Working from home is... weird
 

The building that houses my department at my company is flooded. We have no idea whatsoever when it will be habitable again.

Starting last Saturday, I have been given a SecurID login at work so I can work from home. I'm not complaining. I LOVE drawing a steady paycheck. However, iIts a surreal experience, as a guy who has had to commute for the past 10 years.

Pros
-I can work in my pajamas holding a sword with a green bandana on my head
-no commuting costs
-my OWN bathroom, one that doesnt echo (sigh)
-I can make my own lunch, and I never forget it in the fridge
-coffee that doesnt suck
-I can spend time with my wife in the next room. By this I mean I shout "I love you" every hour or so through the door.
-facebook is available again
-no hour-long train rides
-I fart whenever the urge hits
-HBT

Cons
-I have to remind myself to bathe
-work people call on my personal cellphone
-my wife watching the mentalist loudly
-getting the boss to sign something is oppressively difficult
-coworkers can more effectively hide from me when I need them
-no one I know believes I am actually working. text messages galore from friends.
-ethical dilemmas. I ate a sandwich at my desk. Is that a working lunch? It would be at the office, but is it here? I took a shower when I couldn't stand the funkiness that had built up. Is that upkeep of uniform? Should I count it just like I would count getting a cup of coffee at the office (ie no clock stoppage)? What constitutes overtime?
-I pace when I am on conference calls. My wife is close to killing me.
-These conference calls are eating my minutes
-I wind up doing work over the weekend to help the business continuity effort post-Sandy.

There's no moral or anything to this post, its just odd.

lol @ that. I literally do that too. Almost on the daily

Just an FYI.... If you're using a VPN connection to work, depending on how it is configured, your HBT and FB traffic may be going through your work internet. You might want to do your surfing when you are not connected to their VPN. You can check if this is the case by using one of the sites that shows your IP address. (You can use https://www.arin.net/ and look at the top of the page).

thank you for that. The IP addresses are different. I am literally on 2 pcs.

I've been working out of the house for a few years now doing computer hardware design for a couple of OEMs. I quickly found - as a self-declared antisocialist - that self-employment suits me well. Instead of having to deal with the entire collection of idiots found in any business, I only have to deal with one idiot. That alone is worth any down side, of which I've yet to find. Then again I don't find good hygiene to be a challenge ;)

But I also have a couple of big things going for me: wife works at an office, and the kids are married and long gone from the homestead. I can crank up the Pink Floyd and get into the zone without repercussions.

It's a beautiful thing...

Cheers!

Did it for a while. Doesn't bother me one way or the other. Mind you, I'm in I/T.

MC

It's a fun mix. I'd like it if I could work from home 1-2 days per week. It gets boring quickly, because your house is actually a pretty boring place when you think about it. Not talking to all the fools in the office is damn good for productivity though.

been working at home for 2 months, after 10 years of commuting, also. mine's permanent, though; no floods involved. i can relate to most of this, especially the sites i can get to again and good coffee

Big screen, stereo, kegerator, dogs and cats. My home office isn't boring at all. Still get a lot more work done than when I was at the office getting bugged by someone with nothing better to do every 10 minutes

I'm sure I'd get nothing done. I have worked from home a few times. Usually it's only part of a day when there is something to be done and it has to be done after everyone else leaves for the day.

If I were left alone in the house with nobody watching I'd get sleepy in a hurry.