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Post by billhammond on Oct 1, 2023 22:05:51 GMT -5
The Strib's new publisher is a young, energetic, digitally savvy guy who has met with the newsroom union reps and other departments in productive sessions and has generally shown himself to be a smart-thinking, cooperative dude.
He's been working with all the relevant parties to get newsroom workers back into the office a few days a week, with emphasis on at least aiming at Wednesdays, as of next week.
The goal is to maximize the in-person brainstorming and collaboration required to produce a kick-ass digital newspaper while not ignoring our many print edition readers. Designers, assignment editors, reporters and others need to gather to map out coverage and come up with grabby presentations. Most of the copy editors I work with do page layout as well as word editing.
I do not. All I do is word-edit -- virtually every piece of features copy that we publish, both online and in print, plus I write the headlines, photo captions and other graphic type elements accompanying it.
It's the kind of job that requires only an occasional communication link with my colleagues, easily handled via Slack and email.
I get up, wash my face, brush my teeth, brew some coffee, log in, and start to shovel copy, which is never, ever caught up, as we deal with so much advance feature sections copy -- Sunday food, homes, gardening, travel, etc., Friday entertainment, on and on and on.
In so many words, there is zero reason for me to work from the office, unlike most of my co-workers.
So I appealed to the copydesk supervisors to exempt me from the upcoming movement to bring us back to Capella Tower, arguing that I have some health concerns (i.e., asthma and circulation probs) that would make it difficult to get up in darkness, freshen up, drive 12 miles in rush hour, park in an expensive garage, hike to the office and park my ass in an environment where my asthma is likely to be triggered by co-workers who wear toxic fragrances, all of the while diminishing my value to the features desk when I could be at home shoveling tons of copy instead.
OK, I used more measured words.
They heard my plea, pondered, and told me today that other than coming downtown for training days, I can stay home for the next six months. I'll be able to get through the winter, start planning my retirement and not worry about trying to work a 40-hour workweek while running a household alone.
I am SO relieved. OMG.
The not-so-good news? Lady friend Barb has self-tested positive for COVID, and although her symptoms are mild, she also has been battling painful canker sores in her cheeks, and is quite miserable and sleepless.
At least now I can be on nearby call to come to her aid.
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Post by RickW on Oct 2, 2023 19:27:06 GMT -5
The good and the bad, Bill. It’s funny, all those years, I hated the commute, but in the end, when we were working so much remote, I craved the camaraderie, and I do believe your publisher is right — you have to have collaboration, in person, to get the best results. Hearing what’s going on, getting to know the people around you, and caring about them and their struggles, is a good thing. Your situation is different, of course. Enjoy your retirement, I sure do. Any thoughts to doing contract work?
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Post by Village Idiot on Oct 2, 2023 19:40:44 GMT -5
If it were me I'd be chomping at the bit to come back; I have the working at home option when not with students and I can't stand it. But in your case good for you on the next six months, but I'm sorry to hear about Barb's plight.
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Post by billhammond on Oct 2, 2023 19:44:48 GMT -5
Enjoy your retirement, I sure do. Any thoughts to doing contract work? Maybe some contract gigolo "work," but I have 23 pounds to lose first. |
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Post by billhammond on Oct 2, 2023 19:55:10 GMT -5
If it were me I'd be chomping at the bit to come back; I have the working at home option when not with students and I can't stand it. But in your case good for you on the next six months, but I'm sorry to hear about Barb's plight. I think Barb will be OK, thanks for your concern. And your job sitch and mine are diametrically opposed -- you deal primarily with kids, I deal with words. You need that interaction, mine is supplied via electrons. You live in a rural setting, my workplace is in the heart of a major metro downtown, with all its commuting hassles. I have the classical station on while I'm working, I get up and get a snack or refill my coffee mug every once in a while, watch dog walkers out the window, all is well. The office environment is just about the opposite. |
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Post by John B on Oct 2, 2023 20:34:34 GMT -5
I have the classical station on while I'm working, I get up and get a snack or refill my coffee mug every once in a while, watch dog walkers out the window, all is well. The office environment is just about the opposite. Bill's day in the office: listening to KISS, standing around for hours wishing for a bite to eat or something to drink. Cats scamper by, unencumbered by humans. Chaos reigns. |
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Post by aquaduct on Oct 2, 2023 20:55:55 GMT -5
One of the things that came out of the pandemic was that my wife ended up working from home pretty much from the time she returned from Afghanistan all the way through earlier this year. At that point the government was starting to try to force folks back into the office when Christal's boss suggested that she might be able to transfer to home work permanently.
