COVID-19: Staying at home - Loving a new puppy and coding

Like many of you I have been staying home, sheltering in place. My husband and I have been doing our part to ensure we are not contributing to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Our son has been working as a part time EMT, often transporting people in breathing distress, likely due to the virus. This is all very real to me, leaving me really wanting to do something to help. I know that staying at home is the definition of doing something but in my isolation, I am watching people and companies struggle in ways I would have never imagined. This made me realize I needed to tap into my creativity and figure out what I could do.   

We discussed a lot of ideas, suggestions like making sure we were ordering out from our local restaurants once a week, buying gift cards for services we will need someday soon, keeping in touch with our teams to help reduce this sense of isolation and yes, getting a puppy. It's about making the effort, doing something that you know will make a difference - big and small.   

Making time for Companionship 

We had lost our beloved Tito just after Christmas, my husband and I had been talking about getting another puppy. Of course, figuring out how to raise a puppy with my travel schedule was definitely going to be an issue. Well, enter COVID-19, and now I have all the time in the world to spend with a new puppy! We welcomed Aleta into the family and she has given me a new purpose and companionship. If you ever thought about getting a puppy and you aren't already consumed with juggling too much family togetherness, home schooling and work, this is a time when you can teach and train a new family member. She's made me step away from my computer, take a break and get outside. 

Everyone including our furry friends need help, even if it’s helping the local shelters foster animals temporarily.   

Taping into my creativity and coding 

I have been spending the last month working alongside CDC and Microsoft teams on a project to deploy the Microsoft’s Healthbot to help people understand and identify coronavirus symptoms. I had to brush off my TSQL skills, learn Kusto and Azure Stream Analytics.  Although it has been exhilarating and exhausting, having the opportunity to work side-by-side with the CDC deploying live code at this level of scale and doing it very quickly has been an opportunity that has not been lost on me. It’s sparked a new level of empathy for the developers tackling these types of projects every day.   

It has also helped me get my priorities straight. It's helped me focus on what else can I do to help others. I now have more time to spend time with my team virtually coding with our customers. I am encouraging everyone on our team to find projects where they feel like they are making a difference.  If you have the computer power, donate your GPU, contribute code in Github, participate in the global hackathon or offering your skills to help.  

So Aleta, my husband and I will continue to do our part by staying home. She is definitely on track to being the most well-trained dog we have ever had! To all of you, I hope that you and your families are well and please do stay safe.