Over the weekend, my parents surprised me. But before I describe what they did, let me give you some context.

Since I started working from home (aka my parents’ house), I have taken over the dining room as my makeshift office. It has worked fine for me, and, fortunately, my mom insists that she does not mind my main level occupancy. But I do feel bad that I am essentially closing down a large portion of the house during the workday.

For the most part, my “current” office has been working out.

Also, I can’t fully escape the noises from traffic and nearby yard work that regularly infiltrates into the dining room. Additionally, looking to the near future when my family arrives, my location in the middle of the house will render me as a play option for my 3-year-old daughter. As much as I love to entertain her, playtime isn’t conducive to the workday.

As our working from home arrangement continues at WSU, I brought up the subject of securing alternative office space to my “landlords.” They had the perfect idea…

Yes, my dad wrote out a nameplate to hang on my “office” door. If anyone gets lost on their way to a Zoom meeting I am hosting, I am sure it will help them find their way…

My dad made me this fancy nameplate.

Crack open the door a bit and you can catch a glimpse of the very nice work my parents did converting this space to my new office…

An initial glimpse into my new office.

But let’s actually go in, shall we?

Check out this work area! I got a desk, comfy chair, computer, and even a globe if I forget where Pullman is…

A look at my working space.

But let’s conclude this tour by zooming out.

Welcome to my new office…and old bedroom?

Here is the complete view of my office/guestroom.

That’s right! My parents converted my old basement bedroom from my teenage years into my new office as a 33-year-old professional.

Before the jokes start coming my way (besides the ones about me living with my parents) this bedroom was turned into a guestroom after I left the state 15 years ago. So, no, the floral bedspread and curtains aren’t a holdover from 2005.

Any sarcasm aside, I am really appreciative of my parents for doing this. Don’t Blink.

This weekend as I consume the latest COVID developments and reflect on many of the devastating impacts, I find myself focusing on a specific byproduct of this mess: the layoffs.

It is hard to not feel discouraged about the many thousands of people losing their jobs as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. These people are out of work due to absolutely no fault of their own. Most are outstanding employees who have had the proverbial rug pulled from underneath them. It is not fair.

It goes without saying that the impact is not industry-specific; rather, the ramifications seem to terrorize every line of work, including higher education digital marketers. But perhaps the biggest irony and kick to the gut is that healthcare workers, the folks who are most needed to battle this pandemic, are especially vulnerable to furloughs and layoffs. How is this possible?

Well, it happens when a once-in-a-lifetime deadly virus wreaks havoc on the world. The disease itself is just the tip of the iceberg as the trickle-down effect negatively upends many other aspects of life, including employment.

During this time I am thankful for my job but also very sad for those who have been let go. Again, their misfortune has been completely out of their control. I believe we need to do our individual part to help those out of work. Whether that be recommending them for other jobs, sending them a restaurant gift card, or just offering a word of encouragement, let’s take the time to reach out to those who have had their occupations disrupted.

Also, let’s make sure we continue to pray for a swift end to the coronavirus. Hopefully we will continue to make gains over this next week. Don’t Blink.

Good evening everyone and thanks for choosing to spend a few minutes of your precious time on Don’t Blink. It is Thursday so you all know what that means. Let’s begin with the latest Rundown…

Honoring the Class of 2020 – Yesterday I called out the “post your senior photo to support the Class of 2020” Facebook gimmick as disingenuous. I offered a few alternatives to do something more meaningful but they didn’t come close to what I read about in the local paper today. Teachers and staff members from a Spokane high school (a rival of my high school nonetheless) did something special for their 2020 class. Overnight, they went to the houses of every senior student at Ferris High School and planted a sign in their yard that read “Saxons Class of 2020. #SaxonPride.” Based on interviews the students did with the paper, they really enjoyed it. What a thoughtful and morale-boosting thing to do.

I think Ferris High School hit the mark with this effort.

Quick Trip to Walla Walla – Due to some essential reasons, I had to make a quick trip to Walla Walla this past weekend. I had not visited the town in five years so it was good to return and see a place that meant so much to me growing up. I got to see the house my grandparents’ lived in, drive by the old family business, visit relatives, and even play a little bit of cornhole (one of the best social distancing games there is). It was nice to get a change of scenery!

A few shots from my very quick trip to Walla Walla.

National Siblings Day – Last Friday was National Siblings Day and I decided to go retro for my social media posts. An advantage of living with your parents is that you have quick access to the family photo albums. Below are the images I shared on some of my social channels. I am very lucky to have an awesome sister and an awesome brother.

Some old photos to celebrate National Siblings Day.

Movies – In the wake of current events, I like to escape in the evenings from the news cycle. For me, this means watching a lot of movies. Over the course of the past week, I have watched the following films with my dad….

