Wednesday, March 23, 2011

at home

I started a new job the day after we got back from Hawaii (more on that trip coming soon!) that has me working partly from home and partly from the corporate office down in "the Valley." This job was a huge boon as it mixes my last 8 years in PR with the experience I've had in a particular technology sector. Unfortunately, the office is anywhere from 1 to 2 hours from my house (depending on weather, time of day and idiot drivers), so while the job (on paper) seemed perfect for me, without the telecommuting capability I never would have been able to take it. Thankfully everything worked out and here I am in the middle of my second week, and now that I've got my desk set up with my pretty new monitor and docking station, I'm well on my way.

So far, there are some definite upsides to being an at-home worker:
  • Save on dry cleaning bills
  • Eating leftovers for lunch isn't a big deal because they're right there in my kitchen
  • I get to spend more time with the cat (her behavior has improved tremendously since I've been home)
  • I can sign for wine shipments
  • I don't have to pay for parking or BART anymore
  • Heck! I don't have to ride BART anymore (this is huge as I loathe public transportation and the unwashed masses)
  • When I close down for the day, my day is over (see commute above)
  • I can spend more time cooking great dinners

In fact, I have carnitas in the oven right now, where they'll cook for the next 6-8 hours until the meat's so tender you could weep.

The one downside to working from home that I can already see?

Our heating bill is going to go up. It's damn cold in this house right now.

4 comments:

  1. I think it's great that you don't have to ride BART anymore. Molly and Elwood would love for us to work from home. Dakota is a lucky little kitty.

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  2. I hear ya on being cold. Sean is in the basement and when the wood burner is going, the basement gets quite cold. Sean decided that he would just run the electric heater to solve that problem. Which is great...if he's down there, but he wanted it warm when he started every day, so he let it run, non stop, for a month. Now, it has a thermostat and will shut off when it gets hot enough, only, it's a pretty big space so it pretty much ran and ran. I got the bill and about croaked - $287. Our normal bill in winter is $80-$110 (I have no idea why it fluctuates so much), but I budget $130 per month all year and just know that some months I'll have a few extra dollars to put to something else. Um, yeah, he was told he could wear layers but that there would *not* be a month like that again.

    As for the heating bill going up, your Starbuck's bill will go down, right? :p

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  3. This is true - my Starbucks bill *has* gone down. I used to spend $4.30 (on average) three times a week every week. Now I'm making coffee at home.

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  4. I have a (more than) sneaking suspicion that all of my colds can be directly linked to the amount of time I spent on public transportation. Those people are disgusting.

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