Homing – Sandra 45

[For back story go here: Story so far at 30 Nov 2020 and more recent Sandra episodes especially this one.]

[Other back story through in-links.]

Her house was much as she’d left it. It didn’t look deserted but it wasn’t lived in either. She flicked on the central heating and put on another warmer jumper. There was a rather tantalising mocha-toffee-cappucino coffee pod on the side, but for now Sandra just put the kettle on for a cup of tea.

Despite the world of digital communication there was still post on the floor by the door waiting for her attention. She quarantined it for later and switched on the laptop without really considering if she’d do any work just now or indeed what she would do at this point. 

Her mobile phone chimed with a number of wishing-well messages. She was trying not to make a big thing of this. It was a sort of staged return to work but she didn’t want any big fuss. She just wanted to slowly place herself back in front of the screen to start in on whatever looked interesting or doable in the short term.

David was her first call and she found him calm and good to talk to. He noted how the whole Brexit issue, while not entirely out off the map, had at least died down a little and that there was now a general feeling that whatever difficulties lay ahead they would be dealt with. Sandra made a note to herself that this probably wasn’t the case and actually there were still some rather more significant things taking up space in the media and peoples’ thoughts. As per usual he was after a couple of ‘feel-good’ stories for the company and after some discussion the two hit upon a couple of stories regarding drivers and their pets (although not about dogs imported under suspicious circumstances).

Sandra felt quite positive about turning these press releases in. They were simple and straightforward and pretty heartening on the whole. Nothing too demanding and a few nice quotes and possible jokes along the way.

Bill was also in touch. He’d had a few ‘interesting’ weeks he said and still felt he should apologise for his behaviour at the online Christmas Party. Indeed, his interesting few weeks had mainly been about discovering exactly what he had been doing during the online Christmas Party and apologising to all concerned. 

He was now wondering if there was any way they could do something which would key into attracting more candidates for their driving roles. They knocked around a few ideas, covering everything from flexible working hours to travel to the childhood dream some held of what it must be like to drive a truck.

All good, enjoyable and low level, thought Sandra. The ideal way back into work.

“So, you’re back at it, then?” asked Trinny on a call later that day. 

“Nah, not really,” said Sandra. “Tinkering around the edges, that’s about it. What’s going on with you?”

“Two letters,” said Trinny. “VR.”

“Oh no,” said Sandra, “This doesn’t bode well. Another mad cap idea?”

“Uh-uh,” said Trinny. “Reckon we’ve got this taped. A few glitches along the way, maybe, but it’s looking very impressive. I’ll send you a link.”

“OK,” said Sandra, “But just so you know, actual reality is enough for me right now, I don’t think I need another one.”

“But this one’s really good,” said Trinny. “You can meet people and get close to them – closer than two metres and everything.”

Sandra was in the mood for picking this apart a little but decided against it. Trinny gave her some log in details and told her to have a go whenever. She could use her mobile phone as the headset - and there were instructions on how to create a viewfinder on the website. 

She went to look at the website, really for old time’s sake, after finishing the all with Trinny. It looked basically the same, slight tweaks to the logo and a lot more case studies of people ranging from bus drivers to dog walkers. This was how their lives had been enriched by Together... Apart and this was how the app could change your quarantine experience too.

All very worthy, thought Sandra, all very novel. But did it change the world? But did her press release change anything? Maybe it would get a few more people onboard and working for the good of others. She decided not to go down that rabbit hole.

She turned instead to Netflix and her current show of choice. Upbeat, heart warming, not too controversial or indeed controversial at all. Tomorrow she’s have a go at the VR viewer, just because she knew she had the cardboard and it could be a fun practical thing to do. She wouldn’t actually try it out. Would she?