Lockdown/Covid Check In
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@antipodean said in Lockdown Check In:
@dogmeat said in Lockdown Check In:
Apart from 7 days right at the start of lockdown when I had to self isolate I have been in the office all along.
I've really enjoyed it. Commute in lockdown is only ten minutes. It's been like WFH but in a more pleasant environment because for the first six weeks I was the only one here. I'd go for walks around the building and got so much more done without staff interruptions. I've been able to leave the office at 5 instead of 6 or 7.
Until last week there was only one other guy but the word came down from on high everyone had to go back to the office. I expressed my misgivings because some staff were uncertain and the business is screwed if anyone gets Covid and we have to shut down but was told effectively to shut up and toe the line.
No one is allowed to WFH. At least half the staff are scared to be here. Mask up all day long. It's quite depressing and I'm back to working 13 hour days.
I've been WFH since March. 2020. I don't miss the commutes and the office has only recently permitted us to come back in, but we have to book a space which sounds like hotdesking. And I don't do that. I don't envisage going back in until next year.
One element I have noticed (especially as Mrs Antipodean is contracting to a govt dept) is the wasted time with needless meetings hasn't changed. In fact it seems that Zoom/ Teams meetings have proliferated so people can waste other people's times.
Remember when "conference calls" were a thing? When you'd get a bunch of people on the PHONE and talk about some stuff? These days everyone has to see your face for some reason, it's bloody annoying.
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this is another reason why work is way better than home
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@taniwharugby I have better coffee at home than work unless I pop out and buy one from somewhere good.
My first of the day is always from home but the second adds up $ wise if at the office. -
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
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@mariner4life we just have a Nespresso at home.
Not that I need more coffee!
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@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
My friend has one and we are talking about making the change from Nespresso to one of those. Is it worth it?
Is the cleaning a bitch (my friends moans about that with his but its a few years old)?
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@gt12 said in Lockdown Check In:
@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
My friend has one and we are talking about making the change from Nespresso to one of those. Is it worth it?
Is the cleaning a bitch (my friends moans about that with his but its a few years old)?
ah, is it? i haven't cleaned it yet. It cleans itself out before and after use. i have to clean the milk system once a week or so but that's an automated process.
it's a fucking great machine. the cold brew is excellent
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@mariner4life our one gets a hammering at work (20+ in our office) the milk clean is done daily and there is a dude that comes in weekly to do a full clean (the company we hire it from) we have the little fridge for the milk too....on looking ours is a slightly bigger and different model than that pic.
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@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
Look at moneybags here. I'd be shot if I spent that for coffee at home, and that from a woman who started a business exporting coffee from PNG.
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@antipodean said in Lockdown Check In:
@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
Look at moneybags here. I'd be shot if I spent that for coffee at home, and that from a woman who started a business exporting coffee from PNG.
she bought it, not me
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@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@gt12 said in Lockdown Check In:
@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
My friend has one and we are talking about making the change from Nespresso to one of those. Is it worth it?
Is the cleaning a bitch (my friends moans about that with his but its a few years old)?
ah, is it? i haven't cleaned it yet. It cleans itself out before and after use. i have to clean the milk system once a week or so but that's an automated process.
it's a fucking great machine. the cold brew is excellent
We had a very similar one in the office in London. Worked out that if you ran one shot then topped it with what they called a latte and stopped the milk flow part way through you got a quite drinkable approximation of a FW.
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@antipodean said in Lockdown Check In:
One element I have noticed (especially as Mrs Antipodean is contracting to a govt dept) is the wasted time with needless meetings hasn't changed. In fact it seems that Zoom/ Teams meetings have proliferated so people can waste other people's times.
Working for a global company it seems the Board has decided Pandemic = strategy meeting time. I spend around 3 hours / week in the evenings in Teams meetings.
My PB is 4 in a week totally 11 hours. Once / month the meeting starts at 00:30!
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FWIW, my advice to you guys (coming from someone at the bum end of his career) is you should switch to contracting for yourself if at all possible. I have 2 contracts on the go right now, a SAP installation that will take another year that I WFH for 3 days a week. I’m working another 2 days a week managing a programme for a different organisation where I go into the office and work with a crew I know well and love working with. The social interaction is really important to me as I’m very aware of (and if I’m honest worried about) the fact that in another couple of years that will likely be gone for good.
But the best part about working for yourself is you can largely dictate the terms of your engagement. I was able to say right up which days I would be working and where. Anything mandatory on their part that inconvenienced me, we negotiated, which was pretty much me increasing the rate to compensate.
The best part is I go home / log off at 5pm and I’m done. After decades of 60 hour weeks it is amazing what a difference that makes to the quality of my life. I reckon I’m honestly healthier and happier than I was when I was in my 40s. It has made such a difference in my case that Mrs JC has resolved to pull the pin next year and start contracting herself.
At the moment if you’ve got any talent it's a real seller’s market out there. I’m sure it would be different if I wasn’t financially secure or had dependents but right now I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But get a shit-hot accountant!
