A Year On....

Runs with Scissors

Runs with Scissors

iMTB Hooligan
Any others still working from home? Liking it? Not liking it? Saving money?

Let's have a recap. For me, it's been an awesome year. I think I've been to the office 4 times, maybe 5. I can't imagine going back to the old way.

Yes, I realize it's not possible for everyone. I still think it's a great deal, and less time commuting is great for our environment.

Sunday, I went from Anaheim to San Gabriel Canyon. Coming home took forever. Traffic seems to be back to its old BS. I have no idea where everyone was going, but I can hope that they stop it.

Your take?
 
I have been working from home for 10+ years. It was like nothing to me ... other than having almost nothing to do last April and May. Corporate empires FTW. :cautious:

Traffic is definitely back. I got caught up in three traffic jams on Saturday.

I hate to say it, because I know a lot of people who suffered, but it was a great year for me. I saved a Sh!t ton of money.

I definitely intend to give some extra to my peeps in the service industry this year.
 
I like working from Home (That's my normal mode) but I miss visiting my customers and team mates.

I have customers in San Diego so I liked heading down there once a week or so... listen to a book on the way back.

I will add the last time I wore long pants was at a customers, March 10 2020.... so I am well past a year in shorts only!!
 
Haven't stayed home one day since it started. Hard to run a machine shop from home. Been working 12 ish hour days all along and keep getting farther behind. Motorcycle industry is having the same supply chain and back order issues as bicycles with no reprieve in sight. Outside processing sucks and lately they are screwing up almost everything I send even though they've been doing the jobs for 20+ years. Guess I'm supposed to be thankful but saying screw it and semi retiring and moving to Arkansas with @Mikie is sounding better every day. Yes I'm grumpy cause it's really been cutting in to my riding...
 
Started a new job a few months prior to this mess. So the travels was put on hold, the trade shows cancelled, but when I did get out it was really nice to get somewhere in 2 hrs that previously took almost 4 hrs. And only some of the clients were willing to see people.
And yep, the traffic is coming back.

That's OK, I'll get used to it again, and am really looking forward to see more peeps again, seeing a live play is top on the list.
I dont miss going to restaurants though, never been my thing.
 
I retired from the PD 6+ years ago and aside from group rides, I have been living a mostly COVID lifestyle ever since. I usually ride alone midweek because most of my riding group is still working M-F. Aside from riding, I walk my dog a couple times a day and spend a few hours online.

My wife OTOH is an HR director and COVID has her working 60+ hours a week from home. Even though she didn't like sitting in traffic, she actually misses the human interaction and is looking forward to going back to the office in May.
 
It only got busier for me. 60+ hours a week the first 3 months with no help and they wanted us to work Saturdays. They finally decided to give us help by pushing through 50 drivers and adding some routes. I made 20% more last year than the year before and it was all from those 3 months of massive OT. Workdays are back to normal somewhat but we're still about 50% heavier than normal.
 
I work in an cubicle farm. I’ve been going to my cube the same as always, the whole time, with the same people. Some of our computers are shared resources, so I’ve gotten pretty good with the disinfectant spray, and I’m a connoisseur of fine hand sanitizers.

Luckily we’re all engineers-we understand statistics, risk, germ theory, briefing charts over a phone line, and how to be introverts. So while we’ve had a few folks get sick, including a couple ICU stays, we haven’t had to shut the office down due to at-work transmission.

Really really looking forward to a fully vaccinated workplace.
 
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I was managing a warehouse and we had to shut down because a we weren’t essential at the time and my old boss at the bike shop asked me to work till things get better and I can go back to work at my other job. Funny thing is that a lot of ex employees at the bike shop came back to work until they could go back to work at their jobs.

A year later I am still at the bikeshop waiting for my other boss to get the warehouse open again.
 
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Like at least one other confessed above, this has been a good year for me professionally and from a health perspective. Well, there was that one helicopter ride, but other than that, I've been healthy. I had to take a professional step back a few years ago and recently regained my prior status. For that, I am truly grateful.

Work has been a different kind of difficult, but all in all, it's been easier with 250 students on campus and no sports or public events rather than 2700 and a full calendar. Sports coverage was non-existent for a year, but now it has ramped back up full force. And that's a good thing. Time consuming, but good.

