Since I wrote my last post, this Life with COVID-19 situation has only gotten harder and worse.

It’s been over 3 weeks now since I have worked from home and since my kids have been home from school. It feels like an eternity and it’s not anywhere close to over despite our president’s delusions that we’ll be back in church for Easter.

If you want to hear from a smart and rational human being about the COVID-19 situation and what our future holds - I highly suggest watching Bill Gates on the CNN Town Hall last week. Check out Part 4. Now you can ignore the White House Briefings forever cause you know everything you need to know about the incredible failure of the federal government. Please watch it and educate yourself about how we will come out of this - and the reflect on how we got here.

One thing Lora and I are trying hard to do - is to keep paying people for services and appointments even if we are not able to use them (housecleaning, trainer, etc). We are also trying to keep ordering take out from some of our favorite restaurants to help them stay in business. I hope you all find ways to support your communities.

My mood is not great. I am feeling Grief over all this. It didn’t occur to me that this feeling was a feeling of Grief until I read this article in Harvard Business Review. We are all processing this situation differently and for me, anticipatory grief is a prison I’m finding it hard to escape from.

OmarKnows purchases and acquisitions are also way down. But I do have some products I’d recommend to you in order to ease the new normal we are in.

Each day I drink Greens #3 from Pressed Juicery. This small thing gives me a little bit of joy. I joined their club and can purchase for $5 each and they are offering free local delivery during this time.

You should get a standing desk at home. Autonomous and Uplift are great products. I think the ideal standing desk size is 24 inches by 48 or 24 x 60 or 72 if you want more workspace.

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It’s critical that you have a great mat to stand on. I absolutely love the Topo Comfort Mat.

Zoom - I suggest organizing some virtual happy hours with friends. I’ve done two of these now and it’s awesome. Zoom is a pretty popular product right now and the reason I’d recommend it is that you can see everyone on the happy hour at the same time.

Microsoft Teams - nothing is better for conducting collaboration (documents, apps), chat and meetings in one place. If you use Microsoft products (Word, Excel, PPT, OneDrive, SharePoint) - Teams is like a layer of awesome on top. You can get Teams for free for your Work or School.

With either of these two products, I would suggest using your iPhone or iPad for video meetings. These devices have superb cameras and microphones and are portable and can be carried around your house.

I also suggest that you get off your laptop and invest in a full keyboard and mouse setup (ergonomic) or a Desktop computer. The Microsoft Surface Ergonomic Keyboard and Precision Mouse are fantastic. Microsoft has always made world-class peripherals.

This Sennheiser Puck is a great speaker and microphone for any PC or Laptop.

My recommendation on AirPods Pro still stands.

I also think it’s worth investing in these beautiful products from Grovemade for your desk.

A Deskpad - I just got the new Matte Desk Pad in Medium.

I have their Headphone stand for my bedside.

Their pen stand is amazing.

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I’m also a big fan of the Haflinger AS Classic Slipper (men | women)

I’ve also enjoyed the following subscriptions

The Atlantic - some of the best coverage of the Pandemic.
New York Times - For a limited time $4 every 4 weeks.
Washington Post - for a limited time get one year for $19.
Wall Street Journal - For a limited time $1 for 2 months.
The Week Junior - The Week is a fantastic magazine and they now have a kids version.

We are also cooking a lot more. I really like the Staub Perfect Pan. It’s a cast iron wok style pan that is perfect for cooking sauces and pasta, hamburgers and everything you can think of.

We love our GIR cooking utensils.

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Now is a good time to get an Instant Pot

Finally, I have been trying out this house cleaner from Veles and like it.

With Gym’s closed Lora and I have been adding to hour home fitness collection. Lora is an avid Peloton rider and we have recently purchased a Rogue Folding Utility Bench and some Rogue Urethane Dumbells.

It’s amazing how much you can do with a Utility Bench and this one takes little space when you are done.

We purchased our Mat from GorillaMats