homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5039

Dear Baileys Irish Cream,

On behalf of virtual workers everywhere that like a little cream in their coffee and that cream being Baileys, we THANK YOU!

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5037

As more and more companies have virtual workers and also conduct virtual sessions, I'm seeing more and more video calls. Cultures are changing to include video on almost every call in some way or another. Listen! I don't even use FaceTime with my friends & family unless I have a kid or dog to distract them from my beautiful face! 5037 days of working from home (give or take a few) and I've been avoided the trend of video calls and will continue to do so.

Also I have these toasted corn nuts that are delicious and they demanded that I eat them during a recent video call where I hid my face. I had a good laugh seeing all the faces on the screen while I ate my toasted corn nuts with a large black bar across my webcam.

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5024

assistance required  - URGENT!

I was a client site in my go to black suit and noticed that our friendly "insert downtown name here" has been invaded by men whose trousers are way too short in order to show off their brightly colored socks.

Please direct them to the nearest MegaBus headed towards the North Pole. Santa needs these guys to finish making toys.

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5019

You have to love early morning calls where no one shows up except for me. It was a great call, I shared a cup of coffee with myself and then talked about my day. Mission complete.

Happy weekend!

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5015

At times the virtual lifestyle needs a break. My kids were recently home for spring break and some testing days and my schedule was out of whack. I have an office with doors (yes doors), but having other breathing bodies in this home made for an easily distracted week last week.

Today was the first day where EVERYONE (except me) was gone. I had the house to myself and all I could think about was leaving - weird, but I had to leave. I worked from the library for awhile (that's another post) and then I went to Taco Bell. In my 4 decades here on Earth I am 100% convinced that Taco Bell is meant to be eaten in your car. Once you get it home it doesn't taste so good.....trust me!

I pulled into a parking lot and parked FAR AWAY from everyone. I just wanted to eat my Taco Bell where God intended.......in the front seat of my car. Of all the parking lots and all the days someone decides to park next to me really, really far away from the store's entrance and I could feel the heat of their eyes on me while I scarfed down and I got self conscious and it ruined my lunch. 

How does this relate to working from home? I don't know, but sometimes being home alone all day still makes you desire Taco Bell as fresh as it could be (in your car).

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5010

Somedays I feel like Bill & Ted once they find out that the music of the "Wyld Stallyns" will become the music of enlightenment & create a utopian society in the future, but instead of music I'm creating a PowerPoint deck that will save the world one day and instead of saving the world and create enlightenment, I'm just creating a PowerPoint deck

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5001

I had an old fashioned drag race this morning on what could be the most exciting start to the week ever!

I've posted  before about my daily commute and the perils that await on the way to drop the kids off at school and getting home in time for my usual 8:00 calls.

Let's put it this way - if I'm forced to go 20MPH in a school zone where there is never ANY kids, then so are you! If you try and pass someone in a school zone and not just a subtle pass with a blinker and a slow approach, but I mean and angry, no blinker, jerk of the wheel to get around me - you my friend have poked the bear!

Where the school zone ends the 2 lanes going south to the homeplaceofthefuture merge into a  long one way road at 45MPH, but you're lucky to go 30. Well let's just say after a thrilling green light start Mr. Tahoe put up a good fight, but eventually conceded to a car that hasn't been washed since the second Bush administration - you don't pass people in the school zone!

I got home just in time for my 8:30 AM call on a Monday and I feel alive & awake -- nothing like running on pure adrenaline to start the week, here's hoping the excitement continues - we could all use some excitement lately in the homeplaceofthefuture!

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4991

I love to drive, I love getting in the car with no agenda and no time constraints. 

Previously I have written about my daily and only commute to drop the kids off at school - it's a dangerous commute full of soccer moms, businessmen and school zones....and now they have traffic cameras making sure residents don't go 21 MPH in a 20 MPH school zone!! Ask me about my $200 fine sometime...ROAR

For the first time in 10 business days I had 1.5 hours open during lunchtime. Always one for preventative maintenance I quickly blocked my calendar on Wednesday (day 4989) and guarded my calendar like Gollum guarded his precious and I won!

11:59 AM - left the house
12:15 PM - I got gasoline (even though my car has been full since February)
12:30 PM - ordered 2 burgers from my favorite local, definitely not organic burger place
12:40 PM - drove around like a truck driver, eating burgers with no particular place to go
12:55 PM - returned a book to the library that may have been in my car since February too
1:07 PM - home sweet homeplaceofthefuture home with 23 minutes before my next call

The moral of the story is sometimes you just have to get in the car and go for a drive, turn the radio up or turn it off and definitely turn off your phone - it's a nice break from staring at the screen and fighting the good fight of Microsoft Outlook Roulette.

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4988

I've been reading tweets & blogs from writers I admire and a common theme that I've come across is something called "catch the experiences" in relation to how to come up with new material. 

Honestly in the workplaceofthepast it was so easy to come up with material. Experiences like elevator banter, passive-aggressive signage and having my lunch stolen were regular occurrences. Seeing people in corporate culture is an entirely different show and it was super easy to complain and make observations.

Now that we're in the future what type of experiences am I catching as a virtual employee who never leaves the house? Experiences seem more like questions that come across my mind everyday when it is hard to focus on my J-O-B.

• How full will the mailbox be today?
• When was the last time I took a shower?
• Will I get locked out of the house (again) when I get the mail today?
• Who are these neighborhood walkers and what do they do for a living?
• Does my employer track my IP?
• Seriously when was the last time I took a shower?
• Am I missing out on experiences & life by not socializing with coworkers?
• How soon is too soon to begin day drinking?
• How many hours a week do I sit in this office?

Work from home everyone and "catch those experiences"

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4984

I'm just going to put this out there and it's very hypothetical, working from home in the homeplaceofthefuture can really warp your sense of time. I don't leave the house much, the weeks fly by and so do the hours -- you look up and it's 6:30 PM and you're still saving lives one email at a time. Rinse & Repeat week after week wearing the same clothes.

I would not have said this years ago when I was in the cubicle farms of the past, but vacations away from the home really do seem to last a lot longer now that I'm in the future! I took some vacation in March to a far away land and it really, honest to God felt like weeks. I couldn't believe it and I didn't want to believe it because we're trained to live for the moment and enjoy that fleeting vacation time because it goes fast. Reflecting back and even during our time away I was struck by how slow time seemed to be going.

I realize vacations aren't that common especially here in the states, but my takeaway from all of this is to somehow make the weekends feel like a vacation -- maybe by purposely going somewhere and not spending more time in the home that I also call an office.