An update about the state of things at Volante Design since our recent shut down due to Covid.

As many of you know we made the difficult choice to shut down on Monday when someone came in who later that day received word of a positive covid test. We made plans for the exposure, figured out how to keep a few essential things running and headed home to do what everyone else has been doing for 2 years, work from home and wait out the clock. 

That night I took another test, I was tired, stressed, freaked out about the idea of my little team being exposed. I figured taking a test would put my paranoia at ease. But there was a very faint pink line… I took another test, another faint pink line. I started calling the people I’d seen over new year’s weekend. We have heard what you’re supposed to do if you test positive so many times, and yet, when it happened to us we reeled a moment, didn’t know what to do right away. The gears took a little time to get rolling. 

The next day 3rd and 4th covid tests came back positive from folks on the team and in their households. Here we go, I thought. Oh, shit. I’ve been afraid of this virus for a little less then 2 years. It has finally made its way to us. We braced ourselves for closure for 2 weeks. That’s a long time for a small business like ours. It is longer than we’ve ever been closed for. 

The next day I was pretty sick, zero energy, and watched all of Queer Eye on the couch with dogs and blankets and as much tea as I could drink, which is a lot guys, it’s a lot of tea. I probably drank a cup every ½ hour. David wasn’t really sick yet, but not peppy either. He made most of the tea. 

But then, to my surprise, meetings went on. After about a day, I was well enough to work on my laptop. I made appointments, answered emails, met with people, did productive stuff. I worked 9 hours that day, and 10 the next day. It’s possible to be productive from home? 

My staff did amazing, we had a pitch meeting for marketing, it was weird to meet everyone on zoom, but we had all the tools we needed. We assigned out chunks of our projects so that folks could coordinate and pass things off. These are things that most other people have already had to figure out. I know we’re real late to the party. We never really stopped for Covid before this, we just shifted over to making masks. 

Production is hard of course. A few folks took home masks to work on. Everything else would need more space, would need more tools that they couldn’t take home. So that schedule will have to change. We were really hitting a good pace. We will again. It is just a matter of time. 

Shipping has happened twice this week- which isn’t too bad, helps keep the backlog down. The way we’ve been handling it, is that one person goes in alone and does a few hours of in person stuff that they need. It is working ok enough. That is good, you know? 

A few other folks are sick now. I won’t share who, for their privacy, but nobody is dying. It’s uncomfortable of course, but our vaccines are doing a lot to make the process quicker, less dangerous. We are waiting to hear from the other folks, will they be ok? Will they be out next week while the early in the week sick people can come back? 

David is on the couch watching game reviews and commentary on youtube. I’m making the tea now. He’s got a low grade fever. He’s rolled in my favorite hobbit blanket with a dog on his lap. 

We have been inordinately lucky to have gone 2 years without a single positive covid case in our company. Now we’ve got a whole bunch, but we are resilient. We will fall down 7 times but get up 8. That’s just who we are. I love my little team and I wish them each a swift recovery or a miraculous no covid at all. 

It’s snowing here and there are a few inches accumulating.  I won’t be shoveling, I’m not that strong yet. But the neighbor across the street has a 9 year old who wants pocket money. Together we will make it work. 

Willow