Coronavirus prep
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Theoldguy1 wrote: »T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »@T1DCarnivoreRunner -- good advice above. There are also softwares that HR can get that allow monitoring of productivity remotely of work computers. That industry is thriving right now with Covid-19. Many companies, that are more traditional brick and mortar, have learned new things out of necessity. Now, likely they wouldn't want to pay for something like this but most of the time the concern is that if someone is home, they won't work as hard.
Panogard is like $5 a month per computer. If they want to see what you're working on any time of the day, they could see it.
Sure... the argument isn't productivity, though. There just truly is no explanation of why she is opposed to it. Instead, just saying no. I'm sure she can't defend the reason and therefore is just avoiding it.
I am going to try to fill out the form to request an accommodation and be clear about it. We know that glycosalation of ACE2 receptors is needed for SARS-COV-2 to enter cells, a condition increased during hyperglycemia. But since I am not yet infected, my guess is that it won't matter. But worth a try. If nothing else, maybe I can ask for a transfer to our corp. office. Everyone there is working remotely anyway and I report to corp.... not a big change to just update my home location.
FTR, I'm doing work for 4 plants in 3 states with 3 legal entities anyway. Most of my work is already being done remotely from my base location.
Does your form have a place for a doctor's note/signature? Sure way to get an accommodation to WFH.
No, there isn't a spot for it. But of course we can attach something. She had suggested I could attach medical documentation if I would like, but didn't say it is required. Maybe the response will be that she wants a dr. note after I send it?2 -
T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »@T1DCarnivoreRunner -- good advice above. There are also softwares that HR can get that allow monitoring of productivity remotely of work computers. That industry is thriving right now with Covid-19. Many companies, that are more traditional brick and mortar, have learned new things out of necessity. Now, likely they wouldn't want to pay for something like this but most of the time the concern is that if someone is home, they won't work as hard.
Panogard is like $5 a month per computer. If they want to see what you're working on any time of the day, they could see it.
Sure... the argument isn't productivity, though. There just truly is no explanation of why she is opposed to it. Instead, just saying no. I'm sure she can't defend the reason and therefore is just avoiding it.
I am going to try to fill out the form to request an accommodation and be clear about it. We know that glycosalation of ACE2 receptors is needed for SARS-COV-2 to enter cells, a condition increased during hyperglycemia. But since I am not yet infected, my guess is that it won't matter. But worth a try. If nothing else, maybe I can ask for a transfer to our corp. office. Everyone there is working remotely anyway and I report to corp.... not a big change to just update my home location.
FTR, I'm doing work for 4 plants in 3 states with 3 legal entities anyway. Most of my work is already being done remotely from my base location.
Does your form have a place for a doctor's note/signature? Sure way to get an accommodation to WFH.
No, there isn't a spot for it. But of course we can attach something. She had suggested I could attach medical documentation if I would like, but didn't say it is required. Maybe the response will be that she wants a dr. note after I send it?
To be honest, to save time I would just get documentation from the doctor and hand it in with the form. I'd be pretty sure WFH would be a reasonable accomodation (since you have already shown you can do it). If they refused and you got sick from something traced back to the workplace I'd be pretty sure you would own the company if you had the right lawyer.5 -
janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »We had a large departmental meeting today. The department head mentioned with all of us WFH, cases of eyestrain, neck, back, etc. pain are expanding exponentially. Small monitors, poor chairs, desks too low/high and so on.
Be careful out there.
I would have expected this the first week or two, but surely there has been plenty of time to get decent chairs, desks, monitors, etc?
When I moved in 2011, I got a used computer desk on craigslist before I got a washer and dryer. I had the chair, computer, and two monitors from work.
As someone who has spent the first few months of WFH working from the floor, bed, or coffee table, I'll say I was personally in denial about how long this would last.
