After my week long staycation, I went to work the next Monday. I had no idea what to expect. I knew every day the Covid situation changed. I heard of the possibility of people working from home. I had been for a year trying to get my boss to get the paperwork ready to telework so things were squared away. I mostly wanted to do it for inclement weather and maybe doing it once a week on like a Thursday or something. Nope, we didn't get it done until we were forced to. When we were forced to every single person who worked at L&I also needed it done and all at the same time. If only we would have taken care of it September 2019 we would have been able to work from home sooner.
There were lots of delays in the two and a half days I was physically at work. Our boss got our paperwork done and we were allowed to work from home until at least to the end of the month. The softphones were taking a really long time so I just asked my boss if I could just use my cell phone and she said she didn't care. That meant I could grab what I needed, my laptop and the bag and head home. I waited until Wednesday and I left at lunch time.
During those two days I wiped my desk, mouse and keyboard with the sanitized wipes and every time I left my desk I used hand sanitizer. I probably turned into hand sanitizer after using it so much.
That Wednesday morning, Debbie came in all frantic. She had no idea what she needed to take with her since her son was picking her up around 10 a.m. that morning. She kept asking me questions about it and I told her the last time I was allowed to telework was in March or April of 2017 but back then I was given a laptop that you locked into a monitor. It was significantly different now with the new laptops so I really didn't know what she needed to make her equipment function at home. So she unhooked the laptop, took the cords she needed and since she didn't have an extra monitor at home she took that as well. When she left, I told her see ya someday. At that point, we had no idea how long we would be out of the office.
I left work at almost 12:30 and headed to the store before I went home. I figured I had an hour during my lunch time to get what I needed and head home. When I got home, I set up everything in the living room and just using the laptop was completely different than it being connected to a keyboard and an extra monitor. I was so glad I spent the extra $25 at the state surplus store in Auburn (before it closed) on a monitor and cords. For some reason I knew it would come in handy. I say this because entering stuff into our programs was different on the keyboard versus the laptop keyboard. You have to press shift and enter on the laptop rather than just enter on the keyboard. I did not know this until Tammy told me. I struggled until I connected the extra monitor and keyboard to the laptop.
It made the world of difference.
My last day physically in the office at L&I was March 25th. Calvin, for the next few weeks or so, had no idea why I was home all the time. I knew he loved every minute of it and so did I. I got to spend a lot of time with him.
There were a lot of pros into working from home. I got that extra hour to sleep in rather than getting ready and driving to work, I got to wear sweatpants, I didn't have to make my lunch the night before, I saved money on gas and wear and tear on my Escape, I got to do chores on breaks and lunch times, run errands at lunch time, watch some television, snuggle with my cat, save more times during my afternoons by not having to drive home in traffic and I actually felt like I got more done at home than I did at work. There was one con, staying motivated when there was a couch nearby to nap on when you got sleepy.
I am living my best life.
Next Adventure: A Mini Geocaching Adventure in Lewis County
**Update: as of October 16, 2020 I am still working from home and they have no idea when we will be able to physically go back to work. I don't think it will be anytime before 2021.**
No comments:
Post a Comment