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So, we had Covid (and got better) [Updated: 31st Oct' 21]

Posted on 23rd Sep 2021 @ 10:10:02 AM

Update: Sunday, 31st Oct'

Somehow forgot to post again after the earlier update. Suffice to say we've all recovered and are now pretty much back to normal after a few extra weeks where fatigue would knock us back a bit and require rest and/or early nights more than we'd normally expect. There was also a close call where we thought the other team members family had caught the bug but they went with something more mundane and are recovering nicely from that too.

Thanks to everyone who checked in, sent their well wishes and generally gave us a bit more slack while we got back on track. It was all much appreciated.

 

Update: Friday, 1st Oct'

Definitely on the mend and now keeping up with orders, support and phone calls... Voicemail backlog will be tackled on Monday when I've given my voice a proper rest. I'll be back in the office properly from Monday.

 

Update: Wednesday 29th Sept'

While I still have a persistent cough that makes phone conversation difficult at times, I'm now approaching normal health and able to work from home. The rest of the family are all getting better too, so I'm now able to focus on tackling support, presales and other normal queries.

Just to say a big thank-you to Sharon for keeping things moving in my absence and also the customers and suppliers who sent their well wishes and were patient throughout the last couple of weeks. 

 

Update: Monday 27th Sept'

One thing you slowly learn about Covid is that for some people it messes with their bodies internal battery indicator. The indicator tells you have energy, your body decides to believe the indicator and about 15 minutes into some reasonably gentle task you find that you're actually running on fumes and you have to lie down for a few hours. Other times you get a few hours of feeling "normal", go to bed feeling great.. only to wake up the next day feeling awful.

As a result of this sort of interal mixed message, I've been struggling to keep up with the normal levels of service that I try to maintain, particularly with regard to support. Today I am back, tackling email and helpdesk messages as best I can but voicemail and phone conversation are proving more difficult to resolve until my throat settles down.

The good news is that the overall trend is towards getting better... it's just less linear or as quick as I'd expected.

 

Original Post: Thursday, 23rd Sept'

As you may have picked up from the status updates, over the last few days, myself (Martin) and my family managed to get Covid after a non-Covid virus knocked our youngest sideways and welcomed the real deal in by the back door.

So, since 19th September we've been isolating with Covid symptoms and while it started off fairly mild, for me in particular, it soon smacked both myself and my wife down hard over the last few days, with fatigue levels that made even getting out of bed a major event. Thankfully, today (23rd) I'm starting to come out the order side with cold like symptoms and a sudden burst of energy. BUT, we're having to play safe as we've seen others go through peaks and troughs with fatigue in particular, so we're not getting too complacent and are taking things easy.

The good news is that the other virus meant that I was not in work when we likely contracted Covid itself and as a result the other team members have been unaffected (so far!) and been able to keep orders flowing out the door.

The bad news is that pre-organised down time means that orders will not ship from midday today (Thursday 23rd) until Tuesday 28th when we'll resume dispatch. All of this assumes that nobody else contracts Covid in our team.

It also means that since Tuesday 21st I've been laid low and unable to respond to almost all emails, phone or any voicemails. To anticipate the obvious question, no, nobody else has the range of depth of knowledge and experience to handle most of the queries we receive, so there hasn't been anyone able to respond to more than basic queries. Can't be helped unfortunately.

 

As I write this I can feel headache kicking back in so I'm going to triage messages and respond to urgent issues first, then follow up as/when I can on the rest.

Apologies for those that get missed or delayed. This isn't something within our control beyond the vaccine we received which has undoubtedly helped us minimise the effects of the virus. Also worth noting that our kids are also home with us and doing their best to keep themselves occupied with home schooling or other activities while we recover. None of it is ideal but we are recovering and are keenly aware it has been so much worse for others.

As ever, thank-you for those who've already acknowledged that we're not able to respond immediately and for the patience almost all have displayed. We completely understand how frustrating it is, and we are looking forward to getting things back to normal soon.