Me too. I do have an okay office set up (I was lucky that I moved from a condo to a house a few years ago, which makes this more tolerable), but since I normally don't actually work there, I never realized my chair was attractive but not the right height and uncomfortable if you sit in it very long). I finally realized last week that I really do need to get a better one as working most from home is likely going to continue for a good white. (I am going into the office once or twice a week and still much prefer working there, although the lack of commute is a perk.)6 -
Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
The opposite is true on my street. Lots of us are taking the opportunity to do home improvement tasks. One neighbor painted their foundation, my OH started pressure-washing the patio, killed that washer, bought another, finished the patio, and then pressure-washed the fence. This inspired another neighbor to pressure-wash his deck, and then paint it. Etc. (I think it's an environmentally irresponsible waste of water during a drought, but...)
On the inside, we finally got around to going through more of his mom's stuff - she passed away 3 years ago. I scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees and took everything out of the frig and cleaned it. This is NOT normal for me, lol. (Some of this activity is because the heat has trapped me inside and I can only do my normal indoor cardio so much. I'd much prefer to be cleaning hiking trails.)
I plan to paint the bathroom and kitchen once it cools off enough for the windows to be open.
I wanted to stencil in the bathroom but my OH objected. I think I did that a million years ago, but don't really remember. This kind of thing:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jacobean-Flower-Wall-Stencil-SKU-1778-by-Designer-Stencils/113155641
There's another room he won't object to me stenciling.
I have chemical sensitivities and so would want zero VOC paint - not sure if I can get this in small sizes. I've only ever bought gallons.
Anyone have stenciling tips, from zero VOC paint sources to techniques? If a lot of you, I'll start a new thread.0 -
Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Totally true for me. I admire all of those people above who have the opposite experience, but I have to be honest: I'm not being very productive. I'm retired, so my overall lifestyle hasn't changed hugely (no gym, no in-person social life to speak of, less frequent shopping, no cultural event stuff - that's it). But I'm doing no more around home and garden . . . probably less. 🤷♀️5 -
Our subdivision is looking real good. People spending more time on yard and outdoor home care, new landscaping, etc. Several houses getting pools put in, more basketball hoops, etc.0
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Our neighborhood looks noticeably more rundown since March. It's an older area with a high percentage of low-income residents.3
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Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Opposite for me. Less things open (and less desire to spend time out in public) meant more time to work on stuff around the house. I have great difficulty sitting still.
I'm currently on two weeks vacation and since there's nowhere to go, I've been doing more stuff. My gardens have never looked better. I resurfaced and painted the front steps, they'll get another coat of paint in a few days. Cut and placed some baseboard and floor transitions leftover from the basement reno. Next will be putting the shelves back up.
Judging by the fact that I had to hit three stores before I found one with the concrete paint I needed (and I bought the last cans), I'd say a lot of people here are doing the same thing.5 -
Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Some people deal with stress by getting antsy and doing all the things, others get fatigued or listless and let stuff slide. I let stuff slide. No sourdough starter lovingly cultivated, no container garden artfully arranged on my porch, no projects completed. Lots of netflix watched and word puzzles done though
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Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Some people deal with stress by getting antsy and doing all the things, others get fatigued or listless and let stuff slide. I let stuff slide. No sourdough starter lovingly cultivated, no container garden artfully arranged on my porch, no projects completed. Lots of netflix watched and word puzzles done though
I’m the same way. I’ve advanced probably hundreds of levels on Candy Crush Saga, so I guess that’s progress.
I think another problem for my (lack of) housekeeping is that I’m home so much more I accumulate more mess. If you consider there are 14 big meals (lunch and dinner each day) per week, on average I used to eat probably 9 of them out. Those 9 meals eaten at home came with a lot of dishes to be done.
Then there’s the fact that I worked from home and that brought 2 extra phones to manage, so I have chargers, phones, the laptop, headphones, mouse, keyboard, notebooks, random pieces of paper with notes on them etc. When I was working full time from home I had to also bring the paper archives of the company home to be able to do my work, so I had piles of folders stacked around. Now I’m doing a hybrid model of 2-4 days per week at the office and rest at home, so I can save the paper archive tasks to office days. I really hope I don’t have to take it back home and we can avoid another lockdown, but we’ll see. The second wave is on the horizon (yep, the first wave actually ended here) and schools here start in-person education tomorrow.6 -
Diatonic12 wrote: »I was at the farm implement store buying some seeds and I ran into some Hell's Angels on their back home from the moto rally in Sturgis. I asked them how it was and they said it was just alright, kinda flat this year. They were going into the mountains and back through the Park on their way to Cali.
