Travel during the Pandemic

Travelling during the pandemic is a tricky proposition.  Airports are said to be transmission hot-spots.  Airplanes are potentially also super spreading sites.  Trains and buses are likely as risky as flying.  Driving your own car is likely safer, except when you stop for food, gas, rest, etc...

A simpler solution is to just not travel physically, but instead travel virtually !  With Youtube and other sites hosting free videos of people travelling all kinds of exotic locations, you can just travel virtually from your own home.

My process for virtual travel is:

1. Pick a place

2. Go to youtube and search for “Virtual Travel <place_name>”

3. Pick up to 5 videos and watch them.

I also have another screen with:

• Google maps and 

• Browser

to look at maps and the history of monuments and places featured in the video.

Here is a link to the places I have visited virtually

Let me know if you find other great videos for virtual travel !

McCarthy TeamWork BootCamp

(Picture from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McCarthy_(author) )

A few years ago, I came across the "23 1/2" rules of software development from Jim McCarthy.  I found the rules to be full of wisdom and started to use them.  I recently came across a later list of 54 rules.

I enrolled in a mailing list related to the rules, and heard about a TeamWork BootCamp that Jim and Michele McCarthy ran.  The purpose of the camp is to create a team that ships great products starting from a group of individuals; in a relatively short time.  The full in-person boot-camp is ~ 5 days.

If you want to create a great product (or service), I highly recommend the BootCamp.

The theoretical basis for the program is described in their book – Software For Your Head.

McCarthy TeamWork BootCamp main site is http://www.mccarthyshow.com/

Tom DeMarco wrote a review of the BootCamp, and here are some other useful references:

• Blog on Boot Camp by Adam Feurer
• Core Protocols google site
• Core Protocols for Shared Vision site
• Blog on Team Tips by Paul Reeves
• An approach to build great (agile) teams by Hannes Horn
• Emotional Intelligence — the secret ingredient behind high performing teams by KD Singh Arneja
• Better meetings with the Core Protocols by Peter Antman
• Richard Kasperowki’s site has lots of resources, including:
• Positive Bias: the Foundation for High-performance Teams

Dimanche Domino la Rue Desforges

My grand-mother (nani Beda) used to live at 72 Rue Desforges, Port-Louis and every Sunday morning, there used to be a big game of Dominos.  We usually had her sons Ismet, Toto and their friends Salim Toque and his brother Rafiq.  Sometimes Him (Abdool Raheem Seetal), and Doudou (Abdool Currim Seetal) would also join in.

It was a noisy, festive affair.  Nani Beda would fry 'gateaux piments' and someone would get hot freshly baked dipain maison from the bakery across the street (Boulangerie La Cheminée).  We would split the dipain in two, coat it liberally with di beurre plume (Red Feather butter), then stuff it with gateau piment.

Study group chez Gajack

When I was in RCPL (I think in lower six), we had a Sunday study group at our friend's place - Osman Rajack - in Trou Fanfaron.  We would review mostly Maths and Physics, and I think other than Osman, we had A3 (Atifur Ayoob Abdool), Bagal (Anwar Auckburally) and maybe some others, but I don't remember.  We sometimes had Osman's brothers pop in, and also Ti Taras (Mamade don't_ remember_his_last_name).

However, the star of the occasion was the rotis that Osman's mum used to make for us, and the 'café chamarel' his dad made.  Those rotis were out of this world.  Morning rotis were with curry pomme de terre in masala and chutney pomme d'amour and chatini cotomili. Dinner rotis were stuffed with giromon touffe and brede songe and all kinds of other good stuff, like zachard legumes.  One or two of those and you were in food coma nirvana !

Working From Home and COVID-19

Advice/Quotes for this period

If you are working from home, you need to create time to take care of yourself every day.  It can be a walk around the block, some meditation, sitting in the garden, anything that takes you away from work and home life.  Start small and build on it.

Every hand that we don't shake must become a phone call we place.
Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern.
Every inch and every foot that we physically place between ourselves and another, must become a thought as to how we might be of help to that other, should the need arise.

Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky

Keep a schedule, still get dressed and shower, try to eat as you would in the office, and generally remember to act like you are at work. Otherwise you show up with pj's on, no makeup, hair like a whirlwind, and never sleep.

S Chavez

During Video Conferences, go around the 'room' by last name and give everyone an opportunity to speak.

G. Hui

One thing I do (even when at the office) is declaring out loud: "I'm Done Work for the Day!". It flips a switch in your mind to shift form work mode to home mode. This is more important when your work and home is the same place. Some of us have even started posting this in our team slack channels to foster a greater sense of community.

C Onuczko

Take care of your mental health during this time. And a big part of this is taking time to step away from your computer to refocus yourself physically and mentally.  Staring at your screen for 8+ hours a day without moving is not good - so please be sure you walk away for a few moments during the day.

A Hobbs

If you get anxious and depressed because you cannot go out, look for that list of tasks you have been procrastinating, and every time you feel like you need to go out, pick one task and do it ! :-)

Links:

10 Self-care rituals during the Pandemic

How to beat burnout

Lots of great tips about how to stay focused and productive when working from home
Video conference etiquette
Coping with Stress During the Covid19 Outbreak
How-to-work-from-home-without-losing-your-mind
How-to-host-a-virtual-coffee-fika
CDC COVID-19 site
Working from home with your partner