Photo: Inge Ruisch ‘I’ve worked at WUR for 28 years and I’ve never been in Resource. Bizarre that the coronavirus crisis is making that happen now! I’m sitting here at home at my dark brown colonial table in the living room, working at a small laptop. On Friday afternoon, we decided as a group to all start working at home. ‘See you some time,’ we said to each other. My colleagues picked up an extra screen on Monday. I didn’t. I’ve been feeling under the weather since Sunday. No, I don’t think it’s the coronavirus. I haven’t got a fever or difficulty breathing. Normally I would have stayed at home, but now I am at home anyway.
What I miss most is the social interaction. Normally people drop in on us all day. We are a kind of sounding board for the whole group.
On Friday I really stockpiled. I had a premonition that this could go on a long time. I often get that kind of premonition. It can be quite scary. Working at home is going fine, but I do miss my second screen. And what I miss most is the social interaction. Normally people drop in on us all day. We are a kind of sounding board for the whole group. We don’t get that now. I live alone and I hardly go outside. I’m quite isolated now. Oh, a message from my mother, asking if I’m OK. How sweet.
You know, I would have been on holiday in Morocco now. But that couldn’t happen. Yes, I can manage. Since I don’t feel very well at the moment, it’s convenient to work at home. And actually there is a Skype meeting this afternoon with Professor Cees Leeuwis’s whole group. A kind of coffee break, to stay in touch with each other. I’ll take the photo from behind me. After three days with a runny nose, I don’t look my best.’
This is the second part of a series on working from home during the corona crisis. The editorial staff calls a WUR colleague every day to find out how things are going. The illustration is (of course) a selfie or a snapshot taken by a housemate. Would you like to participate? Mail resource@wur.nl or share via #WURkfromHOME