COVID-19 2020

[ye-ole-hatch ıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

I miss going into the office and interacting with the staff...as well as the areas around the office to eat, drink and explore
I'm a people person, I like chatting people up about their family/vacation/hobbies. (I know...why can't you do that with strangers at a bar)

Now can't say that made me a more productive worker, but made me happier...which ultimately benefits my employer

In IT it really helps to have other techs to bounce ideas off/mentor and it's hard to do that remotely...not impossible, but hard to read the persons non-verbal response when you reach out for help or try to offer

I'm managing people and it's really hard to interact on a 'non-work' level with them (Which I think is important)
If I bumped into them in the office we'd talk about GOT or some band, but that's a little awkward to chat someone up..."have you heard the Arlo Pork, it's tasty"

I know my wife left her old job in the Fall of 2019 because they promised 2-3 days a week working remotely, but whenever she took more than one she get the stink eye and they would require a justification for working remotely...it was stupid.  But I'm certain that 100% of that company's employees work remotely 100% of the time now and it's no big deal

For me, I'd like 2-3 days in the office and then be able to have a few week-long remote days on the back of the front end of a weeklong vacation with the family.  So they could get a 2 week vacation, but I only have to take 5 PTO days and would be there to do things at night

[Space Freely]

Do you guys who have been teleworking think our employers will demand that we go back into the office at the same levels we were once all adults have the chance to be vaccinated?

My wife says she will be looking for another job if her employer makes them go back to the office (she was teleworking one day a week prior, most co-workers weren't even allowed one day.)

Me, I'll be glad to go back once it's safe. Though I may ask to bump from one telework day to two or three.

I've been working from home in some capacity since like 2014 or 2015.... I can't imagine ever going back to an office daily and would most likely never take a job that required that, unless it was some dire circumstance.

I actually like going in during normal times. I read on the train, we have a cheap gym in the building, I go for runs at lunchtime, and i can walk anywhere for a beer after work (especially now that my kid is old enough that she doesn't require care.)

That said, my employer is moving to a different far less desireable location in a couple of years, with a much smaller footprint. We're actually going to be encouraged to work from home for spacing issues. Full time telework may be an option. I wonder if I'll be able to  work from home and move anywhere. That would be interesting.

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

I really do not enjoy WFH as much as I do being in the office. Maybe its my home office setup. IDK. I am happy to be back in the office.

[ye-ole-hatch ıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

Oh, I did forget to mention...my latest job that started this fall...100% remote and they didn't have an office Pre-pandemic, although most are in the DMV
But there were frequent happy hours/meet ups/client visits/conferences previously
So I'm having to deal with this new normal even when we get back to normal...

[Space Freely]

I really do not enjoy WFH as much as I do being in the office. Maybe its my home office setup. IDK. I am happy to be back in the office.

Haha. Tell me about it. My wife claimed the office, my daughter claimed the living room couch, and I was banished to the cold basement.

At this point one of my fears of going back is fitting into my clothes. I did some Spring cleaning the other day, and found i have three types of pants:

1. The ones that will fit ok if l lost a little bit of weight
2. The ones I'll never again fit into
3. Sweatpants

But perhaps that's an aside.

[Yada]

Timely email I just received.

https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/the-devastating-side-effect-from-working-remotely-no-one-is-talking-about?

[challenged]

I love working from home. I just went to Hold Steady show this afternoon via the Zoom, from work/home, which was cool.

My GF works from home as well. Contractor/Military, and has been told they wont be going back to in-person on-base for a looooong time.

We get to hangout during the day with each other and the cats. Eat more healthy.
No commute time for either of us. No gas $$. No lunch money spent. Such a better lifestyle.

Once the courts all reopen for in-person, then I have to deal with leaving the house to go to Court, and clients are going to expect in person meetings from time to time, but now at least they are conditioned to meet over zoom or the phone, so that's progress.

[sweetcell]

i miss water-cooler banter, but not as much as i am grateful to not have to commute.  i have always hated losing 1.5 hours a day sitting on a train or behind a steering wheel.

i'm about to start a new job and have been told it'll be remote for at least 6 months. if/when we return to the office, i'll be grumbling about the 30-40 minute commute each way.  after i accepted this job i got hit up by two different headhunters who had 100% remote opportunities they wanted to discuss... oh well, the actual work wasn't as interesting...

[hutch]

My brother in law is interviewing for a remote job. He has that as a requirement

He lives in the sprawling Houston area and has always had huge commutes and is sick of it..one hour plus each way in traffic

I think we are clearly moving towards more work from home for certain jobs that used to be office jobs.. this crisis has proven it can work fine in many cases

But many will still have to be there. Low income workers will still have to commute until their jobs are taken over by machines or just plain eliminated...minimum wage jobs....at least the commute will be easier until they are unemployed

Congrats sweets!

[Space Freely]

If there's no real point in people going back to offices, is there a point to kids going back to in person school?

[WALKonBack]

The fact that you can not see the difference between the effects on human adults not going to work versus the effects on human kids not going to school, makes me believe that you missed your calling as a serial killer.

[hutch]

Perceptive....

[sweetcell]

If there's no real point in people going back to offices, is there a point to kids going back to in person school?

assuming this is a serious question: yes, kids absolutely need to get back to school, at least kids below a certain age.  socialization cannot be taught over zoom.  kids under - i dunno - 10?  cannot be expected to have the motivation and discipline to do virtual learning.


somehow we managed to make spring 2020 school work over zoom, likely because the kids spent the first half of the year with the teacher and their classmates and had some sort of connection to the group.  also it was new, so kinda interesting.  but come the new school year in september, it was a complete disaster.  our kids didn't care about school, would not sit still, kept turning off their camera, and generally weren't learning a thing.  they hated it.  thank the gods of parenting that we found a pod that hired a teacher and was holding in-person classes at someone's house.

[hutch]

Another 91 deaths logged in today


I guess one can’t trust in the Virginia Department of Health to provide honest statistics

Pretty shameful

We were at over 7000 deaths a couple of weeks ago..now due to the “backlog” nearing 10000

That’s just ridiculous

Apparently power corrupts and democrats controlling all levels of power in Virginia cannot be trusted

[Space Freely]

If there's no real point in people going back to offices, is there a point to kids going back to in person school?

assuming this is a serious question: yes, kids absolutely need to get back to school, at least kids below a certain age.  socialization cannot be taught over zoom.  kids under - i dunno - 10?  cannot be expected to have the motivation and discipline to do virtual learning.


somehow we managed to make spring 2020 school work over zoom, likely because the kids spent the first half of the year with the teacher and their classmates and had some sort of connection to the group.  also it was new, so kinda interesting.  but come the new school year in september, it was a complete disaster.  our kids didn't care about school, would not sit still, kept turning off their camera, and generally weren't learning a thing.  they hated it.  thank the gods of parenting that we found a pod that hired a teacher and was holding in-person classes at someone's house.

I think you're right, it does depend on age. And once you get to a certain age, it depends on the person.

My kid is 13 going on 14. So not really a "kid." Just as we see some adults who never want to go back to an office (Yada), we have others who crave the in-person interaction (Sidehatch.) I think it's the same thing for teens. Some need a social life, some don't care.

My kid didn't really care for in-person school (to my chagrin), too many rules and regulations. She has done well with distance learning. She's getting straight A's in honors classes (previously mostly B's), and loves being able to just roll out of bed and log in. I just asked her if she misses being around other students, and she said "No, other kids are annoying, especially middle schoolers. But I'm looking forward to going back, so I can get the "high school experience", though that will probably be disappointing."

So she's happy with distance learning. Sorry if that makes me a serial killer.