The permanent Working From Home thread.

[Drago]

My story - I have worked for the same multinational company (throughout many different names and owners) for almost 25 years...

I didn't know Durex were an international company.

 

[DCLane]

I didn't know Durex were an international company.

I've got some Durex wheel rims on my 'spare' Fuji track bike. They date from the late 80's.

 

[stephec]

I've got some Durex wheel rims on my 'spare' Fuji track bike. They date from the late 80's.

Have you ever punctured whilst using them? 😂

 

[Drago]

I've got some Durex wheel rims on my 'spare' Fuji track bike. They date from the late 80's.

Ribbed for extra sensitivity?

 

[DCLane]

@stephec & @Drago - along with the right rubber they give a good feel on the track. I even raced on them one week at Newcastle-under-Lyme last year.

 

[Drago]

they give a good feel on the track.

Ah, the thin feel close fit variety.

Were they tight to get over the rim?

 

[stephec]

@stephec & @Drago - along with the right rubber they give a good feel on the track. I even raced on them one week at Newcastle-under-Lyme last year.

They didn't slow you down then?

 

[DCLane]

They didn't slow you down then?

Nope. Despite being 35 years old I even won a race on them

 

[fossyant]

Nope. Despite being 35 years old I even won a race on them

And the boys were born..

 

[biggs682]

I work for a company based at one end of the country and work from the middle of the country so i am home based since start of last year , i was travelling to the office once every six weeks till covid struck .

Work from the dining room table , always go for a lunch time walk for 30 mins to break the day up and have a break , always stop and come away from the laptop where poss .

I enjoy it a lot

 

[CanucksTraveller]

I've worked from home for about 4 years now, since I joined the present employer. 50% of my work is travelling, (or at least it was until Covid travel restrictions hit), and the rest of it (or all of it just now) is at my home office, an unused bedroom in my house to the north of London. My employer has offices in the UK in Central London, Hammersmith, Heathrow, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, but also offices in just about every other major city in the world. My post was a new one, they wanted it "London" based, and my employer weighed up whether I needed an office desk physically in London or whether it could be done from a home office; They went with the latter since my support is to company people across the world, and not in London per se. I think it saves them a fair bit in office space costs. They set me up with somewhat decent IT and the arrangement seems to work.
About half my internal "customers" are roughly in the same third of the world, but the other half are either 5 hours or more behind or ahead in time zones, so the hours can be odd and I have to be a little bit flexible.

Colleagues at my former company often used to say they'd kill to work at home. I always said it's nice for the first few weeks, after that you miss the coffee machine chat, the lunchtimes, the work socials, feeling part of a physical team... it can be lonely at times being part of a virtual team, you don't quite bond in the same way. Sometimes (this is in "normal" times) I can go a few weeks without seeing anyone, sometimes I go weeks without hearing from my bosses, you have to be disciplined and well organised and just take care of things.

• How are you coping and what do you find helps?

I go out for walks at lunchtime. I try to be as self disciplined and organised as possible. I also try and take time back that I've given in other periods, so I might go out for a ride sometimes in the day if I've been dragged into working out of hours. Bosses understand, I'm not expected to flog myself, I have to remind myself of that at times.

• Does your company contribute towards the increased costs?

The company pays directly for anything reasonable... home office supplies (ink, paper, pens etc, some furniture / equipment), travel expenses, meal expenses if out, mobile phone bill, etc. They don't pay for things like increased energy consumption, meals at home etc, they are knowingly paying way over the average salary for my role and they believe (rightly) that should cover some slightly increased home costs... it's more than fair I think. I'm well up on the deal.

• How do you heat the room you are in? I have an electric oil radiator, but am considering shelling out on smart thermostats on each radiator so I can close down the whole house apart from my room.

I have the central heating on. But my heating bill is actually not really much more expensive than when I was out all day. I reckon a cold house is probably really expensive to warm up, but it's fairly cost effective to maintain it at a comfortable temp all day.

• Do you still feel engaged with other team members or those in your locality and has your company helped with this?

In normal non-covid times, yes, sort of. We (my team) usually get together 5 or 6 times a year at head office in the US. The company pays for that, daytimes are for team working sessions but the boss takes us out for meals and socials in the evenings (we've been taken to MLB baseball games, Las Vegas shows, horse riding, karting, golf). The travelling side of the job gets you out to see "customers" and people you know too. The last year of course has seen all of that cease, so it really has been a lonely year.

• How long have you managed to survive doing this for?

4 years, hopefully many more to come.

 

[captain nemo1701]

Have you ever punctured whilst using them? 😂

Years ago, Jasper Carrot joked about Formula 1 being sponsored by Durex ....imagine how corporately embarrassing it would look if one pulled into the pits with a burst tire

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Years ago, Jasper Carrot joked about Formula 1 being sponsored by Durex ....imagine how corporately embarrassing it would look if one pulled into the pits with a burst tire

To be fair, pulling out at the last minute can be problematic.

 

[captain nemo1701]

I prepare quotes for clients now, mainly office based from 2015-2020 and have currently worked from home for almost a year now....23/3 next week will be the fist anniversary that I've not seen my colleagues or line manager in person for a year!. We do have a daily Teams meeting though. I now see my lodger, who works from home usually, more than my work colleagues.

Generally OK although I miss my 10 mile round trip commute by bike along The Railway Path here in Bristol.

I get up at 6.30am, by the time I get done with shower, breakfast etc, its 8am. Still one hour to myself until work at 9am, so in summer I can do gardening, put a wash on , clean up etc. I enjoy having an hour to myself in the mornings.

I'm saving wads on lunch sandwiches, that after-work few pints on a Friday etc. Thought I'd hate working from home but find its okay.

 

[nickyboy]

I suspect this permanent WFH really depends on the precise nature of the WFH.

I've been WFH for about 15 years as a self employed consultant as well as board positions for companies. It suits me fine but I probably have it better than most

My work is largely project based so I can work evening or weekends if I like and equally I can pop out for a bike ride midweek if the weather is nice (just back from a quick ride this pm). I can go and have a game of pool for 15 minutes if I want to clear my head

My work in normal times means a fair bit of travelling. Maybe London 20x per year and several international trips so it's not like I'm usually at home every day. Of course this past year I have

House is plenty big enough so we aren't all falling over each other. I've never bothered with an office. Just work in the lounge with a laptop and a phone.