Poll: More or less productive WFH?

by | Jul 23, 2020 | Economy, Poll, Society | 403 comments

I’ve worked from home for the last 12 years. I like the flexibility, the lack of professional wardrobe requirement, that we don’t need a second car, and the fact that The Wonder Dog isn’t home alone for hours on end.

Because of the nature of my work, I can work any hours I like. My boss isn’t going to complain if I don’t want to set a meeting for 0800. I can work 2 shifts of 5 hours each day, if I so desire. I can work halfway through the night, or take a weekday off and work on Sunday instead.

I’m more fortunate than others, however. I don’t have kids at home, OMWC has mostly not worked from home while we’ve been together, I have an office with a door, my work doesn’t require large and expensive equipment to accomplish, and it is usually not time-critical, so if I can’t get to something today, tomorrow will be fine.

Am I more productive than if I were going to an office away from home? I can’t honestly say one way or the other. When last I was employed (as a COO) by someone else, I was swamped and stressed, working 60-80 hour weeks. I know for a certainty that I could not do that particular job from home.

But my current work? Would I get more done, more efficiently if I were leasing office space? I expect I am not going to find out anytime soon, although it’s possible that office space is going to be very cheap going forward.

If you’re working from home, how’s it going for you?

 

About The Author

SP

SP

I've got an idea! How about we just stick to the Constitution as written and then the government can leave me the fuck alone.

403 Comments

  1. UnCivilServant

    It’s a wash.

    It’s not like I do anything useful anyway.

    • UnCivilServant

      More seriously I prefer not having to drag myself to the office, but I think I’m more easily distracted at home.

      On the other hand, the building makes me sick. We’ve only been in the most recent cubes since last fall, and this past winter was the most sick I’ve ever been. Since we stopped having to go to the office – nothing, no unexplained ailments.

  2. Drake

    Less.

    • Nikkodemus

      That ^

  3. hayeksplosives

    WFH is awful for me as a leader of a group of engineers and physicists with different skills and styles. We are doing research and development, so we have to make changes on the fly.

    Did I mention that we also build hardware? WFH is a total standstill for us. I got us all approved for working at the office/ plant as soon as I could.

    Covid’s knock on effects will be screwing us for years.

    • Digby and the Wonder Llama

      Hopefully (if that’s even an appropriate sentiment), this means it has also negatively affected those in other, more hostile nations.

    • LCDR_Fish

      Yeah, and the quarantine stuff is nuts. We have people who need to go to California for installs/repairs and when they get there they have to spend 2 weeks in their hotel room (card is literally keyed for a single use and if they get locked out of their room they have to get authorization from their COR to get it rekeyed)……and then when they get back from CA, they’ve got to do 2 weeks on this end. Absolutely insane.

      • l0b0t

        That is absolute CRAZYPANTS! How is such wasteful expense and intrusion into personal time justified?

  4. Sean

    Does not apply to me. I do not wfh. *shrug*

  5. Count Potato

    Is OK if we ask what you do?

    • Not Adahn

      Can lid sharpening.

  6. Tulip

    I’m less productive. Part of that is being stressed about the whole situation – COVID, will I continue to have a job, lack of contact with others, not able to travel. I hate working from home. It’s too hard to separate work and home. I learned that in grad school and it’s still true. I try to focus on good things, my flowers, cooking new things, but I’m not having fun.

    • Count Potato

      The whole covid thing is very stressful.

    • Tulip

      Thank you to Neph for organizing the glib zoom chats and to everyone that participates. It’s helping to keep me sane.

      • DEG

        Seconded.

  7. Raven Nation

    Generally better. Instead of people knocking on my office door all day they send me e-mails. I can respond to those on my schedule.

    • Raven Nation

      Although I should clarify this refers to the admin and writing side. Teaching is probably going to be a clusterfuck.

  8. Rhywun

    I find WFH less productive. But I am easily distracted. I need the rigor of the grind to keep me focused. In my line, WFH is always a welcome benefit, though.

    • Raven Nation

      Dude! Is this your first appearance since “the procedure” or did I miss something?

    • DEG

      How has your recovery been going? We were starting to wonder.

    • Ted S.

      Welcome back!

    • Gender Traitor

      Great to see you!

    • Rhywun

      Just got home today. Kind of wiped so please don’t mind if I don’t respond to everyone individually 🙂

      But TIA for any kind wishes.

      All seems well so far. I couldn’t eat after the surgery so they had to empty the tank and train me to eat all over again. I hope it takes.

      • Raven Nation

        Happy for the good news.

      • Tulip

        Glad you’re home, hope you heal soon.

      • blackjack

        Glad you’re back. Hoping it works out well for you.

      • TARDIS

        Cool. ???

      • Count Potato

        Glad to hear you’re OK. Hope you are feeling better soon.

      • Grosspatzer

        Welcome back to the land of the living!

      • DEG

        Good to hear things are well so far.

      • mindyourbusiness

        Great to see you back, Rhy!

      • straffinrun

        Good to hear!

      • mrfamous

        I have been WFH since 2002. I have never actually performed my current career anywhere else than from home.

        Now, for roughly three weeks every year I have to travel to HQ. And those three weeks I do work in “the office” and quite frankly I’m far more productive there. But then it’s the only time of year where there’s hard deadlines and I very much have to be there at all times and so there’s not much else to do but work. Plus I enjoy my job either way.

        I think on average I (and I suspect most people) would be more productive working in the office, but I also think I’d be less happy doing so, and I wonder how that would affect my productivity long term.

        Anyhow, are we doing happy hour tomorrow? I’m extremely depressed over the “indefinite” closure of gyms, bars and nightclubs in Arizona and need to escape solitary for a bit. I have a camera and everything!

      • mrfamous

        Oops, this was supposed to go elsewhere. Welcome back Rhywun!

      • Incentives Matter

        Glad you’re back home. Be good to yourself, but not too good — a little physical stress (mild walking etc.) helps to let your body know that you’re not foolin’ around here, you expect healing results.

        But I’m sure your docs have already told you this.

      • Rhywun

        Yeah, I live alone so lots of walking just to get food and supplies is part of the plan. Good point!

    • Sean

      Dude! Glad to hear you’re home.

      • Rhywun

        Yeah, I was going crazy in there. A lot of things are getting a fresh look right about now – being in my own home is one of them.

      • Ozymandias

        Welcome back, Rhy!
        We’re all glad to “see” you and that you’re okay.
        Recovery can be tougher than people think, so take your time and be kind to yourself.
        Cheers!

      • Sean

        “Be kind to yourself”

        He’s still recovering! Give him a couple days. Sheesh.

      • TARDIS

        (((Nurse))): Give it a few days before you treat your body like and amusement park.

      • dbleagle

        Welcome back Rhy! Heal well and heal rapidly.

    • KSuellington

      Glad you made it out in one piece Rhy!

    • grrizzly

      Great to hear you’re on the mend.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Missed your company. Glad you’re on the road to recovery.

    • egould310

      Hey-yoo!!! There he is !! Hi Rhywun. Really glad to see you posting. Hope all is well.

    • Digby and the Wonder Llama

      Late well-wishing from Diggy (’cause third person is just so awesome).

  9. kbolino

    COO is a lofty title for a teenager.

    I’ve been doing the WFH thing for a few weeks now. I like it but I definitely had to differentiate between being “at work” and “at home” mentally or I’d lose focus easily.

    • hayeksplosives

      When I used to have stepkids at home, I wore my work badge to signal to them (and to myself) that I am “at work” on the rare WFH days.

  10. DEG

    I prefer working from home.

    There are times where being in a room with folks is easier. Sometimes design reviews and planning go much smoother when a small set of folks get together in a room. Working with hardware can be easier in the office depending on the hardware. The lab folks where I work have a good set-up for remote access to lab hardware, but at previous jobs where working with hardware was required that was not possible. Other than those conditions, work from home is preferred.

  11. Yusef drives a Kia

    WFH for about 10 years now, at least home based, I still roam to jobs, but home is far for efficient for me, paperwork is on time, needs are met, I can invoice as I type this,
    even my Census job is WFH

    • TARDIS

      I am not WFH, and have been on unemployment since April 1. It would be partially possible with some creepy tech, but that’s a big investment. I would need a virtual presence device, and that would not go over well. My wife has been mostly WFH for about 18 months. She was required to travel monthly, usually to headquarters, but CCP virus has suspended that. I’ve been called into work, reporting next week because I’m needed… but only part time.

      I honestly don’t think WFH has been good for her.

  12. Tejicano

    My current gig is project based work supporting a handful of companies in different roles. No salary, 100% merit-based which was just coming to life when corona hit and shut it all down. I was starting to make more than ever before travelling a couple times a month and only working from my PC – I only had a shared rental office here to meet clients when required. Sometimes I’d use that office after a client meeting but more often I’d just sit in a coffee shop and handle e-mail.

    When I’m on a client site it’s quite hectic but I like the short term, well-defined goals and the pay is good.