Turns out our house is about 4 miles outside the DC pay area so if Christal opted for the lower salary (about $14K lower) she'd never have to go into the office again. Ever. She agonized over it briefly and then jumped on it. Now it's a permanent deal. She literally can telecommute from virtually anywhere in the world with the sole caveat being that she has to work EST hours.
So she's home full time and in the last couple months, with 2 new pups to keep her company.
Me? I had the opportunity to do some of that for a few months a couple years ago and it drove me nuts. It's really tough to be an engineer away from the machines and processes you engineer. Hated it.
So now I take off in the morning after walking the dogs and they hang out with her until I get back and take them walking a few more times.
Pretty much perfect for both of us.
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Post by Village Idiot on Oct 2, 2023 21:16:19 GMT -5
And your job sitch and mine are diametrically opposed -- you deal primarily with kids, I deal with words. You need that interaction, mine is supplied via electrons. You live in a rural setting, my workplace is in the heart of a major metro downtown, with all its commuting hassles. With all of that, I need human interaction no matter what. I could spend one day a week working from home if I chose, and I've tried, and just hated it. But I do wish I liked it. |
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Post by epaul on Oct 2, 2023 21:28:10 GMT -5
I've gotten really used to not-working from home.
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Post by billhammond on Oct 2, 2023 21:31:10 GMT -5
And your job sitch and mine are diametrically opposed -- you deal primarily with kids, I deal with words. You need that interactiiron, mine is supplied via electrons. You live in a rural setting, my workplace is in the heart of a major metro downtown, with all its commuting hassles. With all of that, I need human interaction no matter what. I could spend one day a week working from home if I chose, and I've tried, and just hated it. But I do wish I liked it. I really need quiet -- I have to hear the words in my head, and sometimes I even say them aloud if a passage is puzzling me. So, at home, the classical music is very much in the background. A frequent and dreaded scenario at the office was that I'd be editing away and a gaggle of co-workers would sidle up to the cubicle of a colleague who sits like 4 feet across an aisle from me, with wavy lines coming off them from their perfume, and they'd chat and laff away, nothing work-related at all, unless you count gossip. This is when I'd typically break away for coffee, give them 15 mins to disperse. Invariably, they'd still be there when I returned, maybe even more of them. Even worse was a colleague who would sidle up to the same cross-aisle location, all by her lonesome, and whisper for 20 mins to my other co-worker. At least in that scenario, I could drown out their whispers with headphones. |
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Post by Marshall on Oct 2, 2023 21:44:36 GMT -5
I used to try working (when I was working) and listening to Pandora. But I found every few minutes I'd stop and have to listen intently to the song being played. I'd surf for info on the new artist I heard. And I'd even check if they were coming thru town anytime soon.
. . . . , I had to stop listening. I couldn't get any work done.
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Post by RickW on Oct 3, 2023 13:07:58 GMT -5
Not that I have to work, but Monday to Friday, I get up and go to my study/studio at 7:00, and I write. I have a timer set to get me up and walking for three minutes every half an hour. I take a 20 minute coffee break after two hours. Then I write for two more hours. After lunch I go play guitar/record/write music for an hour or so. Three days a week, I work out in the afternoon.
This all works for me, I get lots done, scratch the creative itch. I think I’d go nuts if I didn’t have things to do. But I can see why people say writing is a very lonely profession, and why people seek out writing groups to talk with. And of course, Susan is here as well, so I’m not all alone all the time.
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