Returning to the office with more questions

Yestterday, I got official word from my employer that the office will be reopening to employees who are fully vaccinated on April 4. I have more questions than anything.

On a good note, I have taken April 4 off as a vacation day. I am doing a working vacation the previous week. It will likely be my last one working remotely.

We will be adopting a hybrid work model. It's supposed to be a 5-50 split being in the office and working remotely. Considering that it takes me an hour to drive into work, I want to see if I can make it more like a 60-40 split in favour of working from home.

I'm not sure how it will be organized. What if everyone wants to go into the office for work on April 4? I don't think the office can handle that capacity.

There is no organization or detailed planning. Do we sit where we used to over two years ago? Will my badge to get security clearance work?

Anyway, we'll see how things are communicated over the next few weeks.

Working from home for the rest of 2020

Last week, my employer announced that we are all working from home for the rest of 2020. On the whole, I am pleased with this decision.

A few weeks ago, my manager asked us whether we'd be interested in going back to the office. I felt that it was premature to pose such a question. When the office building and company roll out safety measures for employees, they would help me to decide whether I'm comfortable returning. Right now, I'm not because there haven't been any safety measures communicated to us. 

I do miss seeing colleagues that I like. However, I am happy to not commute to the office. It's 50 km for me in a single direction. I do like not fighting congestion, and saving time and money. I also like working quietly from home, with fewer distractions.

This week is my last before I go on vacation. I need a break badly.

Self-isolation and debt improvement

I am fortunate to be able to work from home and get paid. The shift from working a couple of days a week to every week at home isn't a huge deal for me.

However, what I have noticed is that I am saving money. As a result, it is helping me pay off my debt. I am in better financial shape at this point than I had predicted.

My commute is roughly 50 km in one direction. I used to fill my car's tank with gas each week. I do it once a month now. With gas prices being low these days, I have been saving roughly $160.

These days, I make most of my meals at home. I go out two times a week to get groceries and takeout. I don't eat out as much. I don't go to Starbucks as frequently as I used to. Again, I save more money.

I haven't travelled in over a month. I don't have airfare, hotel, or car rental bills to pay off.

A while back, I pointed out that I was doing well paying off my debt. Well, I am nearly done paying off another credit card. I will be down to two active credit cards. I will be keeping both of them, but one will sit there as a backup. The reason for keeping it is that I've been a customer for well over a decade with this credit card company. It looks good on my credit report if I continue having it. It's not my favourite credit card, so that's another reason why I am not tempted to use it.

Things are looking up financially for me. It has been a lot of hard work to get to this stage. Sticking with a budget helps. Being isolated at home is another method that has helped, which I didn't expect as a benefit.

Reorganizing plastic bags and panties, fixing earrings, and more

Over a year ago, I was getting rid of stuff at home that I didn't need and reorganizing the stuff that I wanted to keep. I then went on what I didn't know was my last trip with my ex-guy. Since the breakup, I haven't had the motivation to reorganize my stuff and pick up from where I had left off.

I am motivated now.

On Sunday, I looked at all plastic bags that I had thrown into multiple bags and folded them up. They are now organized by size. I also found my iced tea flask. I will be brewing iced tea with a bunch of tea bags that need to be used.

I folded all my panties and bras in my drawer the way Marie Kondo does hers. I will say that it's such a major improvement and I have a nice, cheerful collection of panties and bras. I'll be doing socks and pyjamas next.

Finally, I have been converting earrings with French hooks over to leverbacks. I don't like the former because the hook part jabs into me when I wear them and I don't like the tiny plastic backings on the hooks. The conversion is pretty simple. I need to reorder more leverbacks.

I like that I have various projects on the go. It's great that the time that I used to spend commuting to and from work is put into tasks that are meaningful.

Staycation and benefits

I am enjoying my staycation. I like going to work and having a shorter commute.

It's nice to grab some dinner and a hot chocolate after work. I head back to the hotel and relax as if I am at home.

Of course, it's helpful to have been upgraded to a suite. It's cozy and I like the bedroom being separate from the living room. I sleep a lot better without hearing folks in the hallway.

It's always great when your hotel room feels like your home away from home.