    I am just now picking up a new, additional role which will give me a desk to use as required but no fixed hours/days-of-the-week. This one is not impacted by corona so that’s a plus. Once again, no salary but the potential for remuneration is good.

    • Tejicano

      Oh about productivity; I feel like I am still doing the meat of what needs to be done – minus all the corporate BS, meetings, and political bargaining which always cluttered up my days – with about 20% of the time spent actually working. It’s like I’m doing the same amount of work or more with almost zero BS for 25% more money without being in the daily grind (at least it was when things started taking off last year).

  13. Aloysious

    Ooh! A poll! Yes. No. Maybe.

    Just kidding.

    If I worked from home, I would turn into the shut in muttering old coot that the neighborhood kids run away from. As draining as going to work is, it keeps the voices in my head down to a dull roar, and I don’t drive myself crazy.

    OT: made a blueberry buckle. It’s too hot to eat, and I can’t keep my fingers off of it.

    • blackjack

      So, you are voting for Trump, you just don’t want to say so now?

      • Aloysious

        Yes. No. Maybe.

  14. hayeksplosives

    I wonder if preference for WFH (when it is an option) falls on introvert/extrovert lines?

    • Tulip

      I’m an introvert and hate working from home.

      • Nikkodemus

        Same. I think the structure is what does it for me. Get up everyday, shower, get dressed, go in. I’m finding that in working from home so much, I also miss adult conversations that does not include a member of my family. Its just not the same in a Teams chat.

    • Rhywun

      Hm. I’m very much an introvert but I still think the office is better for me to get work done.

    • hayeksplosives

      I’m an extrovert and strongly prefer the office. Of course, a lot of that is that I like my close coworkers.

      I find it easier to connect if I can see someone’s face and body language.

      I require a 1:1 with each employee every 2 weeks, just to check in. They almost always have something to ask or say that might not have happened without those meetings. So I think, as a manager, it’s necessary.

      • cyto

        I agree. At the end of the day we are human animals and that means we are social creatures. Personal connections matter. People work for a person as much as for a company. If you are loyal to your employees, they will be loyal to you. Part of attaching that loyalty is having a personal relationship. Also, the group brings a social pressure to perform. If you have good people, they don’t want to let each other down.

        That can happen in remote work situations, of course. But the way we are wired by default makes it much easier and much more likely to be optimal if there is a regular in-person element to the relationship.

        I did have some employees who worked primarily from home – women when their kids were very small. But they were exceptional people who were able to work in that environment at extremely high levels, and they were already well integrated with the team.

        I’ve seen the same dynamic in VAR implementation teams. They travel together, so there is a bonding that takes place. Then they are able to work 60% or more remotely and still maintain that team dynamic.

        I’ve also seen it where there is no in-person contact. The connections are much weaker and require much more work to build. The work usually reflects this.

  15. peachy rex

    Mixed bag. My business requires me to go to and fro on the earth, so work from home is simply not an option. My fiancee, however, prefers it – she gets more done, and saves vast great wodges of time and money.

    • hayeksplosives

      Ain’t it grand to have options?

      Imagine a soviet factory letting people set hours and locations that work the best for them!!

      • peachy rex

        Horrifying thought. I have my own micro-business, so I have a great deal of flexibility… in ordinary circumstances. All this lockdown bullshit has fucked things up pretty badly, however.

  16. Grosspatzer

    Probably more in my case. Coding is easier without the distractions of the office. It helps that I don’t have to commute 3 hours a day.

    • hayeksplosives

      The commute makes a huge difference in your case.

      • TARDIS

        The commute was the worst part of my job. I suspect ‘Rona and struggle sessions will easily replace it as the suck factor.

      • hayeksplosives

        Struggle sessions. Ugh.

        At my previous place of employment, the dinosaurs decided to compete with Google for young talent. So they transformed a conference with vivid primary colors and weird cubes to sit on and called it a “huddle room.”

        I of course immediately dubbed it the Cuddle Room and wouldn’t be caught dead in it.

      • Ted S.

        You don’t want to cuddle with me?

        [runs from room sobbing]

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        The “S.” is for “Sensitive.”

        Sorry….”S.ensitive”

      • TARDIS

        My company spent millions making the cube weasels’ work spaces more “collaborative”. I love the comfy couches no one sits on, the fussball tables no one plays with, the glass conference discussion rooms that are empty. The misery is epic.

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        yup, we were in talks about how to convert the collaborative spaces into something that was actually used. Besides the rare change of scenery, nobody used them.

      • cyto

        What do you guys do for informal brainstorming?

        I used lunches for this a lot. I’d buy lunch for the team and we’d informally talk about various projects and ideas. I usually had my team working on a couple of side projects on our own nickel – things that nobody requested but that we thought would really help the company out.

        We also used this informal time to talk about what we were learning about the business process. As an in-house development team, being plugged in to changes in the business process was critical. And the executive level is not the only place you want to be receiving this information. You need to know how it is affecting the lowest level employees, as well as the high level goals. These informal discussions often lead to non-technical solutions to business problems.

        One guy is friends with a girl from accounting who says that this new thing is a real problem, we noodle on it, informed by the objectives we’ve been told by the C-level folk and come up with a suggestion for the department that makes everyone’s life a little better.

        In my experience, the IT folk were uniquely placed and uniquely equipped to provide this type of analysis. Nobody else understands the business process at the level of detail that IT does. If it is going to be automated in any way, IT needs to know *every* tiny little detail – or it won’t work. This level of knowledge and the way we think about things also means that if we sit around informally B.S.-ing about how things are working, we’ll end up solving a ton of problems for the company. I’m quite sure my team more than paid for themselves just with this service. We often spotted duplicated efforts, unnecessary processes that consume hours of people’s time, 12 step processes that 500 employees do 50 times a day that could be automated to a 3 step process…. stuff like that.

        All of which is dependent on informal conversations between nerds who are hard-wired to do problem solving tasks wherever they are and whatever they are doing. (we’d often talk through ways that the restaurant we were at could better optimize their service…. some folks are just wired that way)

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        Mostly, those conversations happened at our desks, in the breakroom, in a conference room, or outside on the walking trail. It was easy to forget about the couches in the back corner.

        That said, I haven’t worked on a fully colocated team since college. informal discussions have been via conference call my entire working career.

      • Not Adahn

        IBM at East Fishkill had those — along with the comically oversized Connect Four games.

        I never saw a single person in them.

      • Grosspatzer

        It is a blessing. And I have time to take care of things around the house. I may never go back to the office. My commute involves crowded commuter buses and subways, I do not miss it.

      • blackjack

        I was 2-2.5 hrs both ways before the ‘vid hit. Turns out all we had to do was screw millions of people out of their jobs and the freeways opened right up. Now, I’m an hour and 15 both ways. Still working on transferring to the much closer Van Nuys airport.

    • Sean

      That’s an excessive commute. I’d get shooty.

      • TARDIS

        I believe excessive commutes are the primary cause of assholery. Even bad parenting isn’t that bad.

    • DEG

      3 hours a day.

      Yikes. That beats out when I commuted into the 128 belt around Boston.

      • R C Dean

        I’ve put a lot of effort and money into avoiding long commutes. I’ve been 30 minutes or less most of my career.

      • Don Escaped Spring Training

        I had 100 miles each way across west TX for a year once, but I commuted with a neighbor and so was working on a laptop half the time. I was home before seven and not even late for dates.

  17. Nephilium

    I can do all of my work from home; however, there are some tasks that are much easier to perform while sitting in the office on the network (working through a VPN and three different remote desktop sessions to get into a machine is not the best). I also much prefer people to be working in the office when I’m trying to support them. Regardless of what we tell people, we’ve had people try to do VOIP on shitty wireless, satellite internet, with multiple kids saturating their bandwidth, having VPN issues, and using software that’s at best effort support (sometimes all of the above at once).

    It also doesn’t help that the girlfriend still hasn’t grasped that while I’m staring intently at the work machine is not a time to start trying to ask me questions, or shove papers into my face.

    • Bobarian LMD

      This is me. I do lots of data lifting and shaping, and working over VPN makes a 15 minute process at work a multi-hour process at home; one that is a lot more likely to crash.

      I’m currently doing 50/50 home/office and try to cut the heavy lifting to the days I’m at work.

  18. Fourscore

    Working at home for the past 28 years has been great. Pay isn’t always that good though but a lot of time off.

    Seriously, I’ve never had a job that could have been done at home. My last job I spent a lot of time on the road, sometimes 5-6 weeks with out a home visit. Even when I was home I often was out of town for a few days a week.

  19. blackjack

    I used to work at home building custom motorcycles. I can do the work just fine, but managing the workflow and customers is crazy hard at home. The clients are flakier and try to scam their way out of everything, a couple weaseled out of the last few bucks. In my actual shop, I got way less of that. Now, I just relax and work like a city employee ( not very hard.)