My wife's business will not earn a penny this year. She still has to work her ass off and make sure she delivers for her clients, but they have generated no sales. She has no debt and no obligations, so we will survive. Even though she is immuno-compromised, her health has been good.

My daughter was able to attend full-day elementary school 4 days a week since mid October. It's been a good year for her. And she is skiing better, so there's that.

There has been loss however. I lost some loved ones and professional acquaintances - only one due to COVID. Friends have moved away. Our family has turned against each other due to the horrible political climate. Some close to us have barricaded themselves in due to their COVID concern. So that type of loss has sucked.

Thanks for this thread. It's fascinating.
 
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I love working from home. I can get an early AM ride done instead of racing to beat the traffic into DTLA.

I've been into the office 3 times and one was only to grab my office chair. I can't believe we're still paying rent on like 5 floors in the financial district. But, hey, that's not my decision to make.

Like a lot of others, professionally, it's been a banner year for both my wife and me. I am very aware and grateful for our good fortunes this year but, that also come with a bitter taste and some guilt when I see the glaring disparity that's literally at our doorstep when people are having to deliver groceries, take-out, etc. and risk their health to make a living. That would be fine if they were getting a fair shake with pay and benefits, But, that's clearly not the case.

I will say, one of my favorite stories this last year has been the saga of one of my close friends who continues to work his regular 9-5 salaried job and has also saved over $100k delivering take-out while on the clock.:Roflmao
He's 40 and single, so, why not.
 
My wife and I both switched to WFH and LOVE it! We DREAD going back to work, but it's around the corner. A lot of our jobs consist of case management and can be done remotely, so I hope I can get away with WFH a few days a week still. This was a lovely mid-career breath of fresh air.

My kids on the other hand hate it. Everything was shut down for them and they've lost a lot. I feel sort of bad for them, but on the flip side, nobody in my immediate family got La Rona. Many of our co-workers did, as well as some of our neighbors. My wife and I are vaxxed up, but waiting till the 15th so the kids can be as well. Then it's game on!
 
Being retired at home, not much interesting to say except because there were no distractions, my wife and I rode at least three times a week and every day of vacation. Superb! Missed most of my friends as I extra socially distanced as well as what was to be an epic birthday party with the family at Joshua Tree.
 
Construction never slowed down. In fact, I only had 1 project shut down for a few days due to a Covid positive test....but I wasn't even on site, I was in the fabrication shop so it didn't effect me at all.

For the most part, I've only been around a few of my normal peoples.

Worst part is the constant changing of jobsite requirements.....every one is different. Hard to be prepared when you don't know what new BS they are gonna require.
 
What a professional roller coaster this last year has been. 2020 started out gangbusters. Early March, (can't remember the exact date) I had my calendar booked 2 months out with a lot of momentum. Showed up for a work appointment that got cancelled when I walked in as news of COVID shutdowns was hitting. Within 48 hours everything I had booked for the next 2 months cancelled, and I never worked another day at that job that had served me well for 7 years. Didn't work at all for 3 months, but was fine and enjoyed all the riding time. Realizing that the job wasn't going to be viable anytime soon I made a pivot in June and started a whole new career that I wasn't particularly qualified for, and ended up hating every minute of. Trying to launch a non home business from home, while my daughter went to school in her bedroom with my wife teaching from the living room probably aged me a handful of years. Pulled the plug early this year, and decided to experiment with a different path that I had wanted to try for a while, but felt like was going to be a step in the wrong direction. Some trusted advisors convinced me that I had the wrong idea, and to give it a whirl, so I did knowing that my pre-COVID job would be waiting for me when things opened back up if it didn't work out. I'm really loving it so far, and, despite very conflicting schedules as my wife and daughter start back to school in different districts with different plans, I'm as content as I've been in a long while. Without COVID I'd never have taken the plunge.
 
