mx wcfc
Well-Known Member
Oh god, I'm the same.
The working from home thread
- Thread starter BoatieBird
- Start date
Cloo
Banana for scale
It was nice to be in the office today - turned out it was more than 4 others, I think just shy of a dozen altogether on one floor. St James Park looked good, there was a dramatic sunset on Parliament Square as I left (The Twilight of Boris? One can only hope). If husband's work situation allows will probably try to do the same next Tuesday.
The only problem with Tuesdays is it's also my choir night, so it makes for a long day and I don't have much turnaround once I get home, but I can stick with it for now.
I was reading an article saying that a problem with 'hybrid' working was people are finding it really knackering shifting mode and remembering where all their shit is, although it did lead with an example of a woman going into the office Mon, Weds, Fri, which of course would be fucking mentally exhausting - I think you really want to have some consecutive days in there.
The only problem with Tuesdays is it's also my choir night, so it makes for a long day and I don't have much turnaround once I get home, but I can stick with it for now.
I was reading an article saying that a problem with 'hybrid' working was people are finding it really knackering shifting mode and remembering where all their shit is, although it did lead with an example of a woman going into the office Mon, Weds, Fri, which of course would be fucking mentally exhausting - I think you really want to have some consecutive days in there.
My motivation's fucked the last couple of weeks.
I was busy today, replying to emails. That's fine, I can do that. If there's stuff that needs doing. I much prefer email to talking to people on the phone anyway.
But anything that involves having to reach out, think of ways of working with other organisations, similar proactive type things we should be doing, I'm meh. How am I sposed to be enthusiastic with all that when I'm just sat in my living room every fucking day with yesterday's cooking smells, and same boring thoughts.
I was busy today, replying to emails. That's fine, I can do that. If there's stuff that needs doing. I much prefer email to talking to people on the phone anyway.
But anything that involves having to reach out, think of ways of working with other organisations, similar proactive type things we should be doing, I'm meh. How am I sposed to be enthusiastic with all that when I'm just sat in my living room every fucking day with yesterday's cooking smells, and same boring thoughts.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
I've been going in to the office the majority of days since July last year, I went in occasionally from about July 2020. I'm still very much the minority at the main office, although I noticed way more people in today. It's going to be tough for those who've worked from home since March 2020 to go into the office again, and that is still the majority of my employer (London Local Authority) . There is more pressure being put on staff to come in , but no outright instruction.
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
I don't have a problem shifting mode, but I do find it knackering having to cart my shit about with me. Have just invested in a nice backpack to replace my previous laptop bag as carrying my workplace on one shoulder all the time is really fucking my back up.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
Yeah, I don't have a locker at our main office , so have to carry my 'agile kit' in every day. I do have a locker at another office but very few people are working there atm, so I prefer going in to the main office.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
I think for a lot of people the most significant cost is actually going to be the space. At least getting into longer term arrangements when if you can you're going to want a proper set up rather than the kitchen table (which for me at least was giving me back pain). It's a hidden cost in as far as it's part of your rent/mortgage but it's very much a real one.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
True. It's significantly influenced us when looking at houses because we're both introvert types who'd like to work at home
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
Well in my case, I already had a kitchen table in my bedroom with a gaming PC set up on it. A couple of DSE assessments have since given me a proper, larger desk that can fit the extra kit as well as a total of four monitors to play with. I know it's not my stuff, but there's stopping me from hooking up the screens to my own PC and making personal use of them, as I do. So for me at least it feels nothing like a cost, and more like a free upgrade.
I suppose that statistically they must exist in some numbers, but I would honestly be surprised if the kind of people who would be likely to be working from home in the long term don't mostly, as a group, already have a space in their home devoted to computing activity.
Sapphireblue
Well-Known Member
i think a lot of younger people who may already have a setup in their bedroom in a shared house, don't really want to work in their only private space, so they have to start thinking about getting a place on their own / with less people so there are spare rooms for this stuff.
and then of course people with bigger places with kids have often been working in the kitchen / dining room for similar reasons, all the spare rooms have kids in them.
and then of course people with bigger places with kids have often been working in the kitchen / dining room for similar reasons, all the spare rooms have kids in them.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
We are dying to move out because I’ve been stuck in a single room for 2 years at this point. Work, sleep, eat in the same space. It’s not good.
Housing is absolutely insane and I can’t find much decent for a price we’re willing to pay. If I’m hitting over a grand a month in rent at that point I’m just robbing myself over any ability to save so looking to buy instead
I’m in the office today, it’s about a quarter full compared to the before times. Maybe less
Housing is absolutely insane and I can’t find much decent for a price we’re willing to pay. If I’m hitting over a grand a month in rent at that point I’m just robbing myself over any ability to save so looking to buy instead
I’m in the office today, it’s about a quarter full compared to the before times. Maybe less
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Indeed. I already had a home pc set up before the first lockdown. After a few months I bought a proper desk and chair and then brought home my second screen from the office.
