BlueHeronDruid wrote: 

 R_P wrote:
 

What the hell. Louis CK syndrome?

 miamizsun wrote:
 

Zoom's interface isn't really ready for prime time. I use it maybe once a month and depending on who is hosting the meeting, buttons seem to be in different places.

 R_P wrote: 

i knew something like this was coming

my better half was teaching/zooming from home for months and the stuff that popped up was hilarious, eye opening and some of it was just sad

The perils of Zoom

 triskele wrote: 
I'll work on cloning myself.

i'd love to be a self employed massage therapist again, with a booming business, like i had back in the mid 90s

 RASPUTIN wrote: 
That is precisely why I do most of my writing in coffeehouses.

 BlueHeronDruid wrote: 
Cubicles are dime a dozen.

/katzenspeak

 oldslabsides wrote: 
Maybe you should start lobbying to give up your office space. In the interests of cost-cutting, that is. Just the space; not the job.

 BlueHeronDruid wrote: 
My tasks are simpler and the people I support are not in my office anyway - I communicate with them primarily via phone and email.  I am pretty much 100% responsible for two very industry-specific programs used to help engineers and managers take decisions about system design.  Those engineers and managers are scattered across the state.  If I need to meet with them personally I have to travel anyway.

 oldslabsides wrote: 
hobbitt finds it a bit less-than-ideal to telecommute, though. For him, being able to bounce ideas off his colleagues and draw design charts on white boards is a helpful thing.

And, fwiw, I didn't find my colleagues annoying for the most part, unless it was one of those support people asking me the same damn question over and over and over. But being in the office means being on-call. It sucked. I had this argument with my boss over and over - what work do you want me to do? Test, upgrade, install and debug new software which you're paying me the big bucks for? Or answer stupid call center questions all day? You pick. (She was not amused with my attitude, though she understood.)

 BlueHeronDruid wrote: 
I can't help but imagine I would benefit from being away from the gaggle of EXTREMELY annoying humans I have to endure at the office.

 BlueHeronDruid wrote: 
tis my dream to work from home... seersly!

 RASPUTIN wrote: 
Back in my sysprog and software development days, I could get SO MUCH MORE done at home than in the office, because of the freaking office interruptions. There were no support people walking into my office asking questions, no meetings, no phone ringing. It. Was. Heaven.

 RASPUTIN wrote: 
The animals do take up a lot of your time when you're home with them. Maggie can't stand it when I am on the computer, and hates it even more when I go out to my studio in the yard.

 beamends wrote:
I have worked from home for an employer over a thousand miles away for 3 1/2 years now. It has its benefits—the commute being the best. And the clothing-optional part. I don't spend much on take-out food and weeks go by when I only drive on weekends.

I love being able to take my lunch breaks feeding the critters and eating real food for lunch (assuming I have time to cook it). I like being available for kids and aging parents. Above all I like being able to live where I want without regard for where the office is. And I play whatever music I want as loud as I want.

The downsides are there too tho. You are always at work. It's right there, that unfinished bit that bugs you all weekend and all evening. I miss the water cooler, the interaction with other people. It's one of the reasons I hang out here. There are some things that just have to happen face to face, so I'm away from home at least a week a month (and I can tell you anything you want to know about half a dozen airports. Go ahead and ask, I'm eager to share! I paid dearly for that information).

So it's a mixed bag. It takes discipline to stay on task, which as you can see from this post I don't always have, which leads to longer hours spent in my third office chair in 4 years to get the work done.

 hobiejoe wrote: 
Not a chance....... "So you care for someone eh? Byeeee.", or "So you might need to, very occasionally, pop home for 10 mins to sort something out? Byeeee". Plus of course, I turned stupid age 48, and having run my own business for 10 years............... I can see their point a bit on the last one, a lot of managers would be terrified I'd have good ideas and do things, and a lot of owners would be terrified I'd learn the ropes of their business and run off with their clients (I would, but then contented employees don't run off). As the JobCentrePlus manager put it - "Just think of it as early retirement!"

 oldslabsides wrote: 
Sue works for Nationwide and for a while they even paid for our Roadrunner service.  Then they figured everybody had high speed something or other and we have to pay now.  Was nice while it lasted.

Oh don't I wish.

I could do 95%+ of my job at home.  It's an idea that has so far generated nothing but snickers at this place, tho.