  20. SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

    much more productive at home. My home office is set up to maximize my productivity, and the office office is not. I have a corner office, nobody bothers me except by IM (and the occasional wife or child popping in to say bye). I have access to a fully stocked kitchen with whatever the hell I want, snack and drink wise.

    If I need a change of scenery, I take the laptop on the back patio for a few minutes. If I need a break, I can take a 5 minute walk. If I want to stand, it’s a button press. Heck, I have a sleeper sofa in there, and have been known to lay down for a power nap on occasion.

    I invested a bit in my home office, knowing full well that I will be one of the last back in the office, if at all. That said, it wasnt insanely expensive. $300 desk, $150 chair, 2x $100 monitors, and a few more optional accessories.

    • Grosspatzer

      If I need a change of scenery, I take the laptop on the back patio for a few minutes
      This. I do all my meetings outdoors, weather permitting. Beats drab conference rooms.

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        I did it more in VA, where I backed up to the woods. I even caught a group of turkeys on camera during a meeting one time.

        here in TX, the heat plus the postage stamp suburban lot make for a less enjoyable outdoor experience.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        the postage stamp suburban lot

        story checks out…

        Don’t get me wrong–I don’t want a big lot, per se, as I hate yard work (allergies, Texas heat, etc). But, these lot sizes are rather zero-ish, aren’t they?

  21. gbob

    Short term, way more productive.

    Long term, I fi d that being kept out of the loop tends to diminish opportunities.

    Then again, I havent worked from home in about 6 or 7 years. I was working a couple jobs as a distiller, which, obviously, couldn’t be done at home.

    Freelance to supplement? Hell, I dont have the energy to hustle for clients like I used to. Its depressing.

  22. Crusty Juggler

    I used to work from home but I am not working from home and I want to go back to working from home.

  23. whiz

    Barf — watching the Yanks-Nats baseball game and they just showed an MLB..BLM sticker. And here I was excited about baseball’s return.

    The next shock — although at least I know it’s coming — the DH in the NL.

    • Rhywun

      I’m wondering where the inevitable BLM Stadium is going to be.

    • KSuellington

      Fuck the DH in the NL. I am not looking forward to that or any of the woke bullshit. I’ve been a fan since I’ve been a little kid, but if they turn that shit on enough I will be out for good.

      • Don Escaped Spring Training

        Fuck the DH

        full stop

      • whiz

        Yes! And nice avatar.

      • KSuellington

        Cheers whiz! I am excited to watch some baseball tonite, I’m hoping the woke is kept to a bare flipping minimum.

      • cyto

        I think they should all wear the hammer and sickle on their helmet with the BLM stickers.

        And in solidarity, they should all take the same salary. Even the stadium workers. Just add it all up in one pot and divide it out evenly.

        Oh, and they need a designated runner too. After the DH hits, he should get a DR to run for him. It is only fair.

  24. R C Dean

    I could work from home a fair amount, but I’ve been going to the office for over 30 years. I don’t have any urge to change. Old habits I guess.

  25. Don Escaped Spring Training

    Half my career I’ve had operational responsibilities that usually included design direction, prototyping, tooling and other industrialization, facilities, validation, and continuous improvement in an R&D or manufacturing setting. It would be a train-wreck to try to do much of that remotely.

    The other half has included project, product, and client management work or some sort of sales engineering such as I’m doing now. As things sit today (it’s a long story), I basically am sizing some heat exchange equipment and pumps for a living, and that is frankly as easy to do now from home as anything else I’ve done remotely. I’ve probably spent about ten years remote, either explicitly or tacitly WFH. All I ever needed (before the cloud) was a laptop, a passport, and a VPN account to take my brain on the road, and so it is today. Last year I had an office in ATL, so a six hour drive once a month; before that I had an office in DFW for several years and flew over for a week out of the month (usually to rendezvous with NewWife back when she was PreWife).

    As things sit today, I have, oddly enough, an office maybe a 30 minute commute away, but I don’t need anything there except to occasionally print off an E-sized drawing. Handling really big designs and reading into the detail means big paper or big screen; I’m no luddite, but I do mark up a drawing from time to time and store the results for the life of the projects in hard copy. I’m not set up for any of that at home, but, so far, I’ve taken off a huge casino job in OK and a mid-rise retirement home here in TN and only went into the office once since March.

    My clients are local, and others handle most of that load. My suppliers are up north; I saw the most important one three times before April and not once since. These two parts of my grind are going well enough.

    So, the goalposts have moved in that it’s not really apples to apples, but I’d still score things about the same as 2019. I’m much more worried about whether I sell anything this year than whether I can prosecute my work efficiently. I’ve talked to two firms about other opportunities this year, and, for whichever reason, nothing came of it: I don’t have anywhere to hide from this economy, so I’m not complaining at all although it’s fair to say I have very little to do. In a way, I’ve got the low-pay, low-load job I always dreamed of and have essentially retired ten years before I planned to.

    • Sean

      Mentos?

    • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

      ok, seriously, this isn’t a battle of the sexes thing. Take a used spatula and a used piping bag and stick them in the sink. which one gets nastier faster?

    • blackjack

      Why didn’t he bother mentioning the idea that piercings and tattoos do not enhance vaginas. Us men like them just fine. No need to customize yours and anyways, you’re not actually improving it, trust me. Trim the bushes all you want, landing strip, hardwood floors, whatever.

      • TARDIS

        ^^^This^^^
        I think women could treat it just like a monthly trip to their favorite hairdresser.
        Landing Strip
        Racing Stripe
        Small Triangle
        BIG Triangle
        Heart Shape
        Chevron (for military types)
        Full Bush (Not to exceed to the confines of the panties/bikini bottom of course)
        And everything else. Who cares, need some help with the trimmer/razor? *raises hand*

      • Crusty Juggler

        I need some help shaping my pube arrow properly…

      • TARDIS

        *goes to shed in search of Ryobi”

      • Bobarian LMD

        I’ve got a Milwaukee Sawzall you can borrow.

      • cyto

        Yeah, I think Ron White covered this when talking about boobies. We are rather simple creatures.

  26. KSuellington

    I work in other peoples’ homes and businesses, only thing from home is my invoicing. Since the ‘Vid started I’ve been in hundreds of homes, condos, apartment buildings, businesses and all over a hospital. Somehow I am still alive and kicking.

    • Fourscore

      Boogie man and boogie viruses lurk under the bed. Stay out of bedrooms

      • KSuellington

        Only when invited there by lonely housewives.

  27. Unreconstructed

    I did a stretch back in 2017 WFH, and have been again since mid-March. For me, it’s maybe a wash, but that’s only because the last few months at work I’d been feeling unmotivated. I’m slowly getting my give-a-damn back, and so my productivity has stepped up the last week or so, but it’s still a challenge for me because of the many distractions. Of course, since large chunks of my work aren’t *terribly* time dependent, I can shift around like SP mentioned, and sometimes work even more hours.

  28. Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

    At this point it’s probably a wash. Prior to lockdown I was in the office about 2-3 days a week, but my boss and others in my group are in the UK, so they didn’t care where I was. In previous summers we’d take month long vacations and I’d work on the road without an issue. I still liked going to the office to see other people and to prevent myself from getting distracted with stuff at home. Now I’ve kind of gotten used to being at home full time.

  29. Crusty Juggler

    Moore starts erotic podcast

    Demi Moore hopes her new erotic podcast will encourage women to become better acquainted with their bodies.

    The G.I. Jane actress is the star and producer of Dirty Diana—a new erotic podcast that follows Diana, a woman at a breaking point in a sexless marriage who secretly runs an erotic website of women’s most intimate fantasies. And via her digital offering, which released its second episode on Monday, she is keen for women to learn to think of their bodies more pleasurably.

    “If we don’t encourage getting to know your body and how it works, and equally how both sides work, then there’s automatically going to be a disconnect,” she told Variety. “There’s that whole group of people that want to encourage abstinence, as if that is the answer and as opposed to education. Education doesn’t mean you’re encouraging reckless, indiscriminate behavior.”

    I…strenuously object…to her characterization of those of us who are Libertarian and therefore choose Life!

    • hayeksplosives

      Lol @ the strenuous objection.

      • Crusty Juggler

        That you. I did all I could to force that joke in there.

      • cyto

        I like that she thinks “abstinence” education means “no having fun with your bodies” and is targeted at married women in sexless marriages.

        Oh, and if you are a woman trapped in a sexless marriage…. please, make an effort to have sex with your spouse. And if you are making the effort on a frequent basis and he’s shutting you down, send him to me. I’ll set him straight.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        If you’re requesting he be sent to you, are you really setting him….straight?

  30. Crusty Juggler

    Fauci’s fastball

    That about sums it up, folks.

    • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

      About as accurate as the models.

    • Fourscore

      That’s as accurate as his corona predictions. Every boy plays some kind of ball and throws rocks, right?

