Working From Home

We are all very much still kicking back against the return to a formal office, but our work is incredibly well-suited to flexibility and remoteness, though my husband's work is less flexible so I might end up going back in over the winter on his mandated office days so as to use the office heating and electricity rather than ours when I'd be home on my own through the day

I just realized I don't even know where my badge to get in my office is anymore, lol

this reminds me that I have to go through the absurd ritual today of going to the city government building to get the mail for work. We had an office in a storefront in a city building, but the building was not designed for direct mail delivery to the storefront, so our mail got delivered to the city government mail room.

Before Covid, I would just walk in during regular business hours, go to the mail room, and get the mail. Since Covid, this building hasn't been open to the public except for certain reduced services.

So now, every time I want to get the mail, I will go to the front entrance.
The security guard will amble to the entrance.
The security guard will ask me why I am there.
I will tell the security guard I am there to get my mail from the mail room.
The security guard will ask to see my City staff badge.
I will tell the guard that I do not have one, because I don't work for the City, but I work for an org that receives mail there.
The security guard will be either confused or suspicious.
I will reassure the guard that I have been doing this for several years, and that if they don't feel comfortable letting me in, I could call Lorane, the mail room supervisor
And then they nod slowly, back away from the door, and let me in to get the mail.

OK, I am officially Too Busy. I just got a part-time job which starts in mid-September. So that brings the full list to:

• part-time job in health care marketing (15 hrs/week)
• editing & ghostwriting work (10-15 hrs/week divided among 2-3 projects at any given time)
• freelance journalism (10-15 hrs/week divided among several outlets: Stereogum, Bandcamp, The Wire, the NYC Jazz Record, DownBeat)
• new thing (TBD)
• unpaid writing (weekly Substack newsletter, a book that's due to the publisher in November 2023)

Plus, I will now be a three-computer person, since the health care marketing job sent me a Dell laptop to work on, and the new place will be sending me a Mac. I'm starting to feel like I should rent an office.

lol do you have a half dozen different email addresses that you are supposed to be keeping track of at all times? ... this is my world now too.

I have three email addresses that I check on a more or less hourly basis, one that I only check while working for a particular client, and two others that I never check.

Grrr...I think I'm about to have to walk away from a job before it starts.

I interviewed for a remote gig which I understood would involve the company sending me a laptop. This would be the third laptop in my house (my regular one, one that another remote freelance client sent me to do work for them, and this new one), but fine. But today, in an email, someone at the company told me a) that I might have to come to their offices, a 90-minute drive away, to collect the equipment, and b) it's not a laptop, but a desktop computer.

Problem #1: I don't drive.
Problem #2: I already have a desktop computer and have no place in my apartment to set up a second one.

Either they're gonna find some way to give me access to their servers via FTP or whatever, so I can do the work on the desktop computer I already have, or I'm walking away from the gig. At present I'm getting about five offers a day from various recruiters, and I have plenty of work from other clients, so I'm good no matter what, but this is very annoying.

As predicted, I had to walk away from this gig, but the agency that put me on it felt so bad (they believed there was a miscommunication on their part, since the equipment issue had been there from the beginning) that they submitted me for a different gig which pays $6 more an hour and sounds even more interesting and is guaranteed 100% remote. Waiting to hear about that one now.

throwing in the towel and posting for another job/position at this company. at this point, I can't afford or even mentally handle the long drawn out process of posting externally, whereas it's a cleaner/quicker process here, and I can find a department that's a bit more calm and then re-evaluate long-term when the dust has settled.

in the last two weeks, we've had one long term colleague move to another position, and not be replaced, my manager announced he's leaving exactly one week from today, and another colleague (through no fault of his own) is without power in San Juan. thankfully he and his girlfriend are ok, but we were already understaffed, and when the manager leaves next week, there's three of us to do the work of six people. and once again I have the heaviest workload of the year, even after warning weeks in advance "I can't do this again, please find me help". nothing was done.

going to try and move to a boring, benign position, as htey will maintain my current salary, just so I don't literally have a breakdown, and then that will buy me time to look elsewhere and hopefully I will leave this fucking company for good within the next year, now that we have Medicaid in place and I don't strictly have to be homebound.

sounds tough Neanderthal, good luck with the move if you decide to go for it.

Yeah, good luck Neanderthal. You definitely deserve to be treated better.

Definitely the right move. You can't be supporting that much weight by yourself — get out from under however you can. Good luck!