My company closed offices very early on. Easy to do, almost all of us could easily work from home at the flip of a switch. And after some acquisitions most of our company was on the east coast with momentum moving towards a head office in ATL so it was almost like we were already working remote. Our office in SD was very tight so it sucked not seeing those people very much. I was in the office for a couple hours every week or two. The rest of our company has been pretty dysfunctional between acquisitions and frequent C-level turnover with new ones bringing "their people" with them. It created a weird environment where people didn't communicate effectively and various departments were very silo'd, lots of politics, etc. Some very poor decisions were made without fully understanding the business or consulting with all stakeholders or those who actually understood our systems. If anything I've learned a lot about how not to run a company. The company was like that before Covid hit, but Covid definitely accelerated closing of smaller offices and an acceleration of hiring people in ATL. Our SD office was scheduled to close in April so everyone here would be permanently WFH. I got downsized in December so my new "job" is to go ride awesome trails for the time being : ) Will be taking some time off for sure. Very glad to be out of that place.

I liked WFH at first mainly for lack of a commute, but would probably want to be part time in the office going forward. I find it easier to get collaborative work done when you can meet face to face with people. Covid restrictions didn't have a huge impact on me as I was able to get takeout or eat outside at most of my favorite places, but it sucked not being able to go to a brewery for a pint. Some trail systems were closed for a month and what wasn't seemed to be overrun with hikers. But generally it didn't slow down my riding, and I continued doing trips. The big impact was riding solo almost exclusively. I've done maybe 10 rides with others since covid started. I'm ready for that aspect to be over.
 
Being such an introvert, sure wish I could work from home! Wife and I work retail, I’m the picture framer at laguna art supply. The store was closed last March-may but I still worked for some of that time behind closed doors on unfinished projects. Like anything else home-related, since the store reopened framing has been non-stop. however im making less money since the store hours are still shortened from 8 to 7 hours daily. Nobody at my work has gotten covid, (there’s only 5 of us) and we’re really good with the protocols and all have covid-safe lifestyles outside of work. And I mostly work by myself in a back room, protected by the enormous plexiglass shield I made last May.
Wife is a manager at a Starbucks. That’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster. She has not gotten sick-and now she’s vaccinated because I guess coffee is “essential” - but quite a few of her coworkers have and there were a few times when her store was shut down while everyone quarantined and she and I had to get tested.
Kudos to Starbucks they have gone above and beyond to take care of their employees during the pandemic.
We also manage the lives of 3 elderly family members of hers, two with minor dementia, and it’s been a struggle at times to keep them at home isolated and safe, especially the one who lives alone since she now needs paid part-time help at home. (I’ve considered quitting my job to become her paid caretaker, she’s a great lady but not sure I’m cut out for that full-time). None have gotten sick and now they’re all vaccinated. Whew! Everyone but me! If I was 1 year older I’d be eligible on thursday, dang it!
Wife and I did manage to fit in 3 trips to the Sierras in the last year, self-contained. And yeah, riding solo since last spring, which would probably be usually the case anyway since Dave moved, and will continue to do so until I get that needle in my arm. Luckily my days off are mid-week which my helps my paranoid self avoid crowds when riding or hiking/trail running. I am far more concerned about catching covid than I care about socializing but I am starting to miss broing out occasionally. Never seen more people on the trails midweek than this last year.
Outside of the convenience factor when travelling, I give zero f***s about eating out or shopping in person. But, I am looking forward to going to the movies again when it’s safe enough
 
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A year ago today, my wife, daughter and I, along with our three dogs, were driving from just outside Little Rock to just past Asheville, as our final day driving from OC to NC. We pulled into the driveway of our new/old house early in the morning on 3/31/2020. We left behind a furnished home that we weren't sure was going to sell, as well as many friends and 24 years of memories. The move east wasn't created by the pandemic, but it was accelerated by it.

We had been stuck in a somewhat suspended life-state, and hadn't really been planning for being empty nesters. One day my wife and I had a sit-down discussion, and basically decided that unless we did something dramatic, we were going to be living in the same house for the next 20 years (which is not what either of us wanted). Took us 15 months and three trips to buy a piece of land with a house that we were going to demolish... and then Covid happened and we bugged out of SoCal - carrying only what would fit in a single UHaul trailer (well over 100 bonsai trees, but no furniture). We moved into our old house, with its leaking roof, bad plumbing, bad electrical, and have been here ever since. If Edison wanted outdoor lighting, he would never have invented flashlights! :)

Have to admit... aside from minor inconveniences like not being able to dine out as much, we have been fortunate. Our family has not been that negatively impacted, unlike so many others. Have my appointment to go in for my first vaccine shot tomorrow... so there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. And mountain biking is one thing that I have actually been able to do MORE of due to Covid-19!
 
