Well, I am now a home worker. Hopefully not for long, but it looks like it could be for a while so I'm going to have to get used to it.
Although the thought of being stuck at home for an as yet undetermined period of time does not fill me with joy, a post I saw on Facebook yesterday said it all really:
Our grandfathers were sent away to war,
we're being asked to sit at home for a bit.
I know what I'd rather be asked to do, I think I've got this.
To help pass the time (when I'm not working of course) I've decided to write a blog. I wrote a diary last summer when I was on holiday with no phone signal and I quite enjoyed it, so I'm going to go for it again. Sit back, relax and prop your eyes open with matchsticks.
"But why the shift from 'diary' to 'blog'?" I hear you ask. Firstly, well done for getting this far! Secondly, 'diary' is so 20th century, and who am I stand in the way of progress?
So, where to begin? Well, as Mary Poppins said:
Let's start at the very beginning,
It's a very good place to start
Ok, so as I was typing that I realised I had the right actress but the wrong character, it was Maria from the Sound of Music wasn't it.
But it does give me an idea ....
Dough, doughnut a deep fried treat
Rain, falling from the sky
ME, fatigue, extreme tiredness
Far, just one sound short of pump
So, ideas are running short
Lah, de dah de day de doo
Ti .... me to draw this to a close.
Phew, glad that's over. This song writing malarkey is harder than it looks!Worryingly it seems I am easily distracted, I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.
So, where did it really all begin? Not coronavirus, but the home working. Well ...
** imagine wavy dreamlike sequence **
Day -2 of x
It all started with a message late on Monday evening from the boss, passing on a message from the bigger boss, telling me I could now work from home.
Which left me with a quandary, as not everybody I work with has the option to work from home.
I did some soul searching, some fact checking, some seeing what other people thought.
After checking my toilet roll cache was at a sufficient level, I decided on balance I probably should help to #flattenthecurve
Day -1 of x
I've packed up, said my goodbyes and left the office. Feels weird not knowing when I'll be back
I'll miss not seeing people, especially Cathy and Sue (not their real names, I've cunningly disguised their real names to protect their anonymity) they're both a bit odd, but I quite like them.
** And come back out of the wavy dreamlike sequence **
Day 1 of x
When working from home, especially when living with small people (aka children, though the wife is very short too) it's important to maintain routines, and standards of hygiene and cleanliness. So I'm up early, showered and dressed before 7.50. That is good for me, I am not a morning person.
Some standards are starting to slip already however, I'm wearing odd socks. It's something I have flirted with in the past out of necessity (everybody has those stages in their lives when you desperately need to do some washing and you're left with those random odd socks at the bottom of the drawer, haven't they?) but this time its more of a conscious decision. When your life is governed my more rules, people are more likely to rebel. And what can I say, I'm a rebel at heart!
Pre-Breakfast Cat Update
Cat number 2 has just bitten me. Gently, but there was definitely a little nibble there. She's going to struggle with this whole people-being-at-home-more new reality: cats struggle with change.
9am
The wife is also working from home. She likes to have music on. I do not. Deep breaths.
9.10am.
The wife has seen sense, the radio is off. Though the atmosphere has chilled a little.
-
Lunchtime.
She's listening to Jeremy Vine. Or 'oh my god, turn Jeremy effing Vine off' as I like to call him.
-
Later
Well, today has been a success. I use the term success loosely here. Very loosely.
- I got my SurfacePro hooked up to the spare TV so I don't need to squint at a small screen all the time. The connection seems a little temperamental, but as long as I don't touch any of the cables or bump the desk it works fine.
- I found some 'innovative' ways of working in order to meet a deadline for the boss - using an iPhone to take photographs of an email stuck in my outbox counts as innovative, right?
- I have been in frequent contact with 'Cathy' and 'Sue' who seem in good spirits, despite ongoing system access issues.
- I remembered to put the recycling bin out.
- I also haven't raided the biscuit tin at all (though mainly because the wife is standing guard. "They aren't for eating" apparently. I've told her stockpiling is socially unacceptable, she glared. I thought I detected a hobnob crumb on her laptop, but I decided against challenging her for now)
- I managed to get some steps in walking the kids to and from the childminders.
Like I say, a successful day. Ish.
Man Cave
I have a man cave. Oh yeah. It's actually the spare box room with a desk and a chair, and odd bits of stuff that need sorting through. If I called it the spare box room the wife would want to sort it, but as it has 'man' included in its name its left to me to sort and I like it as it is.
Anyway, my man cave is where I work when I'm working from home and it's been cold in here all day. I've eventually worked out why it's been cold, somebody left the bathroom window open this morning. I am the only person in the house who can reach the bathroom window, so I suspect I know who the culprit was. This makes grumbling about being cold more difficult, and I quite enjoy a good grumble. Sad times.
Homeiform
The wife has coined a new word: homeiform. Clothes to wear while you're working from home. Could it be a contender for 2020 word of the year? Remember where you read it first!
Later later.
Jaffa cakes aren't biscuits, are they? It's the wife's fault, she went out. While the cat's away ...
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