The Work From Home/Quarantine Thread

[CrimsonNBlue]

First time in my life I’ve wanted a yard.

But, it has been nice being within walking distance for great alcohol and food pickup options.

[sdoyel]

Hoping this vaccine comes soon before I’m out of a job... My profession is getting killed right now.

[MICHHAWK]

My profession is getting killed right now.

You sound like one of those “white privelage” mofo’s that you and your ilk been hacking on all day over on the politics board.

You are a white educated professional. You’re scum according to you and your ilk on the politics board.

[Deleted User 62]

My profession is getting killed right now.

You sound like one of those “white privelage” mofo’s that you and your ilk been hacking on all day over on the politics board.

You are a white educated professional. You’re scum according to you and your ilk on the politics board.

JFC

[Deleted User 89]

delusion must be grand

[zsn]

Also, much to the new urbanists' dismay, COVID is pretty clearly demonstrating the disadvantages of contemporary urban living - which, shockingly enough, are very similar to the disadvantages of historical urban living.

Single-family homes, with single-family ventilation systems; large yards; individual means of transportation; and a general lack of crowds have proven to be incredibly valuable characteristics for ideal living in pandemic conditions.

As CnB notes, this doesn't necessarily mean a rebirth in rural living, necessarily, but the #s show pretty clearly that it's sparked a new out-migration from densely packed urban areas.

As I was reading the latest post in this thread I couldn’t help notice how poorly the sentiment expressed above has aged.

We now know that almost exactly the opposite has happened because of behavior. SF with its high population density is essentially unscathed compared to mostly suburban areas, even within the same State. So happened that those living in single family living arrangements have been a lot more cavalier about taking reasonable precautions. LA County has more cases in one-two days last week than SF county did since the pandemic started. If you want to correct for population compare state of ND and SF!!

It’s not what their living arrangements are that seems to matter but how they live.

[defixione]

delusion must be grand

It got him backed into a corner.

[jfish26]

Also, much to the new urbanists' dismay, COVID is pretty clearly demonstrating the disadvantages of contemporary urban living - which, shockingly enough, are very similar to the disadvantages of historical urban living.

Single-family homes, with single-family ventilation systems; large yards; individual means of transportation; and a general lack of crowds have proven to be incredibly valuable characteristics for ideal living in pandemic conditions.

As CnB notes, this doesn't necessarily mean a rebirth in rural living, necessarily, but the #s show pretty clearly that it's sparked a new out-migration from densely packed urban areas.

As I was reading the latest post in this thread I couldn’t help notice how poorly the sentiment expressed above has aged.

We now know that almost exactly the opposite has happened because of behavior. SF with its high population density is essentially unscathed compared to mostly suburban areas, even within the same State. So happened that those living in single family living arrangements have been a lot more cavalier about taking reasonable precautions. LA County has more cases in one-two days last week than SF county did since the pandemic started. If you want to correct for population compare state of ND and SF!!

It’s not what their living arrangements are that seems to matter but how they live.

I can’t see the time-stamp from DC’s post. It’s sad and amazing and a lot of other things to look back on how we saw things in March and April.

Turns out that KC and places like it “locked down” unnecessarily early, and also ineffectively, which made the Labor Day-and-after spike much worse for a lot of reasons.

Also turns out if we would have adopted masks in March, we’d be pretty fine.

[zsn]

23 May 2020. I disagree. If we hadn’t locked down early we may have been significantly worse off. I think ineffective shutting is the problem

I do agree about masks although the rationale at that time was not to affect the availability for first responders and medical personnel.

[jfish26]

23 May 2020. I disagree. If we hadn’t locked down early we may have been significantly worse off. I think ineffective shutting is the problem

I do agree about masks although the rationale at that time was not to affect the availability for first responders and medical personnel.

Right, but even cloth masks, immediately, would have saved 100,000+ lives.

I guess my point about the premature lockdown is it wore out the region's compliance reserve well in advance of when it was most badly needed. Now we're just numb to numbers that we would have shat our pants over in April.

[shindig]

First time in my life I’ve wanted a yard.

But, it has been nice being within walking distance for great alcohol and food pickup options.

I tried loft life for a year after I sold my house in 2010. A year later, I was itching for a house again. I need projects and after a year in the loft, I was getting pretty bored. And having a dog is so much more difficult when you don't have a backyard, especially in the winter or if you are sick and just don't feel like getting out of bed. I get frustrated at times with home ownership, especially since my house is 92 years old, but I find it mostly enjoyable and I guess keeps me out of trouble

[ousdahl]

anyone have any experience with the Comcast business app?

[TDub]

No, but Comcast blows.

[Deleted User 89]

No, but Comcast blows.

^^^^^^

[Deleted User 289]

anyone have any experience with the Comcast business app?

No.
I'm in agreement with TDub & Trad.
A large part of my being in agreement is that I don't enjoy paying $250 a month for internet and cable TV.
I suggest anyone and everyone who deals with Comcast take in to account that if they know they have you by the balls - they tend to squeeze them as hard as they can.

