Friday, 29 August 2008
Working From Home - The Telecommute Challenge
By Lois Cochran of Guitar Grandma
When given the opportunity to move my work center from the office downtown (a 45-minute drive) to my home, it seemed like a no-brainer. What could be better? No set hours for work, no need to dress up or dress at all - pajamas all morning would be okay.
Charlie and Annie, my two canine companions, would be ecstatic and the two cats, Joy and Tigger would not object. A trip to the office a couple times a week to pick up mail and deliver work product would suffice. It sounded perfect for me. I’m past retirement age, but not yet ready to stop working altogether. This would allow me to work fewer hours and have total flexibility.
My small guest bedroom becomes my office - a little tight, but if I am well-organized, it will work. All my files and equipment are moved in and I immediately can’t find anything. Okay, everything is here and it will all fall into place in time. I’ll begin to know which file cabinets contain which files, which files have been left at the office and which have been sent to storage. This is going to work. I must be patient.
It’s 9:00AM and I’m sitting at my desk, reading and responding to emails (strictly business) when I hear my business cell phone calling me. Uh, oh, I forgot to bring it back to my desk. I roll back my chair to make a dash for the kitchen and am jolted by the ear-piercing cry from Charlie whose tail has been run over.
"Sorry, Charlie, but must you sleep right under my chair?!" I grumble, running to the kitchen to catch the phone. Missed it. Oh, well, that’s why we have voicemail. I take a deep breath, grab a cookie and bring the phone back to my desk to return the call.
While I’m talking to the caller (one of my tech people), Annie has spotted something outside that demands loud and persistent barking. I apologize to the caller, while I chase Annie out the back door.
Returning to the office, still talking to the caller, my home phone starts ringing and I am trying to ignore it and Annie who is now barking to come back in. Annie’s barking excites 13-year-old, hard-of-hearing Charlie, who feels the necessity to join the cacophony with her frenzied barking.
Having concluded the business call (what must that caller be thinking?), I bring both dogs in and check the message on my home phone while grabbing a couple of cookies from the pantry.
My daughter wonders if I can keep "the boys" (8 and 10) while she runs a couple of errands this afternoon. Well, you know, I’m home, my own boss, time is mine to manipulate – freedom, availability (sigh). She won’t be coming until 2:00PM, so I still have time to get some work done.
Back at my desk, making sure Charlie is not under my feet, I tackle the task of reconciling the office bank accounts. Something isn’t working out on the General Account and I’m searching my records to see what’s different. Oops! Something has happened to my connection and I’m dropped from the office server.
It takes a few minutes to get reconnected and I continue my search. Nothing is easy! I’m frustrated and I’m thirsty and as I reach for my glass of water, I hear the disgusting noises that tell me Tigger is hacking up his breakfast on my carpet in here! As I quickly move to grab him and get him out of my office, I knock over my water onto the bank statement (colorful language here).
I throw Tigger out the back door and clean up the mess (his and mine) and grab a couple more cookies before returning to my desk. It’s lunch time, but for some reason, I’m not hungry, so I finish the bank reconciliations (they finally reconcile) and make a couple of calls. It’s almost time for the boys to arrive.
I decide to take a break. I can work after they leave this afternoon. Well, maybe after dinner. It’s a little too early for a glass of wine, so I have a tall glass of ice tea and a couple of cookies. I have been "working" since 9:00 this morning and have accomplished what would have taken me less than two hours at the office. And I have consumed half a package of Pecan Sandies.
Hmm, telecommuting.
[EDITORIAL NOTE: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. Instructions are here.]
Posted by Ronni Bennett at 02:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post
Comments
The comments to this entry are closed.
Sounds like you're overwhelmed with Pets. That's both a good and a bad thing. Hope you get it to where you can work.
I have been forced to find work at home and make myself accomplish something every day.
As to the cookies, you'll need some self-discipline there. It's too easy to get a snack from the kitchen when you work at home.
Posted by: Rich | Friday, 29 August 2008 at 03:58 AM
I guess it's not all it's cracked up to be, sometimes! LOL
Maybe the animals should go outside while you are working, the pantry should be locked and the home phone disconnected for a while.
Posted by: kenju | Friday, 29 August 2008 at 04:01 AM
I am in hysterics! This is a great telling of what to expect working at home. Before I retired I wanted to be allowed to work out of my home. Now I'm glad that never happened because you have outlined exactly what would have happened. Great, great, great description and fun read.
Posted by: Granny Annie | Friday, 29 August 2008 at 05:50 AM
What a fun story. I chuckled all the way through all the mishaps and pet disasters.
Fun for me to read, but I'm not sure it was very amusing for you.....
Posted by: Nancy | Saturday, 30 August 2008 at 06:44 AM
That is so funny. It would make a great video. I can just see Lucille Ball working at home in the TV version.
By the way, are things smoothing down or are you back driving 45 minutes to the office again?
Posted by: Darlene | Saturday, 30 August 2008 at 03:06 PM
I think a lot of people who attempt to work at home can relate to this story. I have the same reaction to the the cat vomitting on the carpet.
Once I leaped at the cat in an attempt to grab it and put it outside before he let loose. As I grabbed him I fell face down and accidentally thrust the poor cat up in the air.
Posted by: Celia Jones | Saturday, 30 August 2008 at 05:48 PM
Well, I have begun to feel a little more organized but still making that trip a couple times a week to the office and spending a little more time there. Change is not always good, or welcome, or easy . . . but usually exciting and often challenging, and this has been that. Thanks for your comments!
Posted by: Guitar Grandma | Sunday, 31 August 2008 at 10:02 AM