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I was starting to get depressed thinking of having to make the commute 5 days a week, sitting in stifling traffic, spending all of that money eating out lunch. Having to listen to my supervisor drone on and on all of the time about political issues.
I've gotten so used to working from home most of the time I don't know if I could really ever go back 100%. Thankfully it's looking like we don't have to.
When we all first started working from home, I think I argued more strongly about the value of working in the office, but once everything settled in, I changed my tune. It's kind of bananas to think of how we all used to get up really early to get dressed and ready and pack a lunch and commute and park. I like my few in-office days, but they are by far the least productive, work-wise.
When the pandemic hit, they told us to work from home. We did, but as things we lightening up and people we're starting to go back to the office. They began a remodel of the office. So we worked from home.
So fast forward our office is full blown remolded, up and at 90% of capacity with people there most days.
My direct supervisor's boss is out of state, up in the Portland office. He's sort of old school and seemed like the type that wanted employees to be in the office, at least that was my impression of him the limited amount of time I engage with him.
Well, it turns out that he wants us in the office no more than two days a week. I guess based on how the office is paid for in terms of accounting. I think that each group within the umbrella of the company has to put in a certain amount of their budget to pay for overhead and it's based on how many people are in each group they and somehow they prorate and spread around the costs blah blah blah.
Anyway that means that at least 3 days a week I get to work from home. My direct supervisor is talking about just going in one day a week, which is even better.
I was starting to get depressed thinking of having to make the commute 5 days a week, sitting in stifling traffic, spending all of that money eating out lunch. Having to listen to my supervisor drone on and on all of the time about political issues.
I've gotten so used to working from home most of the time I don't know if I could really ever go back 100%. Thankfully it's looking like we don't have to.
As a side note, that short amount of "accounting" talk made my brain ache. I couldn't imagine a more boring subject, no offense for those in that field.
LOL congrats on that good news, Chow! I feel very lucky about my situation. My employer had previously said that they don't expect to EVER force everyone to come back to work in the office, but now they are kinda reconsidering and they've got this hybrid thing going on where we're supposed to reserve a space to go in and work if we want to, and they want us to go back in for meetings every so often. (Monthly? Quarterly? Who the heck knows, not me...) But I'm a different case because I moved down here to Phoenix. We do have an office down here but it's a very inconvenient distance away. I've made it clear that I would rather not have to go in, and asked my boss if I should make an effort to acquaint myself with the location, like when might I expect to have to show up in person? He said, and I quote, emphatically, "NEVER." So I was like...ok then. lol Never it is.
I suspect that if/when I move back to Colorado, I'll move to an area that will be a pretty short distance from the office there and I may go back to working in the office. I do kinda miss interacting with humans and being out in the world every day of the week, but I do like not commuting. Wasn't so bad when it was 10-15 minutes. Would suck dealing with 30+ and the frequent road closures and lunatic drivers of the Phoenix area.
And man...I LOVE accounting. lol. I'm one of those weirdos in that field, sorta. Though mine draws heavily on data science and analytics and technically I'm a "Senior Analyst." But it's got accounting foundations in there, too. And I love tax prep and meticulous household budget accounting. Though, oddly, I suck bigtime at math! Like, in your head arithmetic. Hate it. But we don't have to worry about that, since the teachers were wrong and we DO pretty much all have calculators everywhere we go...
...that was shared on the Facebooks. And several comments are like, "ugh, that's a complete reno! Gut it!" and I'm really quite sad about it. I mean, yes, I initially looked at the photos in the listing with the same sense of "wtf" that most anyone would, sure. But an artist lived here, the quality of technique involved and the sheer time and passion that went into this, it's there in the finished spaces. You can see it if you look. They were inspired by Gaudi's work in Barcelona. I want to know who the artist is or was, why they are selling, what the story is there. I wonder if they have died or if they just can't afford to keep the house or what. If I had bonkers crazy money, I'd want to find some kind of a way to help them keep their home so that they could finish the work. Because it really bums me out, the unfinished state of it. And if they are deceased or unable or unwilling to finish it...I'd wish for it to be finished by someone with at least that level of skill and a similar vision.
Yes it's weird. No, I don't think I could live there. But I...don't hate it. Kind of love the idea of it. And am somewhat irrationally upset that someone will probably buy it and strip away all of the artist's hard work and turn it into just another boring "clean, modern design" minimalist type house. /sigh
...that was shared on the Facebooks. And several comments are like, "ugh, that's a complete reno! Gut it!" and I'm really quite sad about it. I mean, yes, I initially looked at the photos in the listing with the same sense of "wtf" that most anyone would, sure. But an artist lived here, the quality of technique involved and the sheer time and passion that went into this, it's there in the finished spaces. You can see it if you look. They were inspired by Gaudi's work in Barcelona. I want to know who the artist is or was, why they are selling, what the story is there. I wonder if they have died or if they just can't afford to keep the house or what. If I had bonkers crazy money, I'd want to find some kind of a way to help them keep their home so that they could finish the work. Because it really bums me out, the unfinished state of it. And if they are deceased or unable or unwilling to finish it...I'd wish for it to be finished by someone with at least that level of skill and a similar vision.
