It has been a bit since I wrote here. Late March was my last post. Since then the pandemic, at least in the US, seems to be winding down. Not without challenges, but still for myself and my family things on that front are better. My 12-year old is half-way vaccinated and I am incredibly grateful for this.
At the same time, life does go forward. My Aunt, who I have helped care for but lives in a board and care, is on hospice. The pandemic has taken it’s toll on my soon to be 97 year old mother. Cognitively she declined quite a bit in the past year. Her vision has gotten significantly worse with both macular degeneration and glaucoma progressing. She loves to read too so this has been particularly challenging for her. Finally my father-in-law has had a number of physical challenges as well that have led him to be in a rehabilitation facility to regain lost strength. We think it is related to some neurological issues but with a few side tracks, have taken longer to find the true culprit. Hopefully this will at least find a better direction in the coming months.
Personally I’ve continued working from home and am hoping to proceed with some technical writing soon. The college I work for has continued to struggle a bit and there are some things that hopefully will turn that around, but the pandemic has taught me a few things about my work world as well. I actually like to write though circumstances of the last couple of months have kept me from that to some extent. I hope to start moving toward some technical writing in my future. I do need to ramp up my skill set in certain areas, but I’ve decided I’ve not used my abilities as much as I would like to and need to start leveraging those into an actual job. The opportunities of the changing work world with the pandemic, have shown that more things can be done remotely. People and companies can be more flexible about where and how we all work. The position I currently have is not built for that though and I need to find one where I can be more of a individual contributor with a bit more flexibility of my day to day work environment. I realize this won’t happen overnight. I hope those of you who might occasionally read my blog, will reach out and send positive thoughts and maybe a connection or two my way that might help me in my endeavor. I need to get up to date on the current protocols and languages around technical writing (e.g. XML, JSON, DITA, and other acronyms). Mostly though I need to find the right fit. An organization that appreciates clarity from a Communications major that is not by trade a computer scientist, technician or geek but seems to hang out with a lot of them. One who is able to translate their day to day language to something the rest of us understand. Hopefully with a little training and luck, that opportunity will present itself.
In the meantime, the summer is before us. In person and online camps are the focus this year. Hopefully a 97th birthday gathering with my brother’s family and mom. We even have a brief trip to Yosemite planned this summer. Hopefully the third time is the charm for me as my prior two trips ended with a car crash and mono. But my jinx with Yosemite is for another column.
I hope all are well and up to some fun this summer as well. What are you looking forward to? Please share in the comments.