This is a ramble post. No, really.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m working from home for the time being. I had to relocate from the comfy couch to my not-as-comfy office chair in a different room in order to be plugged into the network rather than relying on the wi-fi, but otherwise it’s going well. Off and on over the years I’ve considered trying to break into the virtual administrative assistant game but I like my current job, even if I don’t like the commute. I feel like this is giving me a peek into what it might be like, minus any telephone calls. 

My little office was set up years ago in a corner of the bedroom, comprising of a folding desk and a bookshelf that worked well enough, but working from home (almost) full-time meant I had to invest in a small adjustable laptop desk because sitting for too long at the folding table leaves me with back and shoulder aches for days. Which is why I usually write and do school work on the comfy couch…

Of course, the first thing I needed to do when I shifted operations to the bedroom office, or ‘boffice’ was move all of the stuff I’d piled on the desk and chair, like the laundry and unfiled paperwork, so I could actually use both of them. I put together the laptop table, which has wheels and is awesome, and realized that if I was on a video conference the view behind me would be … unprofessional. Which led to a bit of rearranging that took up half the day because, well, I have that grand ability to squirrel away things so that everything looks organized but is actually a neat pile o’ crap that should have been tossed out or donated years ago.

I now have a week’s worth of shredding to do and a big box to bring to the local Goodwill when they reopen.

There’s now a bookshelf behind me. I’d say it looks very professional but that’d be a stretch. It’s more like a tall altar to geekdom, but is far enough behind me that on a small screen shouldn’t be too obvious. My co-workers shouldn’t be surprised, anyways. After all, I have a blue Doctor Who mini Christmas tree that I put up at my desk every year, my work PC’s screen saver is a map of Middle Earth, and the background is the new My Chemical Romance logo.

I weirdly miss my desk at work (which on a normal day I loathe), but at home I have the ability to connect my laptop to the monitor from my ancient PC so I can have Netflex playing on one screen while working on the other. The bathroom is closer, no more treks across the building after too much tea, but it’s now much too easy to find snacks. I refuse to step on a scale right now. I’m treating the stay-at-home or lockdown scenario the same way I do vacation: calories do not count as long as I get out for a walk that day.

I need to walk a lot to make up for the massive amount of snacking I am doing.

It does feel a little like I’m playing hooky except for how I am actually working. I stay up late like every day is the weekend because I don’t need to get up early to make a commute to work. I take lunch away from my desk every day. I control the level of noise around me, and the only ones who interrupt me have four legs and meow.

It’s awesome.

I do miss my co-workers, though I interact with them either on a chat or vid call or email every day. Meetings I had never been invited to before I’m suddenly being invited to, which on the one hand means I get information without needing to ask, but on the other hand…meetings. I have a window in my boffice, but it’s been too cold and gloomy to open. I’m saving money on gas, but spending it on food (yes, the snacking is getting that bad).

The two sides of the remote work coin…

It’s a new, if temporary, normal. I’ll get used to it just in time for everything to change again, but until then I’ll be spending an hour each day finding new ways to make my work area even better, buying more Pepperidge Farm Goldfish in bulk, and ignoring the call of my bed for an afternoon nap in order to keep working for the money to buy the Goldfish. And pay bills, but mostly for the Goldfish.

Stay safe, everyone. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride, but we will get through this.