They did say that no one was wearing masks over there. They were there buying bungee cords because there was so much gear that had fallen off bikes all over the road and they cherry picked the best stuff. Right before all of these Sturgis rallies inexperienced people buy brand new bikes. Some drive there in fancy trailers and simply try to ride their bikes into the rally. Others drive off the roads, wreck, lose gear and keep going. The older folkaronies break bones and get hurt.
This one looks just like a tough old bird even though they are called Angels.
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Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Oh Yes! Thanks for writting about it. I could have been fluent in french and painted enough to start a gallery during the shut down, so nice and quiet it was.
It is a 'thing'. I read novels or listened to them being read. Mostly for an escape to another world, a non Covid world for a while.7 -
Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Some people deal with stress by getting antsy and doing all the things, others get fatigued or listless and let stuff slide. I let stuff slide. No sourdough starter lovingly cultivated, no container garden artfully arranged on my porch, no projects completed. Lots of netflix watched and word puzzles done though
That's me too! Listless and fatigued.
I was calling it lazy but I'll go with your labels instead. I have done a whole bunch of jigsaw puzzles and read tons of books, but sadly I've only prepped 1 wall in my bedroom to paint. And I started it over 6 weeks ago. I got very lazy with my watering of plants, to the point where all the cemetery flowers had to be taken out. Apathy, too. Yes. Ugh, I get up in the a.m. and think why bother???
So yesterday, dh was outside painting the front steps and I felt guilty watching him work. So I again picked up the scraper and started back on my bedroom woodwork. If it's guilt that keeps me productive, I guess that's better than nothing.
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Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Some people deal with stress by getting antsy and doing all the things, others get fatigued or listless and let stuff slide. I let stuff slide. No sourdough starter lovingly cultivated, no container garden artfully arranged on my porch, no projects completed. Lots of netflix watched and word puzzles done though
I've been through both phases. Early on, I did house projects, painted rooms, spiffed up the yard, cooked new recipes, etc.
Now, I'm so sick of this, sick of my house, sick of my yard, sick of my kitchen. I'm only doing the basic maintenance that needs to be done. I think a lot of people have some mild depression going on right now.14 -
Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Some people deal with stress by getting antsy and doing all the things, others get fatigued or listless and let stuff slide. I let stuff slide. No sourdough starter lovingly cultivated, no container garden artfully arranged on my porch, no projects completed. Lots of netflix watched and word puzzles done though
That's me too! Listless and fatigued. I was calling it lazy but I'll go with your labels instead. I have done a whole bunch of jigsaw puzzles and read tons of books, but sadly I've only prepped 1 wall in my bedroom to paint. And I started it over 6 weeks ago. I got very lazy with my watering of plants, to the point where all the cemetery flowers had to be taken out. Apathy, too. Yes. Ugh, I get up in the a.m. and think why bother???
So yesterday, dh was outside painting the front steps and I felt guilty watching him work. So I again picked up the scraper and started back on my bedroom woodwork. If it's guilt that keeps me productive, I guess that's better than nothing.
Apathy, thank you. Apathy is the word I was looking for and could not find when typing my post. I'll be flipping through the tv menu, think about actual things I could accomplish instead, but the "why bother?" ends up winning the day. It's something I've been struggling with!5 -
Early in the pandemic, many people in our neighborhood were busy in their yards and fixing up their houses. The results were noticeable. I also met a lot more people out walking, riding bikes, and enjoying the outdoors in ways they didn't usually. I think we talked more to our neighbors in the first two months of spring than we had in the 10 years before that. Then it got hot and everyone holed up. Nobody walks or rides bikes. Nobody works in the yard except to mow. My husband has had occasional spurts of organizing activity, but I haven't been at all inspired to do anything but the minimum to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.7
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@ElioraFR There are different kinds. Arch
and fallen. One variety and size does not fit all.
