Blue Mountain - COVID-19 Update

[tarponhead]

The 10th covid vaccine has just started phase I trials this week (safety only, not efficacy)

[mikes781]

I walk my dog several miles a night and have yet to see anyone wearing a mask. Plenty of people walking but we can just give each other a wide berth. Stores are a different story... everyone in masks and many wearing gloves. Every saw a woman with a face shield on at Wegmans last week. I just wear a buff.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I never did gloves in stores I have at gas stations.  Where I walk it’s not that busy if people are approaching three wide I just walk in the grass..

Edited May 27, 2020 by GrilledSteezeSandwich

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 hour ago, mikