[Thursday 4/7: 3.25 miles; today: 2.5 treadmill miles]
I’m working in Dubuque this week. Our big spring show-and-tell happens the end of next week, and after that I shift to a different work group.
Besides getting prepared for the big doo-dah, I have an appointment at the hearing aid shop to replace the hearing aid I lost in the woods in Tennessee.
I stopped and rang the doorbell at our former house. I had located a bunch of 2-prong AC adaptors in our moved stuff and brought them up in a ziplock bag. Nobody answered the door so I left the bag on the bench in the enclosed porch. (They haven’t done any further work on the porch but are making good improvements in the back yard.) The stuffed bear is still in the attic window.
I’m feeling kind of anxious this morning. I want to make it through the week without catching covid and spending a useless week sick in a hotel room paying for my un-vacation and burning up my little scrap of earned leave, leaving my team in the lurch as their big day approaches. I don’t think that will happen. But I guess I’m just in a stressed mood. I’ll be glad to get through the next two weeks.
Part of what I’ve enjoyed about this new job, compared to my old job, is that I generally don’t have a lot of responsibility. I’ve accrued some expectation debt just by being around for awhile. And now being a special case, working remotely while others are starting to gather back in the office… I’m just stressed about it.
Working at the office in some way lowers expectations. You were there every day. The boss wandered by sometimes. You told the boss that things were working, or they weren’t working, or whatever, but you put in your time and the end result was not unexpected and was the product of your time and their inputs.
Working at home, every time you finally could focus on the tasks at hand there was a bing from facebook or some crank phone call, or the dang cat/dog wanted in/out/petted/watered/just-to-keep-you-from-working. And maybe the next time you see the boss he will be wondering why they pay you if they can’t see what you are doing.
So, I hope I can find a desk and unpack my box of hardware this morning and at least look like I’m working before the boss makes a round. I have to put in 4 10 hour days because Friday is a work holiday. I plan to be in by 6. I’m bringing cookies. I’m trying to make success a bit more likely.
On the other hand, although my skills are limited I’m not likely to be fired. They have a pile of open positions for embedded software people and basically would hire almost any warm body that can type. And I’m still able to do that.
And I’m stressed because I missed church yesterday and I will likely miss it again next week.