Yes it's weird. No, I don't think I could live there. But I...don't hate it. Kind of love the idea of it. And am somewhat irrationally upset that someone will probably buy it and strip away all of the artist's hard work and turn it into just another boring "clean, modern design" minimalist type house. /sigh
I would live there. Needs a couple of finishing touches, but me and my lovingly kooky family family would call it home
I’ve been working from home for almost 5 years now. It’s starting to get isolating. I don’t have any reason to stop anywhere on my way home from work, which is how lot of my social activities were. Because I was already presentable, might as well meet up. Now it seems like a big effort, and since the rest of the country has now joined me in the last couple of years, everything is being brought right to our doors. Why leave?
If you’re like me, (and I realize a lot if people aren’t) there’s always those few people at work who you’re wondering: “why didn’t they get that done? What the hell do they do all day? Why is this taking him/her so long?” I’m picturing companies will soon be saying that about a lot of things… because if we can all work from home from anywhere with an Internet connection, just think of how many people out there who would like the job and work harder and probably get paid less. Scary thought.
I’ve been working from home for almost 5 years now. It’s starting to get isolating. I don’t have any reason to stop anywhere on my way home from work, which is how lot of my social activities were. Because I was already presentable, might as well meet up. Now it seems like a big effort, and since the rest of the country has now joined me in the last couple of years, everything is being brought right to our doors. Why leave?
If you’re like me, (and I realize a lot if people aren’t) there’s always those few people at work who you’re wondering: “why didn’t they get that done? What the hell do they do all day? Why is this taking him/her so long?” I’m picturing companies will soon be saying that about a lot of things… because if we can all work from home from anywhere with an Internet connection, just think of how many people out there who would like the job and work harder and probably get paid less. Scary thought.
I work as a mostly white collar worker as a consultant. We work as a third party for building owners as a rep for them when a new building is being designed and built. All phases from predesign through warranty. Much of the work is offline, about a third or less is onsite.
I'm afraid this work will get shipped off to India. The partial onsite requirement and the fact that about 75% of our business comes from GSA and DoD customers and their US citizen requirements sort of saves us.
I work as a mostly white collar worker as a consultant. We work as a third party for building owners as a rep for them when a new building is being designed and built. All phases from predesign through warranty. Much of the work is offline, about a third or less is onsite.
I'm afraid this work will get shipped off to India. The partial onsite requirement and the fact that about 75% of our business comes from GSA and DoD customers and their US citizen requirements sort of saves us.
Same. The bad attitude coming from within some depts of “I’m not just lucky to have a job, what’re you going to do for me?” Very few overachievers around. The Quiet Quitting. I want to tell them they’re going to ruin it for all of us. Weird times.
Same. The bad attitude coming from within some depts of “I’m not just lucky to have a job, what’re you going to do for me?” Very few overachievers around. The Quiet Quitting. I want to tell them they’re going to ruin it for all of us. Weird times.
But in a way, I think it's good that the pandemic has exposed the theater of workers loving their jobs and the idea of "do what you're passionate about and you'll never work a day in your life!" It's okay to not be passionate about your job. It's okay not have to pretend to be grateful for employment. We've set up our society in a way that in order to be a productive adult, you have to exchange your time and your skills for money and benefits for the majority of your waking life. That's weird, and we don't have to love it.
But in a way, I think it's good that the pandemic has exposed the theater of workers loving their jobs and the idea of "do what you're passionate about and you'll never work a day in your life!" It's okay to not be passionate about your job. It's okay not have to pretend to be grateful for employment. We've set up our society in a way that in order to be a productive adult, you have to exchange your time and your skills for money and benefits for the majority of your waking life. That's weird, and we don't have to love it.
I agree with that as well, I’m not part of the theater. I actually like my job and have always tried to do my best even when that requires staying late or volunteering for weekend overtime. I get paid, I get health insurance, I even get paid on days I can’t “be there” when There is just 10 steps to the next room. That’s the exchange, it’s not altruistic. For me it’s an ethics thing, too ingrained now to reverse my priorities.
“To say, my fate is not tied to your fate, is like saying your end of the boat is sinking.”
— Hugh Downs
Quiet Quitting has summoned up Quiet Firing. I’ll be watching it next week, and it’s sad, but I’m ok with it. I’m just saying…people should be careful what they wish for. My job isn’t my identity, but I’d have a hard time enjoying a vacation without one. JMO.
But in a way, I think it's good that the pandemic has exposed the theater of workers loving their jobs and the idea of "do what you're passionate about and you'll never work a day in your life!" It's okay to not be passionate about your job. It's okay not have to pretend to be grateful for employment. We've set up our society in a way that in order to be a productive adult, you have to exchange your time and your skills for money and benefits for the majority of your waking life. That's weird, and we don't have to love it.
I've never met anyone that loved their jobs, it usually ranged from I like my job well enough to those that hated theirs.
I made a career shift about 4.5 yrs ago. I was just so burnt out in my last role. The stress level now is about a third of the previous job, so that is good. It's also kind of boring to be honest. I mostly review docs, write reports and push paper around. I do go to jobsites occasionally.
I'm 53 now so I'm thinking of just riding this out 10 to 12 yrs. I made a sort of parralel job switch, I don't think I've got the energy for something completely new.
I've pretty much given up on finding the perfect job at this point in my life. Just glad I switched into somnething that doesn't keep me up at night with stress like I used to. I should have made a change yrs ago. That's probably one of my regrets I have in life, but it is is what it is.
Last edited by Chowhound; 10-02-2022 at 10:29 AM..
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I guess based on how the office is paid for in terms of accounting. I think that each group within the umbrella of the company has to put in a certain amount of their budget to pay for overhead and it's based on how many people are in each group they and somehow they prorate and spread around the costs blah blah blah.
