team works from home. Luckily we have an electronical file system since January. It’s kinda ironic that everyone was grumbling about transferring the paper files to the system last year (YES, we had to do it ourselves. We got overtime for it.). Now everyone is extremely happy about it.

So far, I’m not having the same workload though. I do think most of my work starts when everything is over and running smoothly again, because I do reviews of administrative decisions in our office. So every time someone opposes a decision, I have to check it. But right now my colleagues are putting out less decisions, because we are working with an emergency plan. So, I have to see how this continues.

And of course it is much easier for me to focus on work than all my colleagues with kids at home. Yesterday the colleague who shares the office at work with me, told me she barely managed to turn on her lap top, because her three kids (6 and under) were driving her crazy. So, even though it is less work, she had to start at 8 p.m. after her kids were in bed and hoped she would be done around midnight.

I worked from 7:30 a.m. till 12:30 p.m. and was done. And as telephones are not interrupting me right now, it’s really stress-free work.

And now that my parents left, I need to find things to do for the rest of the day. I will not leave the house though. The only smart thing to do after my parents were here for five days, is to self-isolate.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents, but sometimes…..GRRRRRR! 😡

I was very happy when my father (69 years old) decided to cancel his birthday party. All the guest are older and at a higher risk to contract that virus. But when they told me that would instead travel 500 km through Germany to visit me, I thought they didn’t get the message. STAY AT HOME!

And while I was working from home, my parents just didn’t sit in my living room. No, no, no…they had to get out and do my grocery shopping. Under normal circumstances very nice, because it’s not my favourite thing to do, BUT ….. NOT RIGHT NOW! Who knows what they brought back? Who knows if I carry the virus now and could infect someone?

I told them to better stay home for 14 days when they are back. But I have no idea if they will do it.

So, how are your parents doing during this pandemic? Are they smarter than my parents? Or do you have to deal with irresponsible, stubborn family members as well? Let me know in the comments.

See, you.

~ Kris ~