@spiriteagle99 It's the exact opposite here. The housing market is soaring and there's not a single place to rent. College kids are going to have a tough time finding anything, anywhere. Everything that was for sale or rent is gone. The moving trend from the coastal regions to the smaller population states is not likely to end for years. Crowds of them are coming here like a swarm of locusts. We're sad because the farms and ranches are becoming celebrity mansions or party homes for hollywood. Yuck, I need a bucket.4 -
Our housing market is insane as well - bidding wars pushing them to $20k over asking price! This isn’t big city living, this is WV (Eastern Panhandle, so not rural, but still). Farms are turning into housing developments as wellDiatonic12 wrote: »@ElioraFR There are different kinds. Arch and fallen. One variety and size does not fit all.
@spiriteagle99 It's the exact opposite here. The housing market is soaring and there's not a single place to rent. College kids are going to have a tough time finding anything, anywhere. Everything that was for sale or rent is gone. The moving trend from the coastal regions to the smaller population states is not likely to end for years. Crowds of them are coming here like a swarm of locusts. We're sad because the farms and ranches are becoming celebrity mansions or party homes for hollywood. Yuck, I need a bucket. wishing we could sell, hubby semi-joked about selling now and just living in a camper because it will be our luck he’ll be told about a new position somewhere else and we’ll be selling as soon as it all crashes... although we bought the house we did knowing it wouldn’t be a huge blow if things did go south.
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@moonangel12 When the farms and ranches are gone who's going to provide that extra fancy grassfed beef for paleo folks.
When everything becomes a party home, all that's needed are service people who will work for peanuts to wait on everyone hand and foot. Cooks and cleaners, bottlewashers, fetchers and drivers. There's no place for service people to live so they crowd together in some rathole or live in tents. One iconic place has already been overrun and ruined just like this. It's hard to see the side effects of 'Rona happen all around you. 3 -
Sad news here. I got to know a lot of the nursing home residents while working at the hospital. They locked down early and hard, keeping the virus out for months. Then a young worker went to a July 4th party where stupid was happening, including sharing vape pens. Now there are active cases in other workers and the residents.26
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Sad news here. I got to know a lot of the nursing home residents while working at the hospital. They locked down early and hard, keeping the virus out for months. Then a young worker went to a July 4th party where stupid was happening, including sharing vape pens. Now there are active cases in other workers and the residents.
I'm appalled that a health care worker could be so utterly thoughtless.
Hoping everyone makes it through okay.4 -
yes- what a mess
I mean- where is our feelings for our fellowman!4 -
kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »baconslave wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »
Goodness, I don’t envy you having to enforce those rules, but good on you for trying.Theoldguy1 wrote: »
Which practices? The ones that many parents taught their children while growing up? Wash your hands before eating. Cover your nose when you sneeze. Wash your hands after using the toilet. Cover your mouth when you cough. Wash your hands after touching money. Don't lie in bed with clothes you wore outdoors. By the way, did I mention wash your hands?
Why are normal civilized people no longer doing these things??
After returning to the office for 4 days this week, I’m pretty confident half my coworkers have spent their summer doing drugs or something else to wipe off all brain cells that carry learned human decency and guidelines. It has consistently always been the rule, first as general human decency and then as official HR policy, that you wash your hands with water and soap when you come in to any space from outdoors. We have hand sanitizer bottles all around the office, but at this point everyone should know water and soap are better and hand sanitizer should be used as complementary add-in or when proper hand-washing isn’t available. Some of the discussions I’ve had this week include:
”Please wash your hands first, you just came in from outside”
”But I only touched a few doorknobs”
”Still.” (Me in my head: yeah, you went outside, probably touched your face while smoking, and then used the doors and elevators in this 11-floor office building that has quite a lot of people)
”Please wash your hands with water and soap”
”But I’m using hand sanitizer”
”That’s great as an addition, but doesn’t replace soap”
”Huh, since when?”