1917
Hostiles
The Score
The Water Diviner
End of Watch

All of these films were pretty good and it became no secret to me why “1917” was an Academy Award-winning film. Out of the other movies listed, all of which can be watched on Netflix, I think I liked “End of Watch” the best. It is a cop movie from 2012 that stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena.

1917 was an outstanding film.

Mamba – Everyone enjoys a good Kobe story and this one hit home for me. I attended high school with Adam Morrison and followed his college and NBA careers closely. I thought it was really cool that Bryant would do this random act of kindness while Adam was going through a tough time.

I thought this stpry was kind of cool.

———————

Let us continue to pray for a resolution to this pandemic. Promising developments are starting to transpire but it is going to take some time. Have a great weekend. Don’t Blink.

This post isn’t meant to criticize anyone’s Facebook prowess, but I am just seeking clarification. Before I elaborate, let me preface what I am about to say with a fact: I really enjoy many of the current social media engagement trends. In fact, I am so tickled by some of them that I wrote an entire blog post about it last week.

However, I am scratching my head at a certain one that is extremely popular right now. Again, please don’t take this personal if you have participated because it is a fun idea. My point of contention is whether it really does anything to promote the cause it is supposedly triumphing.

I am not a big fan of the senior photo post. You know what I am talking about, right? Facebook users are asked to copy and paste text that states something along the lines of “In solidarity with the Class of 2020, share your own senior pictures no matter how silly or old they might be.” Of course, this text is paired with a photo (or an entire album) from that individual’s senior portrait photoshoot.

If only it was just a prank…

Okay, I couldn’t care less if people are sharing photos from their senior year on social media. Heck, I am known to post images from my unremarkable high school football career. If you want to relive your glory years and celebrate a time when you weighed less and had more hair, I get it.

But my problem is when this reminiscing is done under the guise of a worthy cause.

In no way, shape, or form do I understand how posting professional photos of oneself is “showing support” for this year’s senior class. How does uploading an old photo of yourself to Facebook help a poor high school student dealing with the loss of their senior year? You aren’t “honoring” any students—you are only honoring yourself and perhaps the photographer who took the photos. And if that photographer isn’t a high school senior devoted to media arts, you are falling short there too.

If we truly want to honor the Class of 2020 on social media, I have a few options that I thought of off the top of my head…

1. Post the senior photo of an actual member of the Class of 2020.

2. Share to your wall the photo of the Class of 2020 from the local high school in your area or from the high school you graduated from.

3. Attend and share virtual high school events that are taking place on Facebook Live.

During this time when students are missing out on major rite of passage events that we all got to enjoy, let’s try harder to be empathetic. The focus should be on them, not us. Don’t Blink.

The last time I saw the inside of a gym was exactly a month ago. On March 14, the after I arrived from Myrtle Beach, I worked out at an Anytime Fitness in Spokane. Later that weekend, Governor Inslee issued a stay home order and all gyms in the state closed.

It has been hard adjusting to no gym access. After doing something consistently on a daily basis for 20 years, it stings a little to no longer have the option. Yes, I am making the best of it by finding alternative ways to exercise but it still isn’t the same. Working out at a gym isn’t solely a physical experience; it is a social one too.

My calluses have healed, my muscle mass has decreased, and my gym towels remain folded and unused. There is no way of telling when I will be able to pump iron or run on the treadmill again. But if I find myself dwelling on not having a gym to go to, I remind myself that most people in this country have to deal with actual devastating COVID-19 impacts like job loss, financial hardship, and/or serious health issues.

OR, I think about what hurts more personally than not going to the gym…

Not seeing my family.

Yesterday was the one-month mark since I last saw my wife, toddler, and newborn. I said goodbye to my trio on March 13 and have missed them every day since. This virus has pushed back when I will see them again from this Thursday to the beginning of next month. For a family guy like myself, being away from them pains me much more than the loss of any physical strength.

But I am blessed that this is the greatest hardship I have had to endure in relation to this terrible pandemic and am so thankful for the modern marvel of FaceTime. We will be together soon.

As most of us now have 30 days under our belts of strict social distancing, it is a thoughtful exercise to look back and realize all that we have taken for granted––both big and small. Although we might not come out of this physically stronger, let’s hope we do at least mentally. Don’t Blink.

Although Easter itself is always glorious, celebrating it yesterday was bittersweet. I did not get to spend the day with my wife and babies, a tough pill to swallow on the holiest day of the year. However, I did have the distinct pleasure of marking the day with my parents and siblings (and their families), something I had not done in six years. Under the circumstances, it was a terrific day.

