Before we wake in the morning, in cold and rain, an army of workers is hard at it, doing all those unglamorous tasks which keep our lives ticking along in this time of crisis.
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They are the street cleaners and the garbage collectors, the bus drivers and the grave diggers who keep working in a time of pandemic.
Here are their uplifting stories.
Michelle Mitchell, garbage truck driver
Michelle loves the job - loves it. "I like being outside and I have my own office," she says, though her office is the cab of the 13.8 tonne garbage truck she drives (22.5 tonnes when it's full of the rubbish the rest of us throw out).
She's the only woman in the driving team. "The men treat me like one of the guys." She notices women driving other trucks of all sorts and always waves. There is a community, she says.
The grandmother (one grandchild, 12 months old) used to work in a supermarket but that was much more physically demanding.
Her job is not of the highest status but that doesn't phase her. "People say to me, 'What about the smell?'. But I don't put my nose into the compactor. You don't smell the smell.
"It's a fantastic job."
Peter Foster and Max Al Hamad, street cleaners
They start at 5.30 with brushes and quietish electric suckers-up of leaves and other debris. They aren't allowed to start loud diesel machinery until after 7am.
They like early starts because they finish early in the afternoon, so they get time with their families. They are also proud to be doing important work.
"It sure keeps me fit," Max said. They reckon they do 15,000 to 20,000 steps a day.
"It's a good job. It's not too physically demanding and it keeps us busy."
And the city clean.
Mick Brennan, gravedigger
He's reckons he's dug 15,000 graves over his 30 year career, including that of his mother, Edna.
Over the years, he has made friends with some of the bereaved as they keep coming back to visit the graves he dug.
By and large, he is positive and upbeat. "You have your moments of gloom. Doing children's graves gets you down but, other than that, I love my job. If something gets me down one day, it won't the next."
Not only has he dug the graves at Woden but also, over the last 25 years, at St John's Church in Reid.
His home is the cemetery lodge in Woden. It has its advantages and disadvantages - his children grew up with a park to play in but no friends as neighbours.
"I've had a lot of respect over the years from different communities - Italian, Jewish, Islamic - I've got to know a lot of people. I love this job."
Gurjeet Singh, linen delivery driver
Gurjeet Singh is one of the linchpins of the most high-pressure part of Canberra - the health service.
He picks up the dirty linen from hospitals and hotels and delivers clean linen back to them.
In a day, he transports about 9300 bits of cloth described on the work sheet as "adult pyjama tops", "surgical pads" or "aprons".
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They go to the Capital Linen Service depot in Mitchell where they are steamed and cleaned for return.
There's a lot of hygiene involved. He wears protective shoes and gloves and a mask, and the disinfectant spray is never far away.
He is proud to do "a very helpful job".
Brett Dorsett and Maddison Young, bus drivers
Maddison Young thinks driving a bus is "therapeutic". "I've always loved driving since I got my Ps. It's very relaxing."
Because of Covid, she sometimes has no passengers - and she minds that. "I'm very people-oriented, and having no one on the bus - I wouldn't call it lonely; I would call it more like bored."
Brett has buses in his blood. His first job was washing them, then he got behind the wheel.
At the moment, there aren't many passengers. "I think I'm pretty safe. People board at the back. I'm not that worried."
Zoe Cooper, kennel master
When dogs get dumped at the ACT government's Domestic Animal Services depot, they end up in Zoe's hands.
And more dogs are getting dumped these days.
"Covid has seen an increase in the number of 'surrenders'." She said that people 'adopted" dogs during the lockdown but then discovered that they couldn't really cope with them, particularly when they went back to work.
So many dogs are being given up that some have to be sent from the ACT to Western Australia.
Zoe loves working with animals. "I live on a small farm so I can have more animals."
Leah and Craig Tozer, and Woody
The Tozer family are in lockdown but take their three-legged greyhound for a walk at the local oval in Queanbeyan.
Woody somehow broke one of his back legs in three places and had to have it amputated so he was put up for adoption via Greyhound Connections.
At a time when the price of designer dogs was going through the roof, Leah and Craig decided that having an unfashionable dog was the right thing to do.
"We've gone with something which is less aesthetically perfect," he said. "We wanted to give a dog a good home. We've put the dog first.
"I wouldn't say he's ugly but there is a stigma around them. People with smaller dogs give him a wide berth - but, in fact, he's super friendly."
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