Defining Event

In the words of my brother... this Coronavirus pandemic will be the defining event of our generation much like the great depression and world wars were to generations before us.

I have been at work for something like 31 days in a row, dating back to mid February.  My typical work day starts at about 8:00AM, and by 6:00 or 6:30PM I usually find myself at work trying to wrap things up.  On weekends I have been spending several hours each day trying to finish up my personal projects.

I thought last weekend would be different.  The girls and I had planned to head out to the cottage for the first time since mid February.  Margarit, Hailey and I headed over to the shop... my 32nd day in a row... last Saturday.  We hooked up the utility trailer with our side-by-side, and also loaded up kitchen cupboards, a medicine cabinet, a big box full of kindling, and the slab for our lunch counter.  Hailey and I arrived at the cottage in the early afternoon and Margarit and Helena came out later in the day.

Annelise decided to stay home, back in the city, by herself.

I got all the stuff unloaded, and hung up the medicine cabinet on Saturday afternoon.  Then on Sunday morning I started getting calls from work.  Lots of inquiries about building plastic screens to protect cashiers at grocery stores and pharmacies in light of the current pandemic.  Margarit and I tried to slide the Douglas Fir slab into our bay window only to find out that I had cut it an inch too long.  This would have to wait for another day to be resolved, so we stored it away.  We packed the side-by-side and the snowmobile into the garage, and I headed back to the city.  Margarit and the two girls stayed behind at the cottage.  It seems most of the residents of the subdivision had decided that Nordegg was a great place to isolate, as most of the properties were occupied.  In fact as I headed back into the city, Highway 11 heading west from Rocky Mountain House was pretty much as busy as it is most weekends in the summer.  Not sure where everyone was headed... but obviously away.

I went in to work on Sunday afternoon and tried to secure some material and schedule work for the upcoming week.  What started out as an order for 350 protective guards soon turned into a bigger order for 1400.  Suppliers of plastic sheet stock had largely sold out of inventory on Friday and over the weekend and into the beginning of the week, the remaining inventory disappeared.  Fortunately my company had quite a bit of stock on the floor and in storage.  I managed to build on that a little with additional orders.

My week will be full trying to deal with this onslaught of work.  The new owners of the company are most grateful for this activity as it saves them from having virtually nothing to do and the potential of an extended period of losses.  We made an announcement to staff on Friday that hours would be drastically cut, but this was quickly overturned.

Margarit is now planning to come back to the city to pick up Annelise, and a few more supplies and return to Nordegg.  I will stay behind and try to work through this sudden rush of orders at the shop.  Hopefully once we get this behind us, I will be able to take a break.  It seems that the 31 days in a row at the shop will now become at least 38 and perhaps more before I get another break.  I was actually out at Nordegg for less than 24 hours before I had to turn around and return to work.  In consolation... the new medicine cabinet looks pretty good....!

When I get back out there again... whenever that is, I'll trim down and install the slab in the bay window, as well as install the upper cabinets.

Governments in various provinces are starting to shut down non-essential businesses.  For the time being at least, mine is essential due to the manufacture of these protective screens.  When we run out of available plastic stock, and this work comes to a halt, we will no longer be essential, and will probably be shut down.  Maybe then I can take a break and head out to the mountains.  For now at least I have no choice but to keep working.

I found a nice piece of hickory, with a really distinctive grain pattern.... I sculpted this into the shape of some mountains, and used it at the top of the mirror frame on the medicine cabinet.  I like the way it turned out and an quite proud of my workmanship....