Neando - I am so proud of you taking this step!

Yes! Good luck Neanderthal!!

On the plus side, I have 16 (!!).days of PTO scheduled between now and 12/31. Mostly due to being unable to take for three months and being on a 15+ year accrual schedule.

So a lighter year is coming on top of any move I make

Best wishes, great that your employers will pay you your same salary for soemthing less stressful. Not many would do that for you.

a lot of it is small things, like, so we have thousands of colleagues in San Juan. Obviously, almost all of them are gone this week, and the company has been sensitive to those impacted, and used contingency plans to ensure business continues.

but, of course, a lot of these people were in classes, and so my instructors ask the pertinent question of 'what will happen with them' so that they don't leave one terrible situation (having no power, possibly food insecure as a result, etc), recover, and then return to find they either have no job anymore. or they do, but they were forgotten, so they're expected to go onto the phones despite having missed 40% of what they needed to learn, and they quit in frustration.

so I ask, and I am soooo diplomatic in things like this, like, I make it clear I want to start talking about how we can accommodate them to return those who are able to return to a situation that is not stressful and helps them pick up and resume their career, and I get met with a smug "well first of all, their SAFETY is our primary concern".

No fucking shit, asshole. I've visited San Juan on business, I love the island. I love the people. I've been to the office, I've met the head of the building, who personally gave me a ride to the airport. I am still buddies with people I met and trained there. I'm the dude who lobbied us to update our training materials to quit incorrectly SUGGESTING THAT SJ WAS OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES, DICKHEAD.

one of our colleagues works there, and lives with one of our former colleagues, and we're concerned about them too. I'm NOT deriding the situation, but I'm actually trying to work these logistics so a) you know that there are going to be resources you are expecting that you are not getting, more than likely, so you don't accuse me of withholding this info a week from now, and b) more importantly, the last class of the season is about to start and if we don't get approval to move them there, and they resume in October, they won't know how to do their job, they won't have a class to go to, and their hiring company will be telling them "unfortunately due to no fault of your own, we no longer have a position for you", and then hey, now on top of recovering from a hurricane, they no longer have the income they expected.

like....try and insinuate I'm being callous when like, it was pretty obvious that I know and respect that, we still have to solve these things! hope you enjoyed your five minutes of being performative by trying to cast aspersions on me though.

xpost - yeah, absolutely. now, there's limits as to where I could go, I can't go back to an entry level position (I wouldn't want to), and I"ll probably have to stay same pay grade (or higher), but the work itself could be the type that is better suited to my brain and life and current stress levels.

one of my best friends I met at this company in 2005 and he still works here, and I am going to ask if his department is open because I could do what he does, and he has no trouble balancing his life, while raising his kids etc.

I make it clear I want to start talking about how we can accommodate them to return those who are able to return to a situation that is not stressful and helps them pick up and resume their career

I realize this doesn't accurately capture what I said. my comment was basically "they will not be able to return for a while - so that they don't have to stress about what's going to happen with their job when they return, can we proactively plan some contingency plans if many of them are gone another week or two, and think about moving them to our last class of the season, which has a much later hire date, and they could pick up where thye left off comfortably when they're ready and not have to worry that they'll come back to no job".

sorry for all that, i am done venting all. that helped clear my head a bit.

and thank you all!

told boss today I'm ready to move on, and going to be posting for something new internally.

partially because any posting requires manager approval (he's on his way out so he'll approve it). partially so they'll see i'm serious and give them an opportunity to fix the situation i'm in at the moment. i'm still leaving but i would like to do so in comfort for the next few months.

totally strategic and respectable and respectful ... you should feel good about this. Just like, you know, cheerleading.

Trying to keep up "healthy work/life balance" practices ... I either tend to wallow in one or the other. I've been pretty good for the past few weeks of doing a good amount of both. It's hard for me.

I’ve got to figure this out, kind of plateaued and then rocketed to the bottom after enforced office time. it’s more of a none/none balance where neither work nor home are going anywhere

I would hope your home isn't going anywhere ... unless you moved into a RV?

rolling eyes emoji

thank you, I'll be here all week!

work is a real trainwreck lately. i'm really resenting my manager and my overall role. i snark at her in meetings. i just don't care about records management and it's next to impossible for me to fake it anymore. it feels like whether or not i engage and do better is out of my control because i feel so alienated, without support or connection with anyone, in a role with vague and horribly defined responsibilities.

i have an interview on thursday for a position in another area of my department that's basically archival digitization at the bottom of the ladder. it's a class below my current position. though i wouldn't take a pay cut, i would hit the wage ceiling in three years if it doesn't turn into something else (which is being discussed). i would have to come in every day. but i'm convinced that the manager would be so much better, and the work - digitizing archival material - so much more satisfying that i'm kind of desperate to get it. i called in sick today, went for a run and avoided anything work-related. for some reason i can't bear to review the interview questions today. i have to try tomorrow.