”It never has...”
After referencing these discussions the CEO gave me permission to start giving personal office bans at my discretion for those who can’t or won’t follow the hygiene rules. At this point being allowed to leave home and come to work at the office is a privilege and those who don’t follow the rules to make it safe for others won’t be allowed to use it. If people want to ignore hygiene and safety rules, they can do it in the privacy of their own home where they won’t risk their colleagues. They just have to deal with focusing on work with their kids jumping around etc., but life is full of choices and everyone is welcome to continue working from home if hand-washing at the office is too much trouble.
Wow!! I wouldn't want to be the one sending workers back home, but I guess you need to take action if people are so dumb.
In our workplace there are handwashing signs everywhere, and extra taps and sinks have been installed. It is also mentioned at every huddle or staff meeting. It just simply is the new normal.
Masks, distancing, and temperature checks are also part of the daily routine. Everything is being done to protect everyone else and keep the workplace safe.
IMO, to be honest, if grown *kitten* adults need to be told to wash their hands the train has already left the station and no amount of HR signs and announcements will do any good.
Yep. The thing that bothers me most about those discussions is that the reaction isn’t ”oh crap I spaced out, will wash immediately” but instead some sort of complaining about not wanting to do it for reason X.
The rules are in place for a reason, and as head of HR I will be enforcing them. It’s not fair to let the few idiots run wild at the office and risk those who want to come in, focus on their work without at-home distractions, and follow the rules to keep themselves and everyone around the as safe as possible. The office is not a playground for misbehaving children, it’s a workplace where people should be able to be safe and focus on their work like adults.
From HR viewpoint, people get used to signs so fast they are only useful for a day or two, after that they’re really just virtue signaling that we care and have plans in place, and they show the right message for the few guests that do come in. I’m hoping I don’t have to start actually banning people, hopefully having 1-on-1 discussions about rules being enforced and bans being issued for further non-compliance is enough of a threat.
(Yeah, I probably shouldn’t call my colleagues idiots or misbehaving children, but I’m human and they’re risking my health too.)
As I’ve mentioned before, I have been aware of other people’s germ-spreading behaviors for a while now, due to periodically being on immune-suppressing medication. It’s not a surprise to me that most adults don’t wash their hands, won’t cover their mouths during a cough or sneeze, and are downright hostile if someone suggests that they should avoid others while symptomatic. I work from home and don’t go out much, and caught four separate colds last winter due to others. I can probably pinpoint the exact person who gave me each illness, since they typically came on two to four days after being near the child with fever and a cough lying down on a restaurant booth during an adult drinking party because “I couldn’t leave him with a sitter when he’s sick,” or the lady with a rattling chest cough not covering her mouth and bumping me from behind in line at the grocery. Or the young fireman staring vacantly into space coughing constantly not covering his mouth in the packet pickup tent at a race. In each case I removed myself from the vicinity as soon as I could and it wasn’t good enough. I don’t have servants, it’s not possible for me to avoid all other people, so when a substantial number of them are determined to spread illness, I get sick.
If this epidemic has any silver lining, I hope it is that it becomes much less socially acceptable to kill other people with your germs. Because doing this kills people, and not just when covid is around. Fragile elderly and immune compromised people exist at all times, and your fever and lingering cough may be someone else’s death sentence.
One of my kids was sick recently and a doctor had to get involved. We had a conversation and I told her, that even though I am a very conscientious person, I really used to feel that getting sick was inevitable with my little germ-nuggets. And that I didn't think twice on going around when I had sick kids at home. Complete thoughtlessness!
But COVID has brought home that though I'm not currently sick, I could be a carrier and spread it to others outside the family. So I will definitely be more careful in the future when illness is in my family to not be a jerkface carelessly spreading it everywhere.