Thank you to my mother-in-law for snapping this photo of Sloan decorating eggs yesterday.

My parents and I watched Easter Sunday mass from Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral, the mother church of the Diocese of Spokane. In his homily, Bishop Thomas Daly preached that the empty churches caused by COVID-19 will strengthen our faith community even more, helping us realize how important parish life is. As the mass ended, Fr. Darrin Connall recognized the sadness that the candidates who had hoped to be welcomed into the Church this past weekend must be feeling. It made me a little emotional as I thought about their disappointment and then contrasted it with how lucky Sidney was to be confirmed at the start of the Lenten season.

Bishop Daly was the presider at Easter Sunday mass from Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral in Spokane.

After mass, we ate a sweet and savory brunch. Besides the banana bread and caramel bread, my mom made an Easter Italian pie called pizzagaina. To those who are unfamiliar with this delicacy, visualize a flaky crust filled with ham and macaroni and cheese.

A look at my Easter brunch with the pizzagaina on the left.

My brother and his fiancée, Carrie, came over in the early afternoon. We spent a couple hours chatting in the living room and munching on candy. At around 3 p.m., my sister and her family arrived. Just so we could get it all over with, we converged on the front yard to take some pictures.

This photo with my siblings was part of our front yard photo shoot.

After the photoshoot, we moved from the front yard to the back yard. My brother and Carrie had set up an Easter egg hunt for my sister’s youngest children, Mikayla and Johnny. They scooped up plastic eggs and placed them into their overflowing baskets.

Johnny and Mik during yesterday’s Easter egg hunt.

Once the eggcitement from the hunt dissipated, we had our Easter meal. The menu included ham, salad, fruit, corn casserole, scalloped potatoes, and rolls. Despite all the candy and sweet bread I had ate earlier, I still managed to have a healthy appetite for this delicious dinner. We gave thanks for our salvation and enjoyed the delicious food coupled with great discussion.

This Easter meal was delicious.

We finished up in time to go outside and watch the Easter Bunny ride by in a pickup truck. With the neighborhood Easter egg hunt canceled, those in the community still wanted to do something for the children. Although odd-looking, it was nice for Mikayla and Johnny to see yet another strangely costumed rabbit ride by.

The Easter Bunny drove by in the back of a truck yesterday.

The family gathering concluded with my mom’s famous ice cream cake. Another specialty that I had not enjoyed for years, this particular version with Cold Stone cake batter ice cream was even better than what I remembered. We all sat around the living room and continued to talk until it was time for us to prepare for Monday.

My mom’s ice cream cake was even better than I remembered it.

Easter Sunday might be over but the season of Easter has just started. I look forward to the weeks to come as we continue to celebrate our resurrected Lord. Don’t Blink.

Easter 2019
Easter 2018

I hope everyone has managed to stay healthy throughout this week. As we approach Easter, I wish you nothing but peace and good health. Let’s begin with the Thursday Rundown…

Gratitude – I wanted to start this Rundown off by just thanking my wife. Tomorrow marks four weeks since I left my family to head west and she has done such a superb job with Sloan and Beau while finishing up her teaching. I miss them so much and can’t wait to see them.

A couple of recent photos of my babies courtesy of my mother-in-law.

Out of Practice – I used to be a good Scrabble player. However, I wasn’t able to shake off the dust as seamlessly as I would have liked this past Sunday when my mom challenged me to a game. The two of us and my dad sat around the dining room table like old times to engage in a quarantine-approved friendly competition. Whether it was my time away from the game or the consistent practice my mom undertakes from her strict Words With Friends regimen, I found myself in second place, coming up about 70 points short.

A look at our Scrabble board from Sunday’s game.

Taffer on Restaurants – This morning I caught an interview with Jon Taffer. He was on Fox News to discuss not necessarily the current grim state of restaurants but what the industry will look like once they can finally open for full service again. Taffer says restaurant capacity will go down dramatically because they will have to account for social distancing mandates. Thus, a restaurant that usually serves 50 tables during lunch might only serve 25. This leads to not only a diminished revenue but also fewer employees. Another implication he mentioned is that customers will now dine at restaurants on how “safe” they perceive them to be. It will no longer be about “who has the best burger” but who is implementing social distancing measures the best. As a way to be transparent, Taffer said restaurants should consider putting online cameras in their kitchens just so potential customers can see that it is a safe and clean establishment.

I caught an interview with Jon Taffer his morning about the outlook for restaurants.

Free Cone Day Postponed – Ben & Jerry’s was supposed to hold its Free Cone Day this week but obviously it did not happen. I know it is not the same, but I thought I would mark the celebration by looking back five years ago to when I completely took advantage of the promotion. I waddled to four different Ben & Jerry’s stores in Myrtle Beach and snatched a free cone from each one. Yep, you better believe I was proud of myself.