      • Crusty Juggler

        In his defense he is like 80. That being said why was he offered this, and most importantly why did he agree to it? What a strange universe these people live in.

        How many people have died? How many are unemployed? The driving force behind at least the latter is being celebrated? Strange as fudge.

      • cyto

        Yeah, I wondered what he was thinking as soon as i heard it. The chances that a guy that old is going to be able to throw an accurate pitch from 60 feet are very slim. Plus, dirt hill. Good odds of stumbling as you throw if you are moving stiffly in your twilight years.

        That being said… How often do you get to toss out the first pitch? I’d probably do it too. But I would definitely get a few reps in before heading out there.

      • Crusty Juggler

        I understand the concept of a person who was not “famous” enough to throw out the first pitch at opening day to accept the invitation for sure, but the rest of it is fucking strange.

      • Gender Traitor

        ::wild applause::

      • westernsloper

        HA!

    • Chafed

      Dylan Copeland
      @DylanCopeland7
      ·
      5h
      Replying to
      @SInow
      He socially distanced the baseball from the catcher.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        I know–fantastic. The smart ones are almost always drowned out by the rest.

  31. dbleagle

    WFO is hugely more productive for me. I deal with multiple government systems that can only be used in their workspace. Any hours from home have to be on the open side. I work a blend of time in the office dealing with one set of systems and home on the one available system Everybody else I work with is dealing with the same issues so it is like herding swarming bees to try to get everybody needed for a discussion in their office (in multiple time zones and days) at the same time.

    Like Tulip I try to keep work at work and home at home. If you didn’t at least try to do that in the military if would screw you and your family up. I try to keep it the same way now. I spent years training co-workers not to contact me at home. After the panicdemic is declared over I will have to retrain all those people.

  32. LJW

    In my analyst job I was more productive from home. I’m interviewing for a management position, I would imagine I’ll be more productive in the office in that role.

    • TARDIS

      Oh well, one more Trump voter or non-voter.

    • Sean

      And/or Clinton’d

    • Chafed

      Newsweek published something intelligent. 2020 really is a crazy year.

    • DEG

      #1 has a nice iChive gallery and is GlibFit.

      #4 – yum

      #9 is high maintenance but I could get over that.

      #18 looks a bit young to be in this gallery

      #21 looks GlibFit too.

      Good gallery.

      • Chafed

        21 takes the GlibFit award for this crew.

      • cyto

        Being a chick must be great.

        Number 13 is not all that pretty. She’s not in much better shape than I am, despite the decades difference in age. And she’s still hot.

        Yup. It is definitely good to be a chick.

  33. Don Escaped Spring Training

    Trashy makes a great point: ergonomics. Work-from-couch kilz.

    We have a formal office; she works much longer hours than I and is in there a good 50 hours. I don’t know if there are user rules here about advertising, but we bought the biggest version of the best desk chair made over the past decade, a good seven bills, but it’s the best stuff, I once worked a straight 30 hours in one; also, we’re large North Sea types, so being able to get a chair that fits is vital.

    Our other ritual is making a formal lunch together every day (based on her schedule, of course). We take it in the TV room where we’re working our way through the House series: it’s fun guessing what the patients’ maladies are, and it’s good for her to see that some men are even worse then me.

    • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

      I don’t know if there are user rules here about advertising

      don’t bogart the good stuff?

    • R C Dean

      I’ll bite.

      Which chair?

      I love me some Aeron. I’ve made 3 or 4 employers buy one for me. But they’re not nearly that much, and I thought they were top shelf.

      https://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/office-chairs/aeron-chairs/

      I could trick out a home office for the long stretches of desk time I put in (and probably will, oddly, when I retire), but I do like being around my colleagues. I think “management” requires face to face and drop in/hallway contact. It probably helps that hospitals are their own kind of community.

      • Don Escaped Spring Training

        that’s the chair

      • R C Dean

        Holy shit. I didn’t realize they cost that much. Never paid for one.

        I’ve probably spent way more than ten thousand hours parked in them.

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        aerons are great. I had one back at Cisco. price kept me away from them for home office use.

      • Don Escaped Spring Training

        The warranty is 14 years: they’re not messing around.

      • EvilSheldon

        One of my old clients was going to throw away twenty Aerons in an office move. Apparently they couldn’t be bothered to sell around $12,000 worth of office chairs on eBay.

        I now have one in my office, and one at home.

      • Don Escaped Spring Training

        Volume Volume Volume!

        I only bought one and have no relationship with the dealer. List is $1500, but these can be deeply discounted.

        Also, there are only so many dealers; if it’s convenient and you’re cruising around the country in a pickup, I’m pretty sure it’s better to get the Enid or Selma price instead of Battery Park or Stanford and drive your prize home. In our case, the local franchisee doesn’t even have saleable inventory; they have the floor demos and that’s it!

      • slumbrew

        Ergonomics are indeed important; my ass is ensconced in my dot-bomb Aeron door prize, I’ve got a Steelcase Airtouch sit/stand desk (cherry top) and my big monitor on an adjustable arm. All of those things are key if you’re going to be doing this for hours at a time.

      • Gustave Lytton

        They’re ok when I’ve visited the “nice” offices, but couldn’t figure a way to smuggle them out of the building and into my carryon. So I make do with non-aeron system furniture chairs. Cheap ass office supply store chair at home needs a new pneumatic tube, but it’s still better than any of the current ones with pleather and chrome.

      • Incentives Matter

        That’s the chair I bought for my home office around the turn of the century.

        Great chair. Other than the occasional dusting, it’s looked like new ever since, and I probably spend a minimum of 30 hours/week in it.

        Highly recommended.

    • Crusty Juggler

      “Fellas, it’s been good to know ya”

    • TARDIS

      Welcome to Bangladesh. Are we going fast enough?

    • Ozymandias

      “Not to worry – this ship is unsinkable!”

      Alternate: “How do you like this deck chair right… here?”

    • Fourscore

      “I think I’ll have fish, Is the fish fresh?”

    • Tulip

      Nah, you’ve got plenty of room!

    • blackjack

      Man, I hope that fucking fucking band we hired doesn’t stop playing again!

    • cyto

      “Hey, guys! Watch this!”

    • westernsloper

      USS GOP Stimulus Plan

      #FUCUTSPENDING

    • Digby and the Wonder Llama

      “Ape Island, or, Candy Apple Island?”

      • l0b0t

        Q – “What do they have on Candy Apple Island?”

        A – “Apes… but they’re not so giant. “

      • l0b0t

        “I think women and Seamen don’t mix, sir.”

        “We KNOW what you think, Smithers!”

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        I love Homer’s…what, 10, 15-foot climb, before exhausting himself.

      • l0b0t

        To be fair, that was before he discovered the wondrous supply of energy gained by eating Powersauce bars. They contain up to six kinds of apples; a whole bushel packed into each bar, plus a secret ingredient that unleashes the awesome power of apples.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        I know I only eat food in bar form…

        /”Gym? What’s a ‘gym’?

  34. AlexinCT

    Way more.

    I am now freaking working 10 hr days, missing out on going to the gym, and hitting on the young women at work…

    Working from home sucks.

  35. Ozymandias

    I’m in about the same place as you, SP.
    I’m about to spool up my practice in one particular area of law (bankruptcy) and was preparing myself for travel to the jurisdictions where I’m licensed, but Corona has revealed the courts for the cowards they are, so now almost everything is digital and can be done online or over the phone. Boo-YA!

    I can do either office or home – both have benefits that enhance productivity, but both also have distractions and time sucks, as most have note already.
    I’ve gotten really used to working in my shorts and tee shirt, though, and playing dress up every day would really cramp my lack of style.
    Super Bonus: Occasionally when I WFH I can tempt the wife into a little foolin’ around when the kids are elsewhere; sometimes she tempts me, too. Hard to beat that aspect of WFH.

    • peachy rex

      [Waggles eyebrows suggestively.]

  36. Agent Cooper

    More. I don’t really get a lunch break and I’ve been working 10-11 hours a day.

  37. LemonGrenade

    I’ve been working from home since my first child was born fourteen years ago. I like the flexibility of staying in my pajamas all day (company rarely demands video calls), turning my garage into an office for both the clearly delineated ‘grownups space’ and because I can smoke while I work. But I’m not just an introvert, I vastly prefer communicating via the written word, so WFH is heaven for me. Plus, as long as I have an internet connection, I can do it wherever. I’ve been on the road fleeing face-diapers for over a month, but still getting paid.

    Since the commie cough hit, all of my coworkers are suddenly in the same boat with me, when they used to congregate in an office. For most, it’s been an adjustment period, learning they need to actually pay attention to slack since that’s the primary form of communication, but after a few hiccups, things are chugging along as they used to. I’ve seen a slight increase in productivity, simply because the rest of the team isn’t pulling shit like taking 3 hour ‘team lunches’.