One of my friends has a prematurely born daughter with lugn issues so regular flus were extremely dangerous to her as a baby. They couldn’t take her anywhere with public transportation because of the infection risk and every invitation to their home included a ”stay the *kitten* away if you have any symptoms whatsoever” reminder. I admit that pre-covid I thought smaller symptoms like a runny nose or a little cough weren’t a reason to stay home and isolate if I felt otherwise fine and was able to go on about my regular day, and things like her case were the exception. In the future I will definitely stay home with smaller symptoms, and I hope this pandemic permanently changes the current (pre-covid) culture where showing up was more important than knowing when to not show up.
Now that many workplaces have tried working from home and seen it can be done, I hope in the future ”I feel like I might be getting sick” is a good enough reason to stay home and work from there without employers questioning it. Unrelated, I also hope handshaking will become a thing of the past.
Saw something recently in the Wall Street Journal that WFH isn't as good as advertised.
Also, i disagree and hope handshakes, fists bumps etc come back when this is behind us. People are social animals and an appropriate touch is part of that socialization.
This is the article discussing the perhaps WFH isn't as good on a long term basis. Fine for when people are sick IMO.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-start-to-think-remote-work-isnt-so-great-after-all-11595603397
It's popping up behind a paywall now but I was able to read it a few days ago.
Headline:Companies Start to Think Remote Work Isn’t So Great After AllProjects take longer. Collaboration is harder. And training new workers is a struggle. ‘This is not going to be sustainable.’
Re: training new workers. We had 4 new employees start during lockdown, and 4 started less than a month before lockdown started. All 4 who started during lockdown and completely from home said it was surprisingly easy and they felt actually more connected to their coworkers since Teams communication and video meetings require people to be more intentional and present than at the office where you can more easily ignore your surroundings. Apparently it’s also helpful to NOT meet everyone on your first day, because you can actually get to know colleagues one by one, and even in large meetings everyone automatically has their name displayed so there’s no awkwardness about being expected to remember the names of all 30 people you were introduced to on your first day.
2 of the workers who started just before lockdown are entry level. They struggled more because they need more hands-on guidance and training about the actual work than more experienced professionals, and they’re also less confident to speak up and ask in Teams if they’re struggling or need more advice.
Interesting. Where I work (multi-billion $, multi-national corporation) standard practice is people have the camera off/piece of Post-It Note over the camera so all that is seen in a Teams meeting is the material being presented and pictures of the participants from our corporate directory or blank space. A person in a Teams meeting could be doing Lord knows what and nobody on the meeting would know. Meeting "live" in a conference room it's pretty easy to see who is really engaged IMO.
We do Zoom meetings, but everyone is visible. It would be considered weird/not acceptable to cover the camera. We don't do lots of meetings in general, however, and lots of team stuff is handled by phone (and pretty easy to tell who is participating, as everyone is supposed to be contributing to the discussion).
We also have a new lawyer who started just before the stay at home order, who had been a judicial clerk before. It's been pretty impossible to give him the kind of feedback/training he would have received in person in the office.
Nobody uses video on our Skype meetings. In fact, when at the office, my computer is on the docking station and closed. I couldn't display video in that position anyway.
We use Zoom, I would say about 50% of the people use their video and 50% don't. There's been no direction or feedback for those of us who aren't using it (I usually don't have it on). Our meetings typically involve lots of presentations of spreadsheets, software details, or blueprints so that's usually what people are focused on.
I'd been working remotely since 2011. We didn't have formal presentations per se, but we always had a screenshare of the computer of the person driving the meeting, and never used video of participants.
We usually have video on, and if a participant has theirs off, there would usually be a gentle reminder. But I've seen it all - untidy houses which really shouldn't have been displayed for everyone to see, and those who knew their surroundings weren't suitable and explained why they couldn't switch video on. I always sit with my back to a blank wall for Zoom meetings.3 -
Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Yes, same here. I never got the extra yardwork done as expected. Work from home became more like work a lot more and have less time for myself.5 -
Drove through the local university campus early evening. Lines at the bars, beer pong in yards groups walking around not a mask to be seen unless it was around someone's neck. Place will be shut down before classes even start.8
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Theoldguy1 wrote: »Drove through the local university campus early evening. Lines at the bars, beer pong in yards groups walking around not a mask to be seen unless it was around someone's neck. Place will be shut down before classes even start.
