Way back at the beginning of the pandemic, perhaps in very late February or early March, a coworker pinged me to ask whether I was starting up another “Living with” series anytime soon. Yes, I told them. I was going to try switching from the Xbox One to the PC for my daily gaming needs. That seemed like a rich area for exploration, given the number of available services and Microsoft’s renewed interest in this market.

But as the reality of the pandemic hit home—oh, this is going to impact us, too, and not just for two weeks—we entered a period of great uncertainty and of dulling day-to-day sameness. And while most were reeling from suddenly having to work from home, I had been doing that for 25 years. What changed for me was a bit different, not so much the workday but everything around it. No going out. No traveling of any kind. No … future, really.