That was all fine until I started having cloud issues which the external IT people couldn't find a solution for. My boss suggested I take my office pc home. So now I have three screens on the desk but can't use them all at once. I can't use my office pc at all at home as it has no wifi capability. To connect to the router would need a 55ft cable trailing across two rooms and I'm not even sure that would work as I have a WAP in the loft and I may remember the installer saying that because of that, I shouldn't cable anything else to the router. I may be wrong on that. But I have a completely redundant system taking up space on my desk
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
Did you pay for the desk/chair, or did the company? Because I'm pretty sure that legally speaking the company is responsible for making sure that your workspace is safe and comfortable to work in.
Why not? I'm currently using extra cables and monitor switches to make full use of the monitors I have.
Is there not room on the office PC's motherboard to slot in a wi-fi card?
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Maybe look at a KVM switch or similar. I didnt want two setups at home, especially as I've already got 2 27" screens. I was able to put it through expenses, but probably would have paid anyway.
I don't see why you shouldnt be able to run cable. If there is a problem, then you can put the existing "router" in modem mode and buy a dedicated one. Think mine was £45, although if the WAP is in the loft, you might need another for downstairs.
Alternatively could you buy a usb WiFi adapter for the office PC?
Numbers
an ting!
What about a powerline adapter, we use one in the bedroom for our smart TV, works a treat.
ethernet powerline adapter - Google Search
www.google.co.uk
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Powerlines don't work on our house. For some reason there are two electrical circuits (you'll have to ask the previous owners about that).
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Yes, but would involve opening a work PC. And USB is good enough.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
I require powerline as very much a last ditch option - it's great if there's no other way of extending Ethernet/wifi around the house, but my experience is that it's one more link in the chain that can - and does - fail occasionally. And that's before situations like yours, where it just doesn't work at all.
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
You shouldn't need any tool more sophisticated than an appropriately-sized Phillips screwdriver (assuming it's a desktop and not a laptop). Also "good enough" is a horrible standard. Things are always "good enough" right up until they're not. Giving yourself more wiggle room is just sensible.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
It's not about being hard, more about if you should do it.
I hear what your saying, but really they are quite reliable, I've certainly had no issues with them.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
definite yes to a KVM switch
employer before september issued me with a small PC (the sort with a SSD - about the size of a small tin of shortbread biscuits) and a KVM switch, so no need for additional monitor / keyboard etc (which in turn would have needed a second desk)
was a bit more awkward with employer after september as they gave me a laptop + docking station, and it was a bit more complicated to connect. they wanted to issue me with a monitor or two which i resisted on grounds of space at home as well as not wanting to try and get them home on the train.
employer before september gave the option of taking your office chair home (not sure what they would have done if anyone wanted this and wasn't in a position to transport it)
i'm about to start mainly wfh job with new employer - they will issue me a laptop and have offered chair and so on if needed (I've declined) and after a bit of experimenting, think i can get a laptop to talk to my keyboard and monitor via KVM switch without needing a docking station. May need an USB port splitting thing but we'll see.
in both cases, i just plugged them in via an ethelnet cable rather than do wi-fi.
i'd be reluctant to open a work PC and do anything with it - could drop you in the shit if anything goes wrong.
employer before september issued me with a small PC (the sort with a SSD - about the size of a small tin of shortbread biscuits) and a KVM switch, so no need for additional monitor / keyboard etc (which in turn would have needed a second desk)
was a bit more awkward with employer after september as they gave me a laptop + docking station, and it was a bit more complicated to connect. they wanted to issue me with a monitor or two which i resisted on grounds of space at home as well as not wanting to try and get them home on the train.
employer before september gave the option of taking your office chair home (not sure what they would have done if anyone wanted this and wasn't in a position to transport it)
i'm about to start mainly wfh job with new employer - they will issue me a laptop and have offered chair and so on if needed (I've declined) and after a bit of experimenting, think i can get a laptop to talk to my keyboard and monitor via KVM switch without needing a docking station. May need an USB port splitting thing but we'll see.
in both cases, i just plugged them in via an ethelnet cable rather than do wi-fi.
i'd be reluctant to open a work PC and do anything with it - could drop you in the shit if anything goes wrong.
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
I feel your pain. I'm tired of Teams meetings and Skype. Even other people's book shelves bore me lately.
And then today there was someone who I don't know on a Teams meeting who was the spitting image of Steve Pemberton (out of costume).
cybershot
Well-Known Member
This is terribly worded, and is going to cause friction between workers. They could have just said something about part time staff or something far more generic.
Why would it cause friction?
cybershot
Well-Known Member
People going AWOL to pick up their kids when pre covid they would have been contactable at their desks in core business hours.
Let's not get into parents who ask others to change their annual leave 'but you don't have kids'
It's smokers doing X amount of less work a week to go on their fag breaks all over again. In fact it would have been much easier to just not mention that these meetings will always be before 3pm!! It's like they deliberately want to cause a scene.
So that's one of the things that has changed for the better in the last couple of years. FWIW, only one of my team has kids and we quite happily avoid school run time (mornings and afternoons) for meetings. It's really not a big deal.
mod
A modernist
This is progress surely? More relaxed and flexible working hours are huge positive imo.
WFH has been brilliant for me getting my 11 year old daughter and taking her to school. Plus spending a lot more time with her.
On the flip slip the working hours in a day have got blurred and its not uncommon to work 10 hour days. Sometimes 12.
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