Mar 31

Mar 31 James, Havelock North

The worst thing to run out of in the next few months would be, shit, maybe vape pods. How bad is that?

I’m James, I’m 28 and I’m currently sitting on the floor of my house in Hawke’s Bay. Oh, and I’m a caterer.

I live with my brother Richard and his fiancé – you. So, my brother and my sister in law to be.

I’ve lived in this house for less than a year. It’s a standalone home with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, one laundry, one kitchen, half a patio, a creepy shed by the back fence … all the essentials. I have a bedroom downstairs with a bathroom next door to it – I call it my en suite. It sounds fancier. You guys live upstairs, so I’ve basically got a whole wing to myself. Pretty much. Well that’s what I like to tell people anyway.

Even though I’m not going to work now, I’ve got a 7am wake up, which I’m pretty happy about. I snooze the fuck out of it though, like I snooze it for sure. This morning I went for a run which I was really proud of myself for doing. I’m gonna try keep that up, but, I mean, it’s hard because I really just want to COD all day. Call of Duty. A PlayStation Four game where you just shoot, really. Does that sound sad? I just really like it. I play with friends online, we coerce and make strategies. It’s currently set up in my bedroom, but it’s moveable – just FYI. Might be coming out to the lounge soon.

The next few months would have been filled with conferences, work parties, events, a few weddings. It was looking busy. Not summer busy, but still a lot on. Now, we don’t have anything in the calendar ‘til June and even that could go. Who knows. It’s a weird feeling.

I’m a social person when I want to be. I’m pretty happy just cruising. I guess my social life would consist of going to a friend’s house and having some beers, sometimes lots of beers. I work weekends quite a bit, so just whenever I could fit it in. But when I can, I love a big night. I really love a big night.

I’m conscious that I already fucking love TV, so it’s a trap I may fall into. It’s just so easy. Obviously so much of what’s happening is scary, but in a way, if I’m brutally honest, this whole staying at home thing is kind of my dream. But that could be a bad thing. I’m too set up for it. I love doing nothing. I love it.

Hopefully I’ll be able to flip that around. Maybe I’ll get good perspective on what I’m most comfortable with doing, and then I’ll be able to make sure I’m not always just doing what I’m comfortable with. Does that make sense? Like phasing some stuff out that I probably shouldn’t do all the time.

I don’t really have any hobbies at the moment, I think I really need to figure out what I’m into and that’ll just mean taking some time to reflect I guess. I want to come out with a really good personal routine. Exercise, work, but also, I want to figure out what’s important. The little things. We’ll all be figuring that stuff out together.

The worst thing to run out of in the next few months would be, shit, maybe vape pods. How bad is that? Actually no, I’m giving it up. I really hope we don’t run out of bread, that would be the worst.

I’m probably most worried about the whole longevity of it. And the company, everything Mum and Dad have worked for and how this is going to affect them, and, you know, what can I do? I don’t want to think of this as time off. It’s got to be a time when I step up and say, what can I do to help push us forward? But also, COD.

I think we’re going to come out the other side a little bit better, more patient and resourceful. I’m a live-in third wheel for the foreseeable future, so patience will be key. No, it’s actually a pleasure being your third wheel. I think I’ll look back on this time in a positive light, but only if everybody makes changes for the better. If everyone comes out of this and nothing’s changed, that would be sad. A wasted opportunity. There’s got to be change.

Life’s so long. At this stage it’s just a month out of it and if I get to know you guys even a little bit better, then all the better for it. We’re really lucky, we all get on and we have everything we need. So many people don’t have that. We’re really lucky.