I definitely forgot how to office, and how to people, in the last bunch of years.

Lately I have been working in an office a bunch, just M-W-F, and I just do not know how to do it. Did I ever? I don't fucking know.

Like, it's 3:45 and I have done all the worky things I am going to do today. Can I just do crossword puzzles for a while? Go for a walk? Mix myself a gin and tonic? Go out to the car and masturbate?

Just kidding. I know the answer. I cannot do those things. I have to look like a serious working adult. Not sure how long I can keep up this theater.

My partner said to me the other day that he didn’t think I could hack it in an office environment after the past few years, and after protesting for a few moments, I realized he was totally right.

Love using my own toilet and not having to share it with office weirdos I barely know

v v confusing email with some contradictory information, but we may have just been effectively told that no more remote work allowed, ever.

That sucks, man

Our CEO was writing emails like that ("I know how much everyone is looking forward to being back in the office" yeah right), but then she moved to Florida and we haven't heard much more of that kind of talk

There's enough contradictory messaging in things that I haven't yet abandoned all hope, but it's annoying.

pre-pandemic, the higher-ups were deeply against WFH in all but the most extreme circumstances, i think because they sonehow felt they couldn’t “see” productivity etc

once the pandemic hit and ppl adjusted to the new normal they saw that productivity was actually higher, and became such converts that we’re now permanently remote.

it suits my own working style down to the ground - our house is pretty quiet, mr veg is a perfect cohabitant in that regard & being able to do a job that can get wuite stressful in an environment that isn’t stressful has helped me a lot.

i don’t think i would want to go back to a permanent office position

We've been told multiple times that the productivity was higher and how well we all adjusted, but now the highest ups are trotting out all the canards about "culture", "the importance of in-person interactions" blah blah blah

yeah, all that water cooler bullshit.. I have a friend of a friend that works at Apple, and they're forcing EVERYONE to come back in so they can brainstorm the next white plastic gadget by the water cooler

I just remember how bleak it felt coming home on the bus in winter traffic, totally dark out, trudging the last bit home in the rain... no way do I want to go back to that bleak bullshit

It's also the simple little things of like, you know, being able to see my kid for more than just that last hour before bed by the time I get back from the commute.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I've already been stripped back to only 1 day/week remote, but even losing just that is making me exceedingly sad.

I “like” working from home but speaking for myself here I don’t think it’s terribly good for my mental health.

which is totally fair and why i don't think any once size fits all, black or white policy makes sense to blanket over all employees, but i know going back to full time commuting and office time will be a major blow for my mental health

I went into the office about a month ago for a team meeting and lunch; it was very productive and great to see everybody, but I'm fine seeing them on zoom most of the time

brimstead otm, 100% wfh was making me a bit stir crazy

I am very happy with any current split - Mon and Fri wfh so I have a long weekend, Tues/Weds/Thurs at the office, and it's optional - I could go back to 100% wfh but I don't want to

-- with *my* current split --

1 day per week in the office is perfect for me and luckily that’s what my department is doing. the whole corporation was doing to supposedly move to 2-3 days a week but that appears to have been quietly put on hold indefinitely.

doing=going

I love working from home and would love to do it permanently. But I cannot focus on work at home, especially with wife & kids here. Annoying! Ideally I wouldn't work at all, unfortunately that doesn't seem to be an option right now.

CaAL, a silver lining of my working at an office three days a week (and the kids being in school) is that my wife gets the whole quiet house to herself a bunch more. She's better able to work without us underfoot. And when we do get time together, it's higher-quality time than we got during lockdown time when we were all cooped up together.

haha yes my wife is thrilled that I am out of the house 3 days a week now

Old joke: "I married him for better or for worse... but not for lunch!"

office lunches / coffee breaks are the only thing i like about the office, but even then i find it hard to relate to most of my coworkers so it's a mixed bag.

if i get this 100% in-office job the hardest things for me will be commuting and not being able to exercise whenever i want to.