Prowling my world, camera in hand

19 May 2020

Week 20: morning rides, working from home, a visit to an empty office

Filed under: — Administrator @ 19:02

I have now settled into a routine of getting up around 6 a.m., doing a bit of e-mail etc., having breakfast, and then heading out on the bicycle for a couple of hours so as to be back by the closing of the exercise time window at 10 a.m. I then settle down for a full day of WFH (the new acronym that everyone knows these days…). In the evening, when we have the evening exercise window from 8 to 11 p.m., I sometimes take a walk on the beach. Bars and restaurants were still closed, so no sitting at a table on the beach promenade with a cold beer, looking at the human traffic. One of the highlights of the week was a visit to my office to pick up some things–my first visit there since mid-March.

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On Sunday I walked up to our little vegetable market, hoping that it might be open–as from the previous week, outdoor produce markets could open with access control and keeping the social distance. One the way, I photographed this hole in a wall, once a bar, today just a ruin:
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Sadly, the mercadillo was empty, and the bar presented a truly sad image:
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My early morning rides mean that I get to see some beautiful light over the Mediterranean:
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Even though we were still not supposed to leave our municipality, I went to the mountain villages almost every day, counting on there being no police controls there (sensibly, police are concentrating their enforcement around the beach area, where the danger of unauthorised groups of people, drinking in the sand etc. is much greater). So cycling to Aigües is a safe activity. One morning in Aigües, I photographed these three chairs, intending to title this image “social distancing”:
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A few days later, I was cycling past this house again, and saw evidence that some socialising had indeed taken place during the week:
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Aside from my morning exercise, I spend most of the day at home, so I look for photo opportunities wherever I find them. One afternoon the neighbour was having some serious gardening done:
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One early evening, my daughter and I were walking on the beach promenade, when we happened upon this delightful family:
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Monica said, “I just want to hug those dogs”:
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That evening, my wife prepared a delicious dinner of cod salad, avocado garnished with cayenne, and two vegetables used frequently in Puerto Rican food, plantains and yautía:
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On Thursday I had a medical appointment at a clinic not far from my office, so I decided to stop by and pick up some personal items–I had not been there since March 14th and will be working from home until September. The office is closed, and to gain access you have to arrange it in advance with the security service and Human Resources, and you are only allowed to remain in the building for 1/2 hour. It happened to be a rainy day, fitting the ambience of the office:
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My department occupies the top floor of one of the buildings that comprise our campus. It was eerie and desolate:
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Beginning June 8th, the first volunteers will start returning to the office, although working from home will remain the default for now. Those who do go back will find a changed environment; for example, all common areas are roped off:
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On my way home, I took some pictures in the centre of Alicante, of the rainy and largely empty streets:
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Near the city hall, a police car–not guarding the (deserted) city hall, but just being there, a subtle reminder to people that we are still in a state of emergency despite the recent measures to lighten things a bit:
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On Friday, I had lovely light, both during the morning bike ride and during the evening walk:
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On Saturday morning the clouds still threatened a bit but they also made for some nice light over the sea:
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I rode to Aigües and then to Busot, enjoying the lovely mountain road with hardly any cars:
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And the landscape was as beautiful as always; not a virus in sight:
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I finish with a couple of images of the local fauna from supermarket parking lots. This one is from an Aldi:
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And this cat in the Consum parking lot is giving me a look that says, “can I have some privacy please”:
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