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@jc said in Lockdown Check In:
FWIW, my advice to you guys (coming from someone at the bum end of his career) is you should switch to contracting for yourself if at all possible. I have 2 contracts on the go right now, a SAP installation that will take another year that I WFH for 3 days a week. I’m working another 2 days a week managing a programme for a different organisation where I go into the office and work with a crew I know well and love working with. The social interaction is really important to me as I’m very aware of (and if I’m honest worried about) the fact that in another couple of years that will likely be gone for good.
But the best part about working for yourself is you can largely dictate the terms of your engagement. I was able to say right up which days I would be working and where. Anything mandatory on their part that inconvenienced me, we negotiated, which was pretty much me increasing the rate to compensate.
The best part is I go home / log off at 5pm and I’m done. After decades of 60 hour weeks it is amazing what a difference that makes to the quality of my life. I reckon I’m honestly healthier and happier than I was when I was in my 40s. It has made such a difference in my case that Mrs JC has resolved to pull the pin next year and start contracting herself.
At the moment if you’ve got any talent it's a real seller’s market out there. I’m sure it would be different if I wasn’t financially secure or had dependents but right now I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But get a shit-hot accountant!
Here I was, getting all excited, and you just had to go and ruin it for me didn't you?
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@voodoo said in Lockdown Check In:
@jc said in Lockdown Check In:
FWIW, my advice to you guys (coming from someone at the bum end of his career) is you should switch to contracting for yourself if at all possible. I have 2 contracts on the go right now, a SAP installation that will take another year that I WFH for 3 days a week. I’m working another 2 days a week managing a programme for a different organisation where I go into the office and work with a crew I know well and love working with. The social interaction is really important to me as I’m very aware of (and if I’m honest worried about) the fact that in another couple of years that will likely be gone for good.
But the best part about working for yourself is you can largely dictate the terms of your engagement. I was able to say right up which days I would be working and where. Anything mandatory on their part that inconvenienced me, we negotiated, which was pretty much me increasing the rate to compensate.
The best part is I go home / log off at 5pm and I’m done. After decades of 60 hour weeks it is amazing what a difference that makes to the quality of my life. I reckon I’m honestly healthier and happier than I was when I was in my 40s. It has made such a difference in my case that Mrs JC has resolved to pull the pin next year and start contracting herself.
At the moment if you’ve got any talent it's a real seller’s market out there. I’m sure it would be different if I wasn’t financially secure or had dependents but right now I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But get a shit-hot accountant!
Here I was, getting all excited, and you just had to go and ruin it for me didn't you?
i smashed in to that roadblock too
and the shit hot accountant part
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@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@voodoo said in Lockdown Check In:
@jc said in Lockdown Check In:
FWIW, my advice to you guys (coming from someone at the bum end of his career) is you should switch to contracting for yourself if at all possible. I have 2 contracts on the go right now, a SAP installation that will take another year that I WFH for 3 days a week. I’m working another 2 days a week managing a programme for a different organisation where I go into the office and work with a crew I know well and love working with. The social interaction is really important to me as I’m very aware of (and if I’m honest worried about) the fact that in another couple of years that will likely be gone for good.
But the best part about working for yourself is you can largely dictate the terms of your engagement. I was able to say right up which days I would be working and where. Anything mandatory on their part that inconvenienced me, we negotiated, which was pretty much me increasing the rate to compensate.
The best part is I go home / log off at 5pm and I’m done. After decades of 60 hour weeks it is amazing what a difference that makes to the quality of my life. I reckon I’m honestly healthier and happier than I was when I was in my 40s. It has made such a difference in my case that Mrs JC has resolved to pull the pin next year and start contracting herself.
At the moment if you’ve got any talent it's a real seller’s market out there. I’m sure it would be different if I wasn’t financially secure or had dependents but right now I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But get a shit-hot accountant!
Here I was, getting all excited, and you just had to go and ruin it for me didn't you?
i smashed in to that roadblock too
and the shit hot accountant partWe have one those lurking around here I think, though the lazy git only seems to work part-time at best
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We have a hot accountant lurking!!?
oh wait. Shit hot.
Boooooo
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@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
Fuck you you fucking fuck.
Sorry... triggered. I have one of those also, exact model, but it's sitting in a mate's basement in London, probably not covered coz he doesn't realise how pricy it is; with all the rest of my shit.
By the time I either head back there, or finally give in and get all my shit shipped back here... it'll be fucked. Actually, I'm sure it is already... I don't imagine anybody thought to run it through the cleaning process before packing it away for 2 years.Oh - and the cleaning is one big reason why I bought that rather than the other options... it's a piece of piss. Give it some water, pop in a cleaning tablet... let it run.
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@crucial said in Lockdown Check In:
We had a very similar one in the office in London. Worked out that if you ran one shot then topped it with what they called a latte and stopped the milk flow part way through you got a quite drinkable approximation of a FW.
Everybody loves the guy who fucks around with the coffee machine holding everybody up in order get something they deem as drinkable ….