That’s what it feels like. A couple of weeks ago I tested positive for Coronavirus. I know exactly where I got it from as Helen had tested positive a few days earlier. So, for most of the last two weeks, I have been self-isolating at home. Today was my first day out and I celebrated by buying diesel and a car wash.

I don’t think there were any days that I was not working. Certainly, for the first few days, I was doing a lot less than usual, but as time has progressed I have been getting more and more done each day.

I have often described my working life as nomadic as I travel between various offices. For the last two weeks I have not been anywhere, and that is starting to feel a bit strange. Next week I will be back to normal. It’s one of the reasons why I say that if you want to find me ring my mobile. I could actually be anywhere in the North of Scotland.

One of the pros of self-isolation has been that I have been able to spend time on a couple of projects that I just was not getting to when I was working normally. We seem to be becoming ever more technology based and I have spent the last few days working on familiarising myself with the new software and seeing what modifications we need to implement in our internal systems to integrate the new software into our practice. You probably know the feeling. There are things you want and need to get done but the day job just seems to keep getting in the way. Well, Coronavirus gave me the time and space to do what needed to be done.

It was only ever like a bad cold for me and right up to the end of my 10 days self-isolation and beyond I was still on Lemsips and paper hankies. I sneezed a lot and my eyes watered, but I never got the sore throat. Mind you, every time I got a tickle in my throat I went for a spoon of Moray Honey. I cannot say for certain, but it certainly seemed to work for me. I did get through several jars during my self-isolation, but I would not now be without it and have just placed an order for another 4 jars. Helen does not like honey, but she still has the cough which developed during her self-isolation.

So, as I set about getting back to my normal routine, what do I have in store waiting for me. There are one or two things that we have on the near horizon but more about these another time. The next few weeks will see me travelling between all four of our offices again. We have a couple of new faces so I will get to meet them for the first time. In Inverness we have someone coming back to us, having left to work for another firm but now returning.

By the nature of how we work, staff joining us means more equipment and more software licenses. It used to be that all you needed was a table and chair. But now there are computers, screens and additional software licenses and that all add up to a significant investment and that is before they have even set foot in the office.

I would not like to be without all this technology. Imagine if we had to go back to preparing accounts without computers. We would probably have to employ three times the staff and where would we put them. It really does not bear thinking about.

Anyway, Coronavirus means we will now be using yet more software. Every cloud has a silver lining.

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Alan E Long

The Long Partnership

07770 738770