Staycation and my home away from home for a week

My staycation has started. This one is longer. My thinking was that since I am in the office all this week, the drive would be easier if I stayed closer to work.

I love this hotel. It's my first time staying here. It's roughly twenty minutes away from the office by car. It's a nice change from my hour commute!

I am in a suite. I lucked out and got an upgrade. It comes with a kitchenette. I am looking forward to getting some groceries, so I can fix myself breakfast.

It feels like home. It's great so far.

Bloodwork, fasting, food, and work

In a few hours, I go in for some bloodwork at the the lab. I am in fasting mode.

I'm not sure why I decided to spend half an hour looking at eateries where I want to have breakfast. It's not helping me right now! I'm just sitting here, salivating over my upcoming meal.

This week is odd. Yesterday, I was at the office. Today, I'm working from home. Wednesday, I'm back at the office. I work from home on Thursday and Friday.

I'm pleased that I get to take a break from my long daily commute. Next week, I'm at the office for the entire week, so my commute balances out in the long run.

Rush hour traffic is horrible, especially when the weather is poor

I left work on Thursday at 17:00. It's considered early for me.

I had an event to attend in my neck of the woods. I allowed two hours to get there. I got there with 13 minutes to spare.

Traffic is horrible in the greater Toronto area. I was actually on a toll highway, which should have taken me half that time, at most, on a good day. This highway was slow, thanks to all the rain coming down, some sort of accident along the way, and just plain slowness during rush hour.

The event that I attended was both indoors and outdoors. Luckily, it wasn't a windy day. It was pretty mild. I was happy with my umbrella. It ended up being a great night.

Short post for a busy week

It's a busy week at work. Last week was highly stressful dealing with yet another incompetent person on my team. I will need a post to describe that fiasco.

I have finally calmed down about the situation. I am so glad. It was highly frustrating dealing with her.

She has finally realized that she has damaged our rapport. I no longer trust her to independently do her work. She messed up and she knows it. I'll elaborate in a future post.

I am working from home on Tuesday. Sadly, I have an early morning conference call. I am in the office for the remainder of this week. It's not bad, but I would rather be sleeping in.

Thoughts being an interviewee

At work, I conduct a number of interviews. I tend to make interviews a conversation rather than an interrogation. I want the interviewee to be comfortable, which allows that person to open up. I then get as much information out of the candidate to determine whether that person is a good fit.

It has been ages since I went for an interview. It's strange to be the interviewee.

For a while, ever since this job opportunity was plopped into my inbox, I have been mixed about the position. I like the idea of being in a new work environment, being closer to home, and having the challenge of learning a new field. However, after being interviewed by four different people on Monday, I still don't feel that it's my dream job.

The person who could potentially be my manager reminded me of my current manager. Both have been in the industry for nearly two decades. Both don't have a good command of the English language. Both aren't good at listening.

I respectfully butted heads with this person. I saw the passion that came out of me. I didn't back down. If they didn't like that about me, so be it. I'm actually pleased that I took a stand.

This person basically said that this position would be a drastic change for me. He felt that I was doing more of a management role than a writing role. He went on to say that at my workplace, there are tons of writers. You lose one and you're fine. At this company, it's smaller. You lose a person and you feel the impact.

I completely disagreed with him. I have lost a writer a year on my team for at least the past four years. Thanks goes to my micromanaging manager. My team loses a writer. I feel the pain of picking up the slack and doing the job of two people. It is my current situation.

He completely dismissed the fact that I am in the trenches, writing daily, doing the grunt work. I hammered that point. He didn't get it. He's stubborn, just like my manager.

Is it worth taking a pay cut to be at a different company with a manager exhibiting similar personality traits and deficiencies? I think not.

I did feel good coming out of the interview. I got along with the woman with whom I had my phone interview. It was good getting back into the interview scene again.

As much as it would be nice to escape my current job for another one, this open job opportunity doesn't feel right to me.

Cocksicle

Today, I am off to interview a number of students for the summer co-op session. It requires my driving about 1.5 hours to get to the campus with my manager.

Apparently, it's supposed to snow. I am not looking forward to the messy commute home.

