Working From Home

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.

you might have to forgo the office lunches for workouts in that case but i used to love doing that when i was able to. start the second half of the day with a whoosh of energy.

yeah i believe i'll have the support to make something like that happen.

the real reason execs don't like working from home is because it's a lot easier to control and mistreat people when you can see them.

^ ding ding ding

My ADA accommodation request to be able to continue WFH until covid metrics are lower was approved today on a 3 month basis. The approval process took more than a month lol

i am in dire need of a better ergo setup - my chair & desk arent cutting it anymore

Oh god I hate office lunch

Like, I work with you people. I don't want to also eat lunch with you.

Lunch is MY time to be away from YOU. If I eat lunch with my coworkers I'm basically still at work, and fuck that noise.

I am not here to be BFFs. I already have friends and a family.

The only thing worse than going to lunch with my coworkers is having a delivered or catered lunch in the office. Gah, a conference room full of people crunching and shlurping. Please no.

Either I am busy and I work straight through lunch, or I am not busy and need to be away from other humans.

i am in dire need of a better ergo setup - my chair & desk arent cutting it anymore

Mine was so bad, I was pretty seriously considering returning to the office voluntarily. I finally got creative and moved enough stuff around to make room for a small desk. It has been a game changer. My focus has been so much better since doing it. Just knocking down tasks that have been lingering for months. It still isn't perfect, but so much better than before. After a few weeks, it no longer hurts to stand in one place for ten minutes.

I was asked to go in 3x this week due to some kind of executive summit taking place at the office. Day #1 was kind of fun. Pretty novel as a lot of people I hadn't seen in years were in to schmooze. So, I caught up with a few people and a couple of the interactions didn't make me feel depressed afterward. I just finished #2 today, and it was way suckier: Felt headachy a few hours into the day after overdoing it on coffee. Chair won't lock in place, so the back keeps leaning back until I realize this and readjust. The sun started glaring in this window right next to my desk after a few hours making the headache worse. Day 3 is Friday which I imagine will be super dead, then hopefully I won't have to come back for another month or two.

I work with you people. I don't want to also eat lunch with you.

With Microsoft Outlook, I get how some people see a blank lunch zone on multiple calendars and think "AHA! That's when I'll have the meeting.", but agreed, that's MY time, not OUR time. Any lunchtime meetings, it's acceptable to flex that time and leave early. Even when lunch is provided, a working meeting is work, not a lunch break. We get a fair amount of "learn at lunch" opportunities, which are thankfully optional.

rookie mistake not to have a recurring lunchtime weekday "meeting" in your diary that only you are invited to

meeting with the big cheese

getting into some chewy subjects

y'know, the one down side of WFH is when i was office-bound, today would be a day off thanks to hurricane. instead, I'm working.

I've been told I can take breaks and very aware that I can lie and fake a power outage. opting not to right now as I wouldn't look forward to the make-up work I'd have to do upon return, but may peace out early.

the real reason execs don't like working from home is because it's a lot easier to control and mistreat people when you can see them.

I mean, just one story, but was talking to a parent at one of my son's baseball games who said she was absolutely horrified to hear how nasty and abusive her husband was to his employees when he started working from home.

Xpost
The first blizzard during the pandemic, the president of the company told everyone to take a snow day even though we were all working from home. I don’t agree with all that’s been done since then but that was a cool gesture.

well i didn't get that in-office job. just as well since it's hard to give up 3 wfh days, especially through the winter.

Going in to the office 2 days per week seems about right for me. It's amazing to think about all the hours I spent commuting 5 days per week over the years.

I have now worked through two hurricanes this year. downside to WFH I guess.

I could have lied and said I didn't have power, but I care too much about the class I'm teaching to let someone else take it over.

I'm sure this is the story in many, many cities:

https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2022/05/11/minneapolis-st-paul-metro-companies-ditch-office-space

So crazy. I worked in downtown Minneapolis since 1998, a quarter century of either driving and paying to park or having to take a bus to a train to sit in a cubicle for 8 hours and then reverse the process. But now other the rare concert or sporting event there is no draw to bring me downtown anymore. Return to work is still occasional and strictly voluntary for my company, but I have absolutely no desire. The day they require it, even hybrid, is the day I resign. I'm just done.

Really glad to be one of the 50,000 or so new downtown residents who now live in a ghost town

It's very much the case in SF. Hilariously when Musk took over Twitter and made his 'come to work' noises some local dude with grocery/market businesses in the building was quoted as all saying how great it would be for him, and now that this month has passed I suspect said dude probably figures he should have kept his trap shut.

There's still sort of something in the offing where I'd go back but coming up to three years I'm all "Eh." I do still go in to the main library on Monday and Tuesday afternoons briefly for some desk coverage and at least my regular location is just walking distance, twenty minutes or so, if it ever fully fires up again, though I suspect it may be more hybrid. All I gotta say is that on a rainy morning like this one I'm glad to be going absolutely nowhere.

This is going to absolutely kill city government finances, isn't it? Isn't business property where cities collect all their tax revenue?