Interesting tales of survival and perseverance.

My work was remote before C19, so no change other than a few months of paltry work volume last year. Wife’s construction job never skipped a beat.

A couple friends and family members got Covid but all recovered.

Bikepacking during this time has been a nonissue. I’ve been riding with face covering for sun for years, so no change other than giving trail users more berth.

We’re the least affected so far by Covid of anyone we know. Counting blessings. Best wishes for getting through it...
 
Its been an interesting year for us. We moved here in September '19 and were just starting to found our feet when all this hit. The start-up that I work for took our software live just before as well. Our target audience is manufacturing and they all effectively clammed up. We all changed to working from home and still continue to do so. I go into the office once a month to present a webinar and thats about it. No idea when thats going to change and for some of our team that may never change.
Its been pretty tough for us on all fronts. We have effectively no support network here, the wife is stuck at home 24/7 looking after the 2 little kids and 1 big kid (me). I get some interaction with the guys in the office via zoom and the small group of people I occasionally ride with and thats about it. To really rub it in our families back in Oz and NZ are all pretty much living life as normal and have been doing so for some time. They were largely unaffected and so cannot relate to our situation at all.
Things are definitely starting to improve though. The wife has scored a part time job starting this month so at least she'll get to speak to grown-ups again. We moved into a bigger place and got some much needed breathing space. Work wise manufacturing is starting to come out of its shell again and interest in our software is picking up. Our founder / investor committed to another 12 months of funding so I'm not packing my bags just yet (just before Christmas it was looking like it could go either way)

Overall we have been very lucky and come through it relatively unscathed. Looking forward to getting vaccinated asap and being able to go out and explore this place like we originally planned.
 
Having been self-employed for 12 years, it's nothing new - I'm in my home office when I'm not on location. But there was no travel March through June, and work was slow. More time for riding! But all the riding meant that even though I picked up some bad quarantine eating and drinking habits, I still lost weight. Once I hit the road again in July, the exercise dropped, but I didn't shed the eating/drinking habits and put all the weight back on. Still haven't gotten back into the old groove.

Financially, 2020 was fine. But by the end of the year a couple of clients ceased to exist or had greatly reduced business. So 2021 is going to be a rough one. Gotta start hustling again to find more business.
 
Freelancer here and I work on a Mac all day so the transition from my main client's office to working from home has been relatively seamless thanks to Zoom, etc. If anything, it's MUCH more productive for me since there's none of the traditional office time-sucks (commute, lunch, random meetings, etc). 2020 workload was about the same as the client needed creation of more online resources since their reps aren't out in the field. Unfortunately the WFH situation hasn't translated into more time to ride/surf so still relegated to weekend warrior status and associated lbs that come with it:(. I have 2 college-age sons living at home, 1 is fine with remote learning while the other took a year off when they switched to remote. No covid infections in immed. family and just a few mild cases in extended. I recognize my family has been v lucky to have been relatively insulated from the pandemic and lockdowns. Prayers up for all the people (and children) who have been terribly impacted emotionally/financially by the lockdowns. Just hope we can look back on this one day and say it was all worth it.
 
I must be an outlier....I'm scheming how to convince them not to force me back into the germ factory that is the open office concept. I am much more productive working from home than in the office. AND I'm not spewing pollutants on a 33-mile round-trip commute. No inane chatter. No constant distraction by everyone walking by. I have a door to shut at home. I have a 70-inch corner desk with two 27-inch monitors and a connection to my work financial system and shared drives.

Going to an office to do exactly what I do here at home is stupid. Wasteful.

Even though I rode my bike for commuting fairly often. They don't need to know that. :whistling:
 
Silver lining of COVID: it's normalized remote working. I'm no longer just a guy without a job at home. I've been remote since 2014 – there is definitely no going back now.

I don't mind visiting the office if I'm in town. Last time I was there they had drums and guitars. There's probably no one there these days, basically a fullfilment warehouse.
 
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