    And I finally had to give into the face diapers. CO of all states, did me in. I was even able to shop in MI and WY without a mask, but by the time I arrived here, the gov had issued his stupid mandate and it appears the majority of the citizenry has been sufficiently beaten down to go along with it, if only he’ll let them keep operating. I don’t want to make trouble, so since the store had a clearly marked sign, I sighed, thought to myself “I feel like an asshole” and put it on.

    • LemonGrenade

      I really really want the ‘all this mask prevents is getting a fine’ one.

      • peachy rex

        How about “This mask placates morons”?

      • LemonGrenade

        My sister suggested, “I don’t give a shit about the ‘rona; I’m getting ready to rob a bitch.”

  38. Chafed

    I had to work from home when California shutdown. It did not go well. My days felt like walking through maple syrup. Everything took longer than working in my office.

  39. Don Escaped Spring Training

    congregate in an office

    When I have a regular office presence type of job, I do minimal frivolous stuff at work: no football pool, no Christmas party, the least hallway and water-cooler banter than is socially acceptable. I’m in at seven, am working while I lunch, and, if you’re parked in the doorway at 5, I will run you smooth over.

    So, since I lose almost no time to that sort of time normally, I don’t feel much difference WFH.

    • LemonGrenade

      My engineering team used to do weekly team lunches that would last for three hours, and they always seemed to hit when we had production outages, so I got to be the asshole texting people on their phones to call them back from lunch (because I was online).

      Now that everyone has to be antisocial we get a lot more done.

  40. kinnath

    I’ve spent the last decade avoiding WFH because I assumed it would turn into a 24/7 on call situation.

    We’ve been working from home since March. I found it totally natural to stay completely away from my fucking work computer outside normal office hours.

    Now, I have no interest in ever going back to the office.

  41. Scruffy Nerfherder

    I can only do it for a little while because I own a brick and mortar business.

    Besides, with three kids and a wife, the interruptions are endless. Maybe I should work from a cave.

  42. slumbrew

    Been working from home 4-days-a-week for about a decade, so this is business as usual. I now have a noisy office mate (my wife), but I splurged on some good headphones when this started.

    I’d like some alone time, though.

    Semi-anecdotally, our CIO recently said that they estimate productivity has gone up by about 5% with everyone home, though a big chunk of that is people working too much because they don’t have enough other stuff to do. The company has been good about pushing work/life balance – 3 extra “wellness” days off for the whole company in the last couple 6 weeks or so.

    • straffinrun

      You’re one healthy dude. I usually splurge on my keyboard.

      • slumbrew

        I didn’t specify where the headphones were at the time.

      • slumbrew

        Incidentally, I am no longer welcome at the local Best Buy.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Not if you’re gonna splurge on it.

    • Gustave Lytton

      I now have a noisy office mate (my wife)

      Price of the cam girl money.

      • slumbrew

        $20 is $20, same as downtown.

  43. Crusty Juggler

    Gasoline Maxwell?

    You would, right? I mean knowing what you know, you still would, right?

    • TARDIS

      No, I prefer to like the woman I’m with. There is no way that I would.

    • blackjack

      If i had a chick like that, I’d make her find me some younger chicks.

      • slumbrew

        Bravo.

  44. EvilSheldon

    I’ve never tried working from home. I think that I would like it, as I’m not particularly productive in the office, getting interrupted by the phone every fifteen minutes. Unfortunately my shop has some people that can’t get anything done without constant direct supervision, which pretty much kills the the option of WFH for the rest of us.

    • R C Dean

      Getting interrupted on the phone wouldn’t change, would it?

      • EvilSheldon

        It would. I guard my mobile number like a dragon guards its hoard. Only a handful of my longest-standing clients have my mobile number, they’re the ones who understand that the phone is for mission-critical emergencies only. Everyone else can email me.

  45. robc

    More until mid-June, less since. Another job I interviewed for was going to be WFH, and I would gave had a different house with a better home office setup.

  46. kinnath

    So cousin is on V60 BiPAP and her husband has been intubated. Not going well for them.

    • DEG

      Sorry. Best wishes.

  47. The Late P Brooks

    I usually splurge on my keyboard.

    Ewwww.

  48. Crusty Juggler

    Would you sex your clone? If not, what would you be willing to do to your clone?

    The most engaging answer will receive a piece of Glibertarians merchandise paid for by OMWC. Unlike the stereotype he is a generous soul who has no problem giving something away.

    • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

      I’d skinsuit my clone so that I had an extra set of skin to use when the need arose.

    • cyto

      Well, in my case my clone would be 5 decades younger than me…. so we’d have more of a grandfather/grandson relationship I suppose. I’d probably give the guy a kidney if he needed it.

      Now, If I happened to be Kathy Ireland instead of myself…. well, I might have a different answer for that first question.

      • TARDIS

        +1 Kathy

    • Bobarian LMD

      That is just masturbating.

      • cyto

        No, banging your twin is not masturbating. It is gay incest and really, really gross. Unless you happen to be Kathy Ireland or a reasonable semblance of Kathy Ireland. Then it is totally different.

      • TARDIS

        +2

    • EvilSheldon

      The nice thing about fucking your clone, is they’re gonna be into all the same weird shit that you’re into.

      • EvilSheldon

        Wasn’t there some sci-fi short story from years ago, where some moral majority freak geneticist engineered a virus that would chemically link you to the first person you had sex with, and having sex with someone else afterwards would kill both of you? Might have been a Rudi Rucker story?

        I remember that there was something in that story about how homosexual incest between identical twins was a loophole that wouldn’t trigger the virus. Why that particular thing stuck in my head until now, I have no idea…

      • Chafed

        I think we know why.

      • grrizzly

        I have nothing to worry about: no siblings and no cousins.

      • Not Adahn

        Not the story that you’re thinking of, but “–All You Zombies–” is a pretty freaky take on fucking yourself.

  49. Ed Wuncler

    I hate working from home with a passion. I also get easily distracted whenever I’m at home.

    • R C Dean

      I like the separation between workworld and homeworld.

      • Ed Wuncler

        It was cool the first week or two but then my boss would call me even I was done for the day. Like 8 PM calls.

      • cyto

        I put everyone on IP phones. So I put them on the VPN and they have work network and their actual desk phone at home. That way they can put their DND message on just like in the office.

      • Gustave Lytton

        I hate Teams and it’s encouragement of messaging when away or offline. Great, send it to me in an email that I can’t reply back to.

      • IntraveneousWoodChipper

        “like 8 pm calls”

        Fuck that noise. I would be furious.

  50. Threedoor

    My actual work is mobile. The part that is at home, compliance paperwork, billing, maintenance and equipment improvement suffers because I’m in a comfortable environment with distractions. I haven’t even worked on my hobbies for nearly three years and they are HERE.

  51. Lachowsky

    I have not missed a day of in person work since the Corona virus nonsense started.

    What has happened is that one of of our sister plants in Michigan has been shut down. We have taken on their order book.

    My plant wasn’t designed to make the same steel as our Michigan sister.

    I have spent the last 3 months buried to death in work. I have been working on improvement projects to up productivity of a product that we make now that we were not designed to make.

    So far, the project I have been heading since April has improved our productivity from a baseline of 39 tons per hour up to 52 tons per hour. (Steel) i have a final target goal of 75 tons per hour.

    The fuxking Corona has handcuffed me though, I’m having to make major changes in plant operations without getting a dime from Capex. Im sourcing all this shit out of my own budget.l, which is killing me ability to replenish spare parts… blah blah blah. Whoa is me, personal problems, life is tough, love you guys, and gals.

    • Threedoor

      I’m suprised they shit one down. What’s the restart cost going to be?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Good on you man.

      We need people like you to keep this country running while the useless idiots try to burn it down.

  52. Mojeaux

    I haven’t worked out of doors for 17 years. I don’t think I’d do well going into an office unless it’s something mindless like data entry. Go in, punch in numbers, go home.

    • TARDIS

      You’re a creative person. That would steal your soul.

      • Mojeaux

        As long as nobody talks to me I can do that and live in my head too.

        I had a job like that in the lowest point in my life and I needed it, so I remember it fondly. Just music in my ears and a computer.

      • Mojeaux

        *needed it emotionally

      • TARDIS

        I’ve typed 3 responses to this and none of them convey what I really what to say.

  53. Gustave Lytton

    Haven’t been in my office much, but otherwise not too different than before. I’ve gone months without seeing my boss face to face and his desk was one wall behind me. He didn’t come see me either and preferred phone/email/im to communicate. Fine by me.

    Only thing I miss is the two external monitors to supplement my laptop screen. One tiny screen is not enough, especially with W10 crappy UI.

    • kinnath

      One thing my company did right was left everyone take their complete computer set up home. So I have laptop, docking station, and dual 24-inch monitors.

  54. straffinrun

    Don’t care if it were the Stasi or Gestapo, I have no problem with snatching arsonist off the streets. There aren’t many violations of the NAP worse than arson.

