91精品视频

By Euan Paterson, 91精品视频communications and media officer and dad of two

鈥淒o you want me to change her nappy, Lorna?鈥�

鈥淵ou haven鈥檛 got time. Don鈥檛 you have a meeting in the dining room right now?鈥�

The conversations my wife and I currently have at home might be amusing in years to come. But much of the humour in these situations has been lost amidst worry and confusion as the UK becomes the centre of a COVID-19 pandemic.

Because my wife is pregnant, and categorised as 鈥榓t-risk鈥�, I鈥檝e been working in the house since March 17. As I've settled into the unfamiliar scenario of working from home, the lines between my paid employment and my 鈥榙addy鈥� job have well and truly blurred.

This was no more exemplified than when I allowed my toddler to hop onto my knee during a video conference meeting last week, in order to save my colleagues the alternative ear-piercing meltdown. On reflection, it was perhaps a welcome break in the proceedings.

Having multiple Skype, Microsoft Teams and Zoom meetings throughout the day is as much a novelty for my daughters Emma and Isla (aged five and two) as it is for my older colleagues, who shriek with excitement at seeing my shirt and tie replaced with an Appin Agricultural Show hoodie.

Isla, in particular, doesn鈥檛 recognise the dining room as a makeshift office. In fact, it鈥檚 from this very room that she observes the hens roaming outside; I鈥檓 likely viewed as her tenant.

After nearly a week of 鈥榝irefighting鈥� that was largely made up of installing software on my laptop, helping with a crisis communications plan and planning out the priority jobs for the next few months, I鈥檝e now settled into something resembling day-to-day work.

As I鈥檝e heard it said many times this past fortnight, this is a 鈥榥ew normal鈥� and we all have to adjust. Discipline has become the key skill for a workforce in temporary, home-based office set-ups and continuing to deliver results and meet deadlines, uneasy in the knowledge that society is on the brink of its greatest challenge since WWII.

But as I tangle with a working day punctuated with domestic emergencies and IT issues, I know I鈥檓 one of the lucky ones. As it stands, I will be paid this month and I have my immediate family around me. So many others are in a more vulnerable situation, in every sense.

Over the next fortnight we will be featuring the experiences of other 91精品视频staff and how they are coping with the lockdown, starting with an algal scientist who must maintain a 100-year-old culture collection.