Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: apartment, how much, home)

[bizcuit]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Walgreens and CVS now offering walk-in vaccinations. No appointment needed.


I haven't gotten mine yet, but i'll likely pick one that is dispensing Pfizer and go walk-in

I got my Pfizer vaccines (by appointment) at CVS and was very impressed by how efficient the whole thing was. It was a super easy in-and-out process.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

The head of my department absolutely wants everyone to be in the office full time, and has made that clear to me even though I can do most of my job from home (and have been above and beyond productive over the past year and a half) and much of the in-person stuff I need to do falls on nights and weekends. Our institution and HR very much encourage work from home but it's up to management - and I know anecdotally that many others are in the same boat as me with management who want face time.


It's going to be a battle royale in my office. Personally, I spend the 2 hours I normally would spend commuting working right now. If I had to drive into the office, the office is getting 10 hours less productivity - and actually probably more than that because I often take a nap in the afternoon and then work an additional few hours into the night.



There are certainly elements of my job that work better in person - like collaboration - or are required to be in person - like photography and video creation. But no one wants to go to our small, windowless, stuff conference room ever again so it's not like we need to be in the office for meetings.

I would think a lot of people there would be looking for a new job then.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by bizcuit

I got my Pfizer vaccines (by appointment) at CVS and was very impressed by how efficient the whole thing was. It was a super easy in-and-out process.

I walked in. Got checked in and done in 10 mins (not including the wait period). Pretty efficient system.

[msRB311]

My work sent out another vaccine update today...I've mentioned it before but I work at a university. They will require COVID vaccination for all students who will be on campus this fall. Then they say - As with existing student requirements for other vaccines, exceptions will be provided only for medical or religious reasons.

That kind of seems like BS. It's news to me that there were ever exceptions made for people with vaccines due to religious reasons...most private institutions require you to get a vaccine and want to see your medical papers or you can't attend.

Seems like people want to literally punch others who say they won't get the vaccine because they are worried about it being safe...but if you have a religious reason well then that's fine! You dont have to get it.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by msRB311

It's news to me that there were ever exceptions made for people with vaccines due to religious reasons...most private institutions require you to get a vaccine and want to see your medical papers or you can't attend..

Every required vaccination by schools and workplaces is FDA approved. The COVID-19 vaccine is not (yet). That presents challenges for anyone trying to require it. So you're likely to see exemptions such as these until they are FDA approved.

[id77]

Originally Posted by bizcuit

I started a new job during the past year, in the middle of the pandemic. I am one of the continent of new staff who is designated 100% remote. Some of the others do have an office assignment and will be expected to be on-site, at least some of the time, but they haven't announced when that will be.

I am at the stage where, if anyone decides that I have regularly go into an office, that I think I will retire. I am over commuting sitting in one spot and never seeing the sun. And I've really gotten used to taking my dog for a walk at lunchtime. It's amazing how something as simple of that greatly adds to my quality of life and makes me so much happier.

Unless you work in an office with no windows, how would this change with WFH? You're still sitting in your office, putting in 8-10 hours a day with a break or two to step outside or to walk your dog.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by id77

Unless you work in an office with no windows, how would this change with WFH? You're still sitting in your office, putting in 8-10 hours a day with a break or two to step outside or to walk your dog.

But not having to commute is key. And being able to do chores around the house at lunch or take out the dog is also a positive.

[mdovell]

Supposedly there's a push where I am to open things up with in about 6 weeks. I don't know if that's going to happen. We have a security guard that would have to be dropped but we just don't want people just walk in anywhere they want. We turned our water fountains back on and we still haven't had any refresh deliveries of food from vending machines. We do have air filtration systems and most rooms so the concern isn't so much for ourselves.

Some things I think will not change. Even if we have meetings in person we're still going to have to put some archives recorded.

I've said it before and I'll say it again I don't think things are really going to be fully 100% back in offices anytime soon. The reason I say that is because when I think of all the people that left urban areas more Suburban or rural areas they're not going to suddenly jump back and put their homes back on the market. If they were we would have seen it by now. I've seen traffic come back significantly. If we all go back and act like nothing happened over the past year then we're going to end up with much more in the way of traffic because somebody people have moved further away. I'm about to have an interview with a place on the North Shore and I live in northeast CT. I rode very graphically in the cover letter that I'm proposing making this virtual. There's no way I'm driving that amount of miles everyday (100 each way). If they want me to do that on a weekly basis okay fine, 2 days a week maybe, beyond that no way

[BostonMike7]

I would have to concur. There are days i drive into work and never leave my office (as opposed to working in the lab). And then there are days I WFH. To be able to take a meeting on my deck while sipping coffee in the morning sunshine, or make breakfast on my own stove, or listen to my music as loud as i want while I work on some CAD dwgs has been a huge boost to my mental health vs trying to accomplish the same tasks in office. I think i did one full day of meetings while hanging out on my deck last week.


Right now, my office and others is being targeted for a lab expansion. The discussion now is where do I go. Ideally they want us to just WFH and come in as needed maybe 1 day every couple of weeks, but my job requires me in the building as i'm a "working manager" with my own projects. So not sure what my particular future is. 1 of my employees is likely to be granted permanent WFH status with no need to come into the building ever.

Interesting times.

[id77]

Originally Posted by msRB311

But not having to commute is key. And being able to do chores around the house at lunch or take out the dog is also a positive.

I found that when I went remote years ago that the time I spent in a car got replaced with even more time I spent in a chair behind a keyboard. Some employers also begin to expect more time/work out of remote employees because that commute time goes away and the way they see it they're paying for 10-12 hours of your time each day, so instead of paying you to drive to work they're paying you to do more work. The bar goes up.

As long as those chores are being done on break time it can be useful, but employers pay extra attention to full-time remote employees whom they start to suspect are doing personal work on company time.

Regardless, I would think anyone who doesn't get to see the sun while working is not going to see it any more or less because of where they're working (home or office).