  55. KSuellington

    Just saw the Joe Biden mask ad during the Giants/Dodgers game. Really? I can’t believe that is a winning look for Americans.

    • IntraveneousWoodChipper

      No kidding. Plus, people want to watch so they don’t have to think about Covid for a couple of hours. By all means, Joe, feel free to make a nuisance of yourself at the most inopportune time.

  56. IntraveneousWoodChipper

    I hate WFH. I’m a teacher and this online stuff is utter bull. All of the work without any of fun parts of the job (ie coaching, roasting the kids who try to test me, etc).

    • cyto

      Down here in Sunny south Florida where the politicians are left, lefter and leftist, the public schools all changed their minds and went full virtual. A major reason for it was the teacher’s union. The teachers are 100% against going back to school. Not just the kids… the parents have been pushing for the teachers to work from their classroom where all of the expensive technology we bought for them is. Plus, it helps the administration with accountability.

      Meanwhile, every private school is fully open, with parents having the option to have their kids work from home if they choose. The notices from the charter schools have started rolling in. They are going to open fully as well.

      So if you have a small, accountable group making decisions, the school is open. If you have a large, diffuse group that is accountable to an even larger and more diffuse group? The schools are closed.

      I’m really surprised at how many of the teachers are adamant that they will not return to school – even to an empty school. A couple I know well regularly post on facebook from gatherings at someone’s home or from a girl’s night out. But they are too worried about the covid to go to work. They are actually the best of the best, too.

      Which makes me wonder what the role of politics is in those opinions. They are all hard left – Bernie types. So the need to do the opposite of what the governor and Trump say is pretty high.

      • Hyperion

        “Meanwhile, every private school is fully open, with parents having the option to have their kids work from home if they choose. The notices from the charter schools have started rolling in. They are going to open fully as well.”

        So, what you are saying is, the left, who are mostest concerned about our kids’s getting an education, are helping widen that education gap inequality they can’t shut up about, by their very own actions? I don’t believe it!

      • cyto

        Governor DeSantis made a great speech today detailing exactly that result. He went through the evidence about how little threat this is to children, about how little transmission seems to be happening from children and about the greatest harm being done to poor and minority children.

        Local TV played the news conference. But local news poo-pooed his Trump-brown-nosing as partisanship and didn’t play the tape of him. Instead, they went to the local school boards and gave the counter-argument about saving the children.

        If you had listened to DeSantis speak, hearing your county school superintendent saying that he is keeping the schools closed because it is just too dangerous to open right now and we must protect the children first sounded really, really stupid.

      • EvilSheldon

        I’m increasingly coming to believe that the political left is very attractive to the personality-disordered and the outright mentally ill. This kind of neurotic hysteria is a case in point.

      • Hyperion

        “They are all hard left – Bernie types. So the need to do the opposite of what the governor and Trump say is pretty high.”

        Best plot ever for a SF article. Right after the election, old Joe finally goes completely brain dead and is being kept on life support. At the same time, Bernie croaks, and they devise an ingenious plan. They take out Joe’s brain and replace it with Bernie’s. After the 6 hour surgery, Biden awakens and says ‘what, were am I… what happened? in a thick Brooklyn accent.

  57. Yusef drives a Kia

    On a sunnier note, I was out doing field exercises,when up comes a group that had never played the course, and Californians as well, I did the Ambassador thing, handed out stickers and and gave some tips, they dug it! then I Karma kicked in and I shot -2 25, my best yet,
    I love Arizona!

    • cyto

      And your name is Earl!

      (yes… following the discussion the other week I binged half of the first season of My Name is Earl. That was a really good show. And it was all about karma giving you good stuff if you did good things)

  58. Hyperion

    “I’ve worked from home for the last 12 years. I like the flexibility”

    That’s impressive, I’m pretty sure I’ve become less flexible from sitting at my desk at home all day. Back to my Glibfit program tomorrow!

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      I sit at my desk all day, but first walk the dog.75 miles, then golf 18 holes, 2 miles, then back to the desk by 9 AM, drink, nap, then back at the desk, of more golf, depending on the heat,
      all the while hanging out here,

      • Hyperion

        I was walking and running 5-10 miles every day. But after the lock downs started, I just sat at my computer and worked and then drank beer all day. Starting back to my exercise tomorrow. Fuck it, might as well be fit while the barbarians enter the city and Rome burns.

  59. slumbrew

    I just (finally) read Heinlein’s “Year Of The Jackpot” and now I’m depressed.

    • Hyperion

      Sure, we’re coming out to protect you rioters and looters who are about to burn our homes down. Makes sense they would think like that.

    • cyto

      Outstanding rant.

      • slumbrew

        Larry brings the rants.

    • Hyperion

      That was really good, glad I read it, made me smile.

  60. Tres Cool

    In the words of the rapper Tyga…. “my nigga I’m faded”

    Tomorrow gonna be like this.

  61. PieInTheSky

    Late as usual but I think for me productivity is about the same. Maybe slightly better. I lost some by not meeting live with my team, I gained some by occasionally being on the computer later the usual. In the past, I left something running, left the office, checked results the next day. At home I can look at a later hour to see if things are progressing ok.

    • Hyperion

      Definitely better for me. It’s quiet here all day. The office is pure fucking chaos and I’m already in a bad mood because of a shitty and totally unnecessary commute. I NEVER want to go back to an office, there’s not reason for it anyway.

      • PieInTheSky

        I think I would like to work 3-4 days a week from home and 1-2 days from the office, mostly to meet colleagues, socialize a bit, have some live meeting discussions etc.

      • Hyperion

        I had been working form home about 50% of the time, so 2 to 3 times a week to the office, for the past 12 years. I’ll never miss going to the office again, I love not going there. And seriously, I do get a lot more done in a day at home. I mean I get up, throw on the bath robe, get coffee, go to my desk and I’m working. No one ever bothers me here, it’s just my wife and I and it’s so quiet and peaceful. Most of the time, she brings me food to my desk for lunch, it’s great. I actually find the Zoom and Teams meeting just as productive and you don’t even have to leave your desk. There’s also screen sharing, which we do a lot. No scheduling rooms for meetings, none of that. I plan on not ever going back to an office, it also frees me up to live anywhere I want, which is going to be another great perk along with not commuting in traffic.

      • PieInTheSky

        I don’t find webex as productive. We like drawing on the board stuff and I don’t like it as much online.

        Also I am not going to eat lunch at my desk, home or away.

        The living in different places is off course a perk 100% FWH allows, but that needs 100%…

  62. straffinrun

    Cream of consciousness
    Cysts in the cerebellum

    Super ego
    My Iago
    Syntax cracks
    Golden flax
    Pull my finger
    Debra Winger
    Outdoor pool
    Filled with drool
    Bottom feeder
    Team Blue leader
    Flex like Arnie
    Perv like Barney
    Woke AF
    Where’s my truck?
    Lost my mind
    In 99
    Vote for Joe
    Get Hunter’s blow.

    /Biden 2020

    • Tres Cool

      From Johnny Dangerously:

      Priest: Me gas da bus. You gas da bus. We missed the bus. They missed the bus.
      Priest: When’s the next bus?

      Priest: Summa cum laude. Magna cum laude. The radio’s too loudy. Adeste fidelis.
      Priest: Semper fidelis. Hi fidelis.

      Priest: Post meridian. Ante-meridian. Uncle Meridian. All the little meridians.

      Priest: The Magna Carta. Master charga.
      .
      Priest: Dum procellas. Lotsa Vitalis.

  63. Hyperion

    “Where’s my truck?”

    Just be glad this guy wasn’t asking you that question.

    Where’s my truck, dude?

    • straffinrun

      Even with 3 felonies a day, 230 is quite the achievement.

      • Hyperion

        Like one commenter on that article wrote though, I think it came out to 15 convictions, with all the multiple charges police pile on for one crime today. All of them felonies though and all either violent or burglaries. I have to agree with the law enforcement agent there, the guy is pure fucking evil. I’ve been around people like that when I was younger, you just try to steer clear of thugs like that. Apparently one of the guys killed had some type of dealings with him at some point in the past and it came back to get him and 2 other innocent guys killed.

    • hayeksplosives

      Great to have Rhywun back!

      Now we hAve to make sure foldable doesn’t get swept away by hurricane Douglas! It just became cat 4.

      • hayeksplosives

        How the heck foldable became “foldable” is beyond me.

      • hayeksplosives

        Double eagle !! I have to teach a new device how to read my typing.

      • Hyperion

        “It just became cat 4”

        It’s probably bringing the Ebola.

      • hayeksplosives

        2020 is starting to look like later Marvel ensemble movies. Too many characters, too many superlatives, and too many explosions.

        After a while, I just stop processing the input on screen.

      • Hyperion

        It’s why I’ve started getting all of my news here and hardly ever post news links from other sites now. I had to stop looking at it, it was leading to depression.

      • Gustave Lytton

        I mostly watch older movies now. Adults acting like adults and often just silence instead of constant background music and noise.