On another note.
I'm happy for people to respond with their opinion/s to what I am about to share.
I am extremely grateful to have been employed this past year. Obviously many people have been laid off.
Anyways, I had my "performance review". Not much to review this year.
Due to strict company compliance I am not supposed to publicly share my salary and compensation.
What I will say is that even though I have been extremely fortunate to still be employed, I am someone who has been impacted this past year in that my rent increased $300 a month, I have had to pay for all my meals (I usually don't pay for lunch at work), I have had a huge increase in my monthly electric (heating & air conditioning included), and other non-typical expenses as well as the usual/typical cost of living increases. Forgetting the rent increase, I figured it's cost me at least an extra $10,000 this past year just by being away from the office.
Sooooooo. Do I just say thank you to my employer and not campaign to be "reimbursed" per se or do I say something? Now of course they could (and should) rightfully respond - but you have done at least $10,000 LESS of work this past year so you need to shut up and be happy.

[ousdahl]

agreed!

this proves that TDub and I see eye to eye about pretty much everything.

I got the app to work from home this week, and the IT guy and I have both been trying to get it to work, but even using my work and personal emails, haven't been able to get past a "this account is not supported on this app" error message when I login.

until today, when I can just suddenly log in! but if I get an incoming work call, it rings for half a ring then goes to voicemail, so unless I pick it up within half a second, I don't get the call.

Not a huge deal, except that the voicemail feature in the app has taken 25 tries to successfully record a work voicemail greeting. Give it a test, and work calls are being directed to my personal voicemail after that half a ring after all.

[ousdahl]

you'd think that Comcast's chief executive officer making $36 MILLION or so a year would indicate he and his company are capable of better executing this sort of...sorry TDub, I'm doing it again

[twocoach]

anyone have any experience with the Comcast business app?

No.
I'm in agreement with TDub & Trad.
A large part of my being in agreement is that I don't enjoy paying $250 a month for internet and cable TV.
I suggest anyone and everyone who deals with Comcast take in to account that if they know they have you by the balls - they tend to squeeze them as hard as they can.

On another note.
I'm happy for people to respond with their opinion/s to what I am about to share.
I am extremely grateful to have been employed this past year. Obviously many people have been laid off.
Anyways, I had my "performance review". Not much to review this year.
Due to strict company compliance I am not supposed to publicly share my salary and compensation.
What I will say is that even though I have been extremely fortunate to still be employed, I am someone who has been impacted this past year in that my rent increased $300 a month, I have had to pay for all my meals (I usually don't pay for lunch at work), I have had a huge increase in my monthly electric (heating & air conditioning included), and other non-typical expenses as well as the usual/typical cost of living increases. Forgetting the rent increase, I figured it's cost me at least an extra $10,000 this past year just by being away from the office.
Sooooooo. Do I just say thank you to my employer and not campaign to be "reimbursed" per se or do I say something? Now of course they could (and should) rightfully respond - but you have done at least $10,000 LESS of work this past year so you need to shut up and be happy.

$800+ a month increase because they don't buy you lunch any more is a stretch. I am sure you can ask your employer to be reimbursed but I'd advise you to have alternate employment arranged before doing so. Good luck with that.

[twocoach]

It was fun working from home for a while. I am over it. I think we are going to be bringing a few team members back into the office starting in April to at least work a few days a week from the office and I plan to be one who volunteers to do so.

[Deleted User 289]

anyone have any experience with the Comcast business app?

No.
I'm in agreement with TDub & Trad.
A large part of my being in agreement is that I don't enjoy paying $250 a month for internet and cable TV.
I suggest anyone and everyone who deals with Comcast take in to account that if they know they have you by the balls - they tend to squeeze them as hard as they can.

On another note.
I'm happy for people to respond with their opinion/s to what I am about to share.
I am extremely grateful to have been employed this past year. Obviously many people have been laid off.
Anyways, I had my "performance review". Not much to review this year.
Due to strict company compliance I am not supposed to publicly share my salary and compensation.
What I will say is that even though I have been extremely fortunate to still be employed, I am someone who has been impacted this past year in that my rent increased $300 a month, I have had to pay for all my meals (I usually don't pay for lunch at work), I have had a huge increase in my monthly electric (heating & air conditioning included), and other non-typical expenses as well as the usual/typical cost of living increases. Forgetting the rent increase, I figured it's cost me at least an extra $10,000 this past year just by being away from the office.
Sooooooo. Do I just say thank you to my employer and not campaign to be "reimbursed" per se or do I say something? Now of course they could (and should) rightfully respond - but you have done at least $10,000 LESS of work this past year so you need to shut up and be happy.

$800+ a month increase because they don't buy you lunch any more is a stretch. I am sure you can ask your employer to be reimbursed but I'd advise you to have alternate employment arranged before doing so. Good luck with that.

It's more than just lunch.
Here is the thing, our company is reimbursing people for I.T. "necessities" for working at home.
The problem is the amount of people who abuse it. Of course if you don't own a printer and you need to print work related documents - by all means the company should "supply" you with one at no cost to you but....
There have been numerous people who are "expensing" things such as new chairs, coffee makers, etc.
Where does it end?
For example, we have "wellness" benefits. Sure it's great to get reimbursed for things such as health club monthly dues but when it first became standard to expense your "wellness expenses" people were expensing things such as baby strollers (claiming they are "exercising" when they take their babies for walks). I was told by the head of our H.R. Department I am not using my wellness benefits and I should use them. Basically it's a monthly stipend.
When I explained I already own a bicycle, the health club in my building is free to residents, and there is really nothing I need to nor want to use the benefits for - I was then told I should get massages and expense them. Ok, but I didn't get massages before the wellness benefit program so I should now have the company reimburse me for something I never used/needed/wanted and I should take advantage of THEM (the company) for? I just feel that's morally wrong but the things that have cost me money for "working from home" - that's a different story and my current conundrum.