The other day, my guy and I chatted about oral sex.

"I'd like you to lick my hard cock when I see you," he said to me, obviously horny.
"I'd lick it like a popsicle?" I asked him.
"Yes, let's give it a try," he suggested.
"I'm game. I have a number of flavoured oral gels that I'd like to use on you," I replied.
"Good," he said.
"So, it's really a cocksicle," I replied.

We both laughed. I thought that it was bad. Being a punny guy, he loved it.

A disturbance in the workforce where change is constant

I do not know why important meetings tend to be held on Friday afternoons. Most of my team had to attend a three-hour meeting last Friday.

The way that we are working is changing. For a while, I have been doing the workload of roughly two people. My contractor tells me that I should be cloned. I am not sure how most would feel about that option. Perhaps my guy would like to be pleasured often and vice-versa!

I'd say about two years ago, I was reviewing the work of other writers on the team to improve the quality of our team's deliverables. It helped and made our documentation more consistent. However, when a defensive writer decided to resign, I not only handled her workload, but continued mine until I had to drop reviewing everyone's work.

My manager hinted last month that he wants to have me give review work another go, among other tasks. I told him that I need my workload reduced. He agreed. So, writing about new software features on two different teams is off my plate. These tasks go to the contractor that I have been working with for two months. Some of my other tasks will go to the co-op students.

Although I shouldn't have been working on Sunday, I did for an hour. I am training a new co-op student tomorrow. Another one is supposed to also start at the same time, but there is some uncertainty as to whether I'll see her tomorrow.

Anyway, I don't have time to spend reviewing the contractor's work on Monday. So, I decided to review her work on Sunday. She had two tasks to do. Both require rework.

The problem with her is that she is quiet and I have to ask her how she is doing. She doesn't share what she is doing unless she is prompted. It will be interesting to see how she does with the two teams that she has now inherited. I get to break the news to her tomorrow.

So, I will continue to ease her the work on her two teams, as there is a transition period that needs to take place. I am still going to be her team lead, but for one of her teams.

There is a winter storm that starts dumping snow in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. I had contemplated getting a hotel room close to work for a night. I then thought that using my hard-earned points should not be devoted towards a work-related goal. Sure, I'd like to be at work to continue training at least one co-op. If the commute is bad, I will simply do what I would normally do -- work from home.

The difference is that I will hold my training session online. It may be a challenge, but it would be better than conducting no training at all.

Change is always present. I am actually looking forward to not directly documenting new software features. I will still be writing, but I like the change. It is much needed. I don't know whether my workload will truly be reduced, as it takes time to train folks to have them become independent and confident.

Job opportunity and travel

Now and again, I get e-mail from recruiters for contract positions. Something different happened to me on Friday. A recruiter wants to hire me for a full-time position. She found my resume online.

The job doesn't exactly cut my commute time down. It's actually a few blocks away from my current place of employment. However, the job sounds like a decent fit for me. I would get to both write and train others. I am hoping that my working isn't as insane as it is these days.

I took Monday off as a vacation day. I invited the talent scout to call me. We had a good fifteen-minute conversation. She wanted a copy of my resume. Of course, I hadn't updated mine in a year, so I went ahead and did just that today. I have officially applied for the position.

We'll see what happens. I can only hope for an interview.

My guy will be travelling in December for a week. I think that he welcomes a bit of travel. He has been grounded for nearly a couple of months, which has been helpful. We get to see each other more and it allows him to teach his Saturday course without juggling his travel schedule.

Commuting, chatting, and meeting on the weekend

My drive to and from work can be tedious. On a good day, it takes me 40 minutes on way on the highway. When it snows, it's more like two hours. Traffic and some drivers can be horrible.

After work on Thursday, I was hungry and decided to grab some dinner. I got back into my car and started my drive home. My guy called me. He could tell that I was in my car, just as I knew that he was walking outside.

I wish that I could talk to my guy while I drive home every day. I was nearly there before we hung up. He was on his nightly walk and he didn't get lost, which was an added bonus.

We are seeing each other on Saturday, after he is done teaching his course. It makes me look even more forward to this Thanksgiving weekend. There is plenty to be thankful for in my life.