I was thinking today marks one year of remote work. 💻

It was over a year ago that I took that bus ride home one last time from downtown. I don’t remember if I walked down to Kiernan Plaza to catch the bus that previous Friday, but almost always did when I got out 5 o’clock to minimize my time sitting in the bus on the way home. Then the old life was just over.

While I figured out how to make remote work possible, it wasn’t easy at first for me as I didn’t have Internet at home and not really even a good place to sit and do work in my tiny apartment without a computer desk or any fancy equipment. I usually just walked down to the library — figuring it was good exercise, especially if I was planning to sit down in front of a screen for a double of hours.

Ultimately, I ended up spending a lot of time down at the library parking lot. Eventually I got a work hotspot, which didn’t work right with my Linux computer, and then a work laptop, which worked better. But I had to be careful about data use and making sure not to do any personal activity on that machine. I kind of liked being at the library or other Wi-FI, as I didn’t have to worry about data use or staying strictly on work related sites as I worked.

The first few days where kind of crazy, as nobody was prepared for all the changes that were underway. Work projects progressed, but everything was disrupted, there was gaps in time. And at first, I felt like I had to always be within reach of a Wi-Fi signal at the library, the park, or Five Rivers, lest a project come in. Once I got the work laptop, that made things flow a bit better. Then I had the option for a quick work project that I couldn’t do with just my phone, I could use the work laptop for that purpose.

On and off I thought about getting Internet at home, but it came down to it, I am glad I didn’t because it’s so more flexible having the work hotspot and later my own phone as a hotspot. When I needed to do something that took a lot of data I could go to the library or other location with Wi-Fi, but I also wasn’t chained to my computer at home, so I could spend a lot of time doing remote work up from Adirondacks and Green Mountains in the heat of summer.

Without air conditioning, there were some hot days when I was in town, but during the worst heat waves of the summer, I spend up at camp, working remotely. And that was kind of fun, although it was so much time watching the power meters, to ensure things remained charged and making sure I had cell services wherever I was. The winter that was I had higher heating and electric bills as I was home so much, although it wasn’t as bad of a bite as I thought it would be because the winter weather was mild.

When will I go back to my office and working downtown again? Nobody seems to know, a lot depends on the progress of the virus. Remote working had it’s advantages and disadvantages for sure, but it was kind of fun. But I do miss being downtown, interacting with colleagues, and even the down time on the bus. Working downtown was a chance to be out of my apartment and be away from my bedroom, which I spend too much time in, especially during the winter months when it’s too cold to work outside, or at the library or from the wilderness. That said, I wouldn’t mind a few days working remotely from camp when the weather gets nicer.