Enjoying Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day in 2015 (one of four stops).

Twinkie Story – Earlier this week, I was notified that the Twinkie celebrated its 90th birthday. When I saw the notification come across, I was surprised to learn that the Twinkie was originally filled with banana cream. This led me to conduct my own history lesson on Wikipedia. It turns out that the treat transitioned to vanilla cream during World War II because of banana rationing. I don’t have any good personal Twinkie stories other than they are a big deal at University of Montana football games. Whenever the Griz score a touchdown, a dedicated group of season ticket holders in a certain section of Washington-Grizzly Stadium throw Twinkies to fans…it has become quite a tradition.

Timehop taught me that Twinkies were originally filled with banana cream.

——————-

As we conclude this week and look toward the weekend, let’s remember the light that awaits us on Sunday. Happy Easter. Don’t Blink.

In last night’s blog post about current social media engagement tactics, I omitted 10 UNPOPULAR OPINIONS. At the time I explained my decision by acting as if it was beneath me. In reality, I laid off so I could devote tonight’s entire post to it.

I have an unpopular opinion about Disney World.

1. Disney World is overrated – Would have made a bolder statement if my wife didn’t like it so much.

2. There is no better time to wake up than 4 a.m. – Early bird truly gets the worm.

3. I am not a dog fan – One word: CATS

4.  Star Wars? Lord of the Rings? Star Trek? No, no, and no – Let me reemphasize…NO, NO, AND NO.

5. Sour candy is the worst candy – Would rather suck on a clove of garlic than a Warhead.

6. Following all the rules when you have braces is the only way to go – For two and a half years I had no soda, no caramel, or no popcorn.

7. Wearing a pocket watch made me feel cool in middle school – No wonder I didn’t have a girlfriend.

9. Will Ferrell is not funny – Probably the only comedian who consistently puts me in a bad mood.

10. I find bowling boring – Well, a beer or two can make it a little more tolerable.

Don’t Blink.

With so many events canceled and the normal rigors of everyday life wiped out, the social media sphere has changed drastically. Despite heightened anxiety for many of us, it seems like the sentiment on social media does not mirror the daily challenges we are facing. Instead, Twitter and Instagram are now havens for people looking to escape, not the usual black holes of spite and drama.

I am seeing more posts about snack cakes and fewer posts promoting body shaming; more about feel-good movies, less about personal attacks; higher abundance of nostalgia, lower doses of cursing the current situation. It is a weird, but refreshing, vibe on social media right now.

The more relaxed attitude on social media has led to the rise of many fun engagement posts that allow us to focus on the lighter side of life while we battle a dark fact of life in the non-virtual world. I thought tonight I would recap five social media “challenges” that have brought a smile to my face.

You Can Only Keep Three – Whenever you place candy bars or Little Deb snacks on a tic-tac-toe board, you know you are going to have to make some tough decisions. I conducted my own draft (#3, #7. #1) and many of my followers did as well, leading me to question the sanity of some of my friends…because who really likes honey buns?

This generated a lot of debate!

Album Fun – Besides my blog, there isn’t much to post on my Facebook wall these days. I have no sports, my family is still in South Carolina, and I haven’t been in much of a selfie mood lately. Thankfully, I was challenged on Facebook to reveal the 10 albums that have influenced my taste in music over the years. Today was my fourth day of participation as I revealed the impact of U2’s Joshua Tree in my early teen years.

Over the course of 10 days I am listing some of the albums that had an influence on me.

This or That – Instagram Story is full of interactive content right now! A particular popular theme is “This or That.” You are given a list of dueling choices (such as restaurants, stores, music stars, etc.) and you indicate your top preference by placing an emoji or sticker by it. These get pretty specific, such as the bars that defined your time in college!

Who hasn’t done a This or That challenge on Instagram Story?

Tiger King Fun – I can’t stop laughing at people using Tiger King characters to describe cities, universities, teams, and more. The stars of the wildly popular Netflix documentary are all very colorful, making them prime candidates to portray the charisma of other things. The one done on Montana had me rolling on the floor.

You can explain a lot by using Tiger King characters.

Fill in the Blank – I have taken the bait on tweets that ask you to quote it and fill in the prompts with your own preferences. They are easy to do, the subjects are fun, and you can let your personality shine a bit. Hey, it was either this or the 10 Unpopular Opinions list!

I enjoyed the opportunity Twitter gave me to discuss Major League ballparks.

—————-

Many times, social media can increase stress. However, currently, I think it can help relieve it. So what are you waiting for? Hop online and have some fun. Don’t Blink.