I'm not sure what to think about that. Aren't people that go to university supposed to be smarter than the average person? Guess not then.3 -
Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Yes, same here. I never got the extra yardwork done as expected. Work from home became more like work a lot more and have less time for myself.
Yeah, totally get this. I had to set hard limits for myself with times/behaviors with regard to work and home life when I was doing most of my working from home. And even now with those hard limits, on work from home days extra work time has a tendency to creep into my 'home time'.Theoldguy1 wrote: »Drove through the local university campus early evening. Lines at the bars, beer pong in yards groups walking around not a mask to be seen unless it was around someone's neck. Place will be shut down before classes even start.
I'm not sure what to think about that. Aren't people that go to university supposed to be smarter than the average person? Guess not then.
As someone currently in school (belatedly) to get a Master's degree, I'm going to go with "no" here. Take that for what you will.
5 -
JustSomeEm wrote: »Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Yes, same here. I never got the extra yardwork done as expected. Work from home became more like work a lot more and have less time for myself.
Yeah, totally get this. I had to set hard limits for myself with times/behaviors with regard to work and home life when I was doing most of my working from home. And even now with those hard limits, on work from home days extra work time has a tendency to creep into my 'home time'.Theoldguy1 wrote: »Drove through the local university campus early evening. Lines at the bars, beer pong in yards groups walking around not a mask to be seen unless it was around someone's neck. Place will be shut down before classes even start.
I'm not sure what to think about that. Aren't people that go to university supposed to be smarter than the average person? Guess not then.
As someone currently in school (belatedly) to get a Master's degree, I'm going to go with "no" here. Take that for what you will.
I'm sure in this case you are wrong Good luck with it, you'll be fine I'm sure. 2 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »Drove through the local university campus early evening. Lines at the bars, beer pong in yards groups walking around not a mask to be seen unless it was around someone's neck. Place will be shut down before classes even start.
I'm not sure what to think about that. Aren't people that go to university supposed to be smarter than the average person? Guess not then.
Don't confuse IQ with judgement (and I'm not necessarily saying they have higher IQs, either). People of undergrad age do not yet have fully-developed judgement and self-control brain circuitry yet, and it shows, on average. I worked at a big (40,000+ student) university for around 30 years: That's a lot of opportunity to observe this age group. They are not grown-ups yet, not really.
Some of us (me included), if we honestly think back to our own age 18-22 age period, may acknowledge that we did some pretty dumb stuff, too (not everyone did, I'm sure - this is not an accusation).
I'd also point out that any university has a big bundle of students. As with any other group, the ones you see en masse out in public doing Stupid Stuff are not necessarily the whole population, perhaps not even a majority of it, numerous though they may be. The more careful, prudent undergraduates are in their dorm rooms, watching Netflix or something, not out playing maskless beer pong.16 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »Drove through the local university campus early evening. Lines at the bars, beer pong in yards groups walking around not a mask to be seen unless it was around someone's neck. Place will be shut down before classes even start.
I'm not sure what to think about that. Aren't people that go to university supposed to be smarter than the average person? Guess not then.
Don't confuse IQ with judgement (and I'm not necessarily saying they have higher IQs, either). People of undergrad age do not yet have fully-developed judgement and self-control brain circuitry yet, and it shows, on average. I worked at a big (40,000+ student) university for around 30 years: That's a lot of opportunity to observe this age group. They are not grown-ups yet, not really.
Some of us (me included), if we honestly think back to our own age 18-22 age period, may acknowledge that we did some pretty dumb stuff, too (not everyone did, I'm sure - this is not an accusation).
I'd also point out that any university has a big bundle of students. As with any other group, the ones you see en masse out in public doing Stupid Stuff are not necessarily the whole population, perhaps not even a majority of it, numerous though they may be. The more careful, prudent undergraduates are in their dorm rooms, watching Netflix or something, not out playing maskless beer pong.
Yes I guess that is correct.1
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