Ten Things About Working From Home

The last time that I worked in my cubicle at the office was March 9. Our company lockdown began on March 10. It ended on October 5, when we were given the choice of going into the office on a staggered schedule or continuing to work from home. Well, that was a no-brainer; I chose to continue working at home. Because of the surge, though, we are now 100% working from home again.

I did go into the office once, to retrieve some personal things, most notably the coffee mug that had a half-inch of coffee in it on March 9. (Spoiler Alert: It dried into a dark brown residue as opposed to developing into its own life form.)

Anyway! Here are ten more things about me working at home.

1. I sleep later. Pretty early on I realized that I really did not have to get up at 6:00 anymore. My ten minute commute is now a ten second commute.

2. I still follow the same morning routine: shower, dress, breakfast, go to work, goof off, work some more, quittin' time.

3. I still wear the same stuff that I used to wear to work, with the exception of a bra. Hey, I'm an old woman. My boobs have already reached maximum sag. For awhile I'd pull one on when we went out; but now, well, fuck it.

4. I realized very quickly that I had to invest in a decent monitor or ruin my eyes. And as long as I was investing in a monitor, I might as well add a keyboard and mouse. Wireless, of course.

5. The mute button is my friend.

6. So is the "turn the video off" button, especially when one or both cats jump in front of the camera or when I want to "multi-task" during a meeting.

7. At some point I'll figure out how to properly share my screen with Microsoft Teams.

8. It's quite nice to have lunch with Joe every day, even if I do miss my daily soft pretzel from the cafeteria.

9. I drink a lot less coffee. Well, actually, I don't let half-full cups of coffee get cold on my desk.

10. I thought I wouldn't like working at home, but I do like it. A lot.