Picture this - You are at a Party/BBQ/Function that you've been
dragged along to with people you just don't know. You're doing the best
you can to hold conversations, working through meeting everyone whilst trying to avoid all the pitfalls (you
of course have read this post on Dad dating first ) but despite your best efforts
you’re down to this.....
The only two questions left if you're meeting someone for the
first time and have run out of things to say about your kids or your beloved
or sport
or the weather.
“What do you do for a crust?”
and inevitably
"Where are you based / is your office ?"
So previously this was not a problem, I worked out of lovely
offices in the central business district and people knew the building I worked
in. It was easy to describe and even if you weren't familiar with the city you
could roughly picture it from the landmarks it was near. I knew all the best places to eat and where to get a good coffee.
Now that I have moved to a Global Organisation that has all
changed.
You don't have one particular office that you reside in and the
work is where ever you are required.
It's very hard to describe
to other people that you have just spent
a week being locked away in a hotel room with three other guys working on
contract edits for days on end - Trust me it’s a real conversation killer.
And you now no longer have the daily routines that someone with a permanent office has. Not to mention that the perception people have of those who work from home is not exactly glowing (I'm beginning to learn this maybe jealousy).
That aside, now I have to get used to all the changes in my
working day / life - for example I don’t have any onsite IT unless the beloved
comes in to see why I am swearing at the printer and I have definitely become
aware of how much printer ink costs – that stuff is more expensive than petrol
!
There is no set start or finish time, the whole thing revolves around when the meetings are or when the project is due. You work when there is work that's required.
There also have been some adjustments between the beloved and I
now that I am home a lot more, so it’s now accepted that it’s not OK to be
hovering around as she goes about the tasks she normally does day to day
That being said you really start to notice all the things that
need doing and cleaning. I have even found the vacuum cleaner (I've not used it
but I know where it is…..)
So I decided early on that whilst I took breaks away from my PC (yes
I observe OH&S) I would do one extra thing a day to help around the house.
First off – The washing.
I had been carefully instructed in the need to separate the
clothes into colour types and I had put on the washing and gone back to work.
There was an almighty thumping noise and a dull far away roar. On closer inspection it became clear - that’s what a washing machine spin cycle sounds like if you put way way too
many clothes in to wash.
Good to know. Won't happen again.
The number of telemarketer calls you get during the day really
makes you wonder why they call when the chances of someone being home are statistically
low, for a while I chatted to them, but now I rarely answer as I have all the
time-share holidays I need and I’m all raffled out.
So where is it all at after 3 months ?
The work is interesting and my colleagues are located all over the world which is really cool. The support is excellent and I can pretty much work from anywhere that has electricity and Internet.
On the plus side for the first time ever I have been able to
attend some of the kids school activities which is great and that will
continue.
On the negative side I found myself yelling at the pigeons who
were sitting in the herb pot squashing the coriander.
I think I need to go outside a bit more……..