        The Falcon series is far far better than the comic book movies being made now.

      • Chafed

        Are you filling in for Ted’S tonight?

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        Heh…

  64. Playa Manhattan

    Productivity is down by 70%. I’m the one taking the hit, but I’m still responsible for the bills.

    • KSuellington

      Now we are paying property taxes for not sending kids to school as well.

      • Hyperion

        Don’t worry, our esteemed government looks ready to give them a trillion or so for not having school, so all is well.

      • Playa Manhattan

        We’re looking at the end of the public school system as we know it.

        Maybe I’m being overly optimistic, but even the most leftist people I know are fucking furious. And I know a few parents in LAUSD…. They’re done. That district as we know it is done.

      • Chafed

        I’ll believe it when I see it. UTLA owns Garcetti. The whole county has moved left for over 20 years. It will take a herculean effort to kill public education as it is now.

      • Playa Manhattan

        Have you seen UTLA’s demands? And keep in mind that the district was already 18 months away from receivership before any of this happened…

        LAUSD was running a structural deficit of about $300mil/year, projected to increase significantly YOY. They had about $800mil in strategic reserves.

        UTLA: “They have $800 million! We can all get 10% raises!!!”

      • KSuellington

        There has to be some positive thing to come out of this shitshow. If public schools can’t even do daycare for any significant time then there are going to be some huge shifts. Hope some will go the right way.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        Amazing what modern society can do without, when forced to.

      • Playa Manhattan

        The longer our government fucks things up, the bigger the wildcard…. I’m finally seeing people get it.

      • hayeksplosives

        Oh, and nobody likes being called a racist just for being white.

      • Playa Manhattan

        I know a few people who tolerate it. But it can’t go on indefinitely.

      • hayeksplosives

        I think a lot of people are sick of the victim/perpetrator lens were now supposed to see everything through.

        People, particularly those who’ve experienced actual adversity, have a built-in sense that actually being shot, losing a loved one, fighting tough medical bills, etc is objectively worse than being called by the wrong gender pronoun, not being hired to a 6 figure income right out of college and so forth.

        Similarly, real heros who don’t wear it on their sleeves give a massive internal eye roll when a teacher or nurse or cop gets branded “hero” for doing a job nobody forced them to do.

        We all had some teachers who sucked. We know they aren’t superior.

        The last straw is going to be laid on the camel’s back any day now.

        ? ?

    • Gustave Lytton

      Think of all the time you’ll recover in the fall not trying to troubleshoot your tv and internet problems during and after Cal games.

      • Playa Manhattan

        I have 2 internet connections, so it was going to be a tough sell anyway.

    • Chafed

      Is your wife a government attorney?

      • Playa Manhattan

        She was a partner in a defense firm, up until January. There were some shenanigans, so she started her own firm. There was a disruption in the income stream, but it’ll be recovered later.

        The (remaining) partners are going to end up in jail. It’s exactly what I’d expect from somebody who went to USC.

      • Chafed

        Sorry PM. That blows.

        My practice was effectively shuttered for 3 months thanks to Newsom. I know what’s it’s like to watch revenue plunge.

      • Playa Manhattan

        I feel like a jerk for complaining now. Income is fine, but I also have 3 kids on my hands for 10 hours a day.

        Basically, when I get the occasional request to wire a 5 figure sum into her S-corp so she can pay the paralegals, I don’t want to hear about how the kids have had too much iPad time.

    • Chafed

      97. That’s a hell of a good run.

    • Hyperion

      Aren’t you still allowed to shoot em if they escape the plantation?

    • Hyperion

      “When I get frustrated, I go AHHHH!”

      That’s a pretty big improvement over rioting and looting and crapping in public.

      Maybe the secret police bad orange man sent in, gave them lobotomies during their secret van rides.

      • Chafed

        Speaking of rioting, see below.

    • Gustave Lytton

      It will, regardless.

      From my mixed feelings file

      https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/07/judge-inclined-to-restrain-federal-law-enforcement-from-using-force-threats-dispersal-orders-against-journalists-legal-observers.html

      On July 2, Simon exempted journalists with professional or authorized press passes and observers from the ACLU, National Lawyers Guild and other legal groups from having to follow Portland police orders requiring protesters to disperse during declared unlawful assemblies or riots.

      NLG is a longtime commie front group that has been bailing out these criminals so they can go right back to the party. In no way are they either legal observers, or neutral parties. They are participants and coconspirators of the criminal rioters.

      The judge asked the lawyer for the federal government: “Why would it be workable for the city and the Police Bureau and not workable for the federal agents who have been deployed here?”

      It’s workable if you flat out don’t do anything to quell the rioters, you disingenuous sack of shit in robes.

      “The plaintiffs were identifiable as press, not engaging in unlawful activity or protesting, were not standing near protesters, and yet were subject to violence by federal agents,” Simon wrote.

      Bull. Shit. Identifiable would be wearing yellow reflective safety vests with professionally screened “media” or “press” on it, like the Hong Kongers are doing. Instead they dress in street clothes or more often like other rioters with hand scraped “press” on it calculated to blend in. Or wave a 3×5 badge piece of paper like they’re showing up at the office. The fact that these supposed press needed to constantly identify themselves shows how utter horseshit this Punch and Judy spectacle is.

      Simon further goes on to weigh in on unrelated incidents that do nothing but show his biases and utter unprofessionalism and lack of proper judicial temperament for the the office he holds. He’s a grandstander playing to the mob, instead of applying the law.

      • Chafed

        Perhaps the feds will use bodycams to give their OOV during a melee. I’ll bet you are right that is difficult or impossible to determine who is a NLG or press member. If so, then contempt goes right out the window.

    • Hyperion

      Reading through that thread, the most interesting thing was about how one of the Nazi’s first priorities was to defund police departments so they could not interfere with the brownshirts. Why does that sound so relevant at the moment?

      • Chafed

        I doubt most of those people have thought much of this through. I’d say they are useful idiots.

      • Plinker762

        Nazis in power was the end of the SA.

  65. Digby and the Wonder Llama

    Can’t do this work from home, and we aren’t defunded (yet). Not having students around has been glorious. Not sure about the Fall just yet, but will probably open. Will then have to deal with dorms….on a community college campus. ? ?

    Spousal unit does WFH. in a job she hates, and that she was struggling to keep a 1-day-a-week WFH scheme just prior to ‘Rona. Of course, she’s as likely to be playing vidya games as her job when I see her, but, I sleep during the day, so, whatevs.

    • Chafed

      Your wife is at home playing video games. Hmmm. I think I saw that movie on Pornhub.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        Oh, for your sake, hope that you didn’t.

      • Chafed

        Not your wife specifically. More like a “wife.”

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        Oh….then, I would imagine it was much more enjoyable.

      • salted earth

        🙁

    • KSuellington

      Andy has more balls than an umpire on opening day.

      Fuck MLB, by the way.

  66. Shpip

    I had been mostly WFH for a couple of years prior to the Coronapanic. Mrs. Shpip was forced home from her job in graduate medical education around St. Patrick’s Day, going back to the office June 1.

    Her productivity probably increased during that time, since she had no coworkers dropping by to chit-chat, no dumbass medical residents coming in to complain, and no fighting for a parking spot on a major university campus. Just roll out of bed, fire up the laptop, and start working. If an important zoom meeting was starting up, take a quick shower and put on a presentable blouse. Easy peasy.

    Me, OTOH… I typically play classical music on a bluetooth player whilst working. The missus has to have the TV on, and she’s addicted to trash TV. Tiger King, Gypsy Sisters, true crime docu-dramas, and my local affiliate plays two hours of Jerry Springer reruns daily. Ever try to peruse a bunch of spreadsheets while hearing “DINGDINGDING! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!”? Lather, rinse, repeat — for two and a half months. I started spending more and more time outside, just so I could get away, if only for a little while. So the garden looks great, and the cars were very clean during the springtime.

    So our local college’s med school got more out of her, and she was paid the same. And I was driven to distraction and worked a lot less, which probably caused me to miss out on $50-100k. Oh, well.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Ugh, my condolences. Wireless headphones: the marriage-saver.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        PS. recommend Sennheiser.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        Wired Headphones: The Silence Killer!

  67. Digby and the Wonder Llama

    Toxteth–are you around this evening? Needed to talk about that Blade Runner set.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Yeah, sorry I fell asleep on you last night (and was busy today).

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        Did you happen to see my post from last night, and, if so, are you OK with all that, or, want to change anything?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Oh, sorry; not caught up yet. Hope a reply tomorrow is OK with you, esp. as you seem to have gone night-night.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        That’s fine. I tend to saty up 24+ hours when starting my weekend, so I may not be on beyond, say 8 pm Central.

        TPTB have my permission to give you my email, if that works.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        stay*

        Or, maybe satay…..No, not my style. It was definitely “stay”

    • Chafed

      Whatever you came up with, KSuell and I said it first.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Punchable? I wouldn’t waste a callus on that moron.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        You look at that face and….well, I’m not going to go any farther out on that particular branch. And, I’m not even in Cali.

      • Gustave Lytton

        It’s like every smug POS who wants to rule your life for his sadistic jollies.

    • hayeksplosives

      How can he be so smug? It’s not a very Christianly sentiment, but I’d like to see him get his comeuppance.

    • Hyperion

      What the hell is the point of that?

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        A. Power
        B. Control
        C. Both A and B

  68. Tres Cool

    /falls into new TV

    Night, kids

    • Chafed

      You’re doing it rightn

    • hayeksplosives

      Is the TV ok? We know you’re bulletproof but…

      • Hyperion

        I’d be worried about if I were going to be OK after I broke the new TV, you know, that the wife wouldn’t kill me in my sleep.

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        As Tres has stated in the past, it’s not (usually) quite that big of a deal in their situation.

        Pour one out for the ex-modern miracle machine. Also, watch for glass in da ass.

  69. hayeksplosives

    I have a meeting that starts at 8AM and lasts through to 3pm tomorrow. I shit you not.

    No prearranged agenda, so you can’t plan breaks or to just drop in for your part of the meeting/presentation.

    I gotta get some sleep now or I’ll get it in the meeting.

    • hayeksplosives

      Maybe if I’m in full niqab for the Telecon (did I mention it’s a Cisco WebEx with video?) they can’t tell if I’m sleeping…

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        Heh…then again, you may be onto something.

      • hayeksplosives

        They can’t discriminate on religious grounds, but could they for security reasons?

        Companies with a uniform have generally accepted the hijab because the full face shows. But how does one drive on base or board a plane in a niqab?

      • Digby and the Wonder Llama

        Good questions…and, ones for which I don’t have an answer.

    • Digby and the Wonder Llama

      Dang! Godspeed to slumber, and give ’em hell…or, whatever they deserve for a 7 hour meeting.

    • Plinker762

      Just get some of those glasses with open eyes painted on them

  70. DenverJ

    Excelsior! Also, first!, you know who else, and and FYTW. Should cover my bases. I’m out.

    • Digby and the Wonder Llama

      10-4 over & out!

  71. Chipwooder

    I hate working from home. I am very easily distracted, can’t focus for shit.

    • Digby and the Wonder Llama

      Glibs are here to help.

    • Festus' Mustache

      He should bring about fifty Feds with baseball experience and fan them out on the base lines, each with one hardball so they can ding the kneelers. That would be Troll Supreme.

      • Festus' Mustache

        They should all be dressed like Agent Smith.

    • Festus' Mustache

      The belly and neck tats are les pieces des resistance.

  72. UnCivilServant

    Mornin’ Glibs.

    My WFH commute is grueling, it uses all but two rooms of the house, and I have to walk the whole way.

    • UnCivilServant

      I love password change day so much I put it off until Friday.

      • Gender Traitor

        What’s with Windows starting to pester me about changing passwords more than a week before the current one expires?? I have a system, dag nab it! I’ll change the password when I’m jolly well good and ready!

        ::grumbles:: Nobody likes a computer that nags.

      • UnCivilServant

        I have to change four passwords on password change day. It’s scheduled to keep the one with the shortest expiry time from going bad. While this means I lose more than a month off of some of them, I found that if I changed the passwords piecemeal, I’d lose track more often. A hard cut off with the whole set getting changed makes it easier for me to remember them.

    • Gender Traitor

      Poor baby! Get some comfy-er slippers and write ’em off as a business expense. ; )

      I’ve been in-office for all but a few days – just can’t do my gotta-do’s from home – but at least when so many places were shut down and/or more folks were WFH, the traffic from home-north-of-town to office-south-of-town was a lot less congested.

      Also, mornin’.

      • UnCivilServant

        Strangely, I have more meetings working from home than I did at the office. Mostly because there’s no talking over the cube wall for the little things. But now I have workdays where fully half my time is recorded as “management and administration activities” on my timesheet. Upper management dislikes that time code, but there’s nothing else for “Stuck in a meeting with management.”

      • Gender Traitor

        If they don’t want that code on the timesheet, they shouldn’t call the meetings.

        We’ve just been ramping up MS Teams over the last few weeks. Now, instead of calling me on the phone, some of my WFH co-workers call me through Teams, which means I have to scramble to unfold the headset, turn it on, and pull down the mic. The audio quality IS distinctly better than the phone, but it’s a bit cumbersome when it’s not worth it to me to keep the headset turned on all the time. At least I don’t have a webcam to fuss with.

      • UnCivilServant

        This is management we’re talking about, they want it both ways. They went quiet after we pointed out why that code was all over our timesheets.

        Speaking of, I just got mine in and I’ve got over five weeks of leave just lying around. Funny, something must have disrupted my vacation plans.

      • Grosspatzer

        That brings back memories. Circa 1993, employer rolls out the new PC workstations for us code monkeys, replacing 3270 terminals. New platform is a bit unstable, by which I mean down for at least 2 hours per day. Running Windows 3.1 on top of OS2 to run TSO sessions does have its challenges. Anyhow, mgmt needs to measure the increase in productivity so concurrently rolls out timesheets with detailed tasks to be recorded. After a few weeks, we get a stern memo instructing us to cut down on the reporting of “system down time”. Someone’s bonus must have been in jeopardy.

      • CPRM

        A dual boot system in 1993? I did not know that was possible then.

      • UnCivilServant

        Sure it was, just swap out the floppies for the other OS.

  73. Festus' Mustache

    Mornin’ Glibs! Funny anecdote from one of my sites. Corona panic forced them to move some stations so the supervisors weren’t able to watch the production line from their offices. Bright eyed and bushy tailed new Area Manager gets the idea into his head to move a desk right out onto the floor. I’m friendly with one of the more senior guys there that I call “Hippy Rick”. He’s a total Lefty but is a total cut-up and a really nice guy. The day after the desk was in place he printed out a Presidential Seal and taped it to the front. Everyone laughed and then it was quietly removed after a week or so. He waited a couple of days and then did up a Space Force one. That one was ripped down by the little wannabe tyrant with such force that he left the tape and corners. On Wednesday, Hippy Rick taped a new one up – The Paw Patrol logo. I hope he continues but I did see his file on the desk of that cunte when I cleaned his office yesterday.

    • Gender Traitor

      Mornin’, Fes. That story’s wonderful, especially the last logo. Maybe next some sort of superhero seal? Does the Justice League have such a thing? (Don’t know my comic book conventions.)

      • UnCivilServant

        Naw, go with Wonder Woman’s emblem.

      • Festus' Mustache

        The funniest bit is that all the regular supervisors are in on the joke. The one that can’t take it is a “company man” with motivational posters on his office walls and a is a true believer.

      • Festus' Mustache

        I’m going to be ruminating over this and offering my not inconsiderable powers to his quest. I’ll be like Tom Bombadil, immune from earthly powers but able to steer events as I choose. I have to be careful though, as I said, total Lefty and I’ve been butting heads with the Mini Karen for four years. Might be fun!

      • Festus' Mustache

        I’m thinking “PowerPuff Girls” or Pinky and The Brain”. I’ll run it past corporate.

  74. Gender Traitor

    Wow! It’s only 66 degrees F outside right now – but with a dense fog advisory and that good ol’ 100% humidity. Good thing I’m a passable swimmer.

    • UnCivilServant

      The weather here is… 66 degrees 100% humidity.

      *squints suspiciously*

      Did you move to Albany?

      • Gender Traitor

        Nooooo….. Maybe Albany moved to Dayton. Maybe we’ve discovered a wormhole or a rift in the time/space continuum.

      • Sean

        rift in the time/space continuum

        Anything is possible in 2020.

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s like the clock really did break back in 2000 and the system has been unravelling ever since.

      • Gender Traitor

        It might be right in our living room. We’re having some damaged plaster above and around our fireplace repaired, and when we took down the picture hanging over the mantle, we found a crack.

      • Festus' Mustache

        High temp tomorrow forecast as 56 degrees American. We have not had a summer. End of July is always in the 70s-80s. Rain, rain, rain. Our baby oaks are loving it. They are waist high!

      • CPRM

        Our baby oaks are loving it. They are waist high!

        Just the right height for a dendropheliac.

      • Festus' Mustache

        Don’t judge me! Don’t you dare judge!

    • Suthenboy

      I have to cut grass later…I am gonna need a snorkel.

      • Festus' Mustache

        I worked for a sandblasting company back in the 80’s and we had suits that blew air into them. Sometimes the air supply and alarm buzzers would fail which was super fun when you are working inside railway tank cars and the hatch is about 18”. Dirtiest job I ever had but not the filthiest. Paid alright and the Boss always bought lunch and beer.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Crap. How did I end up here?

    • CPRM

      Is that Flag day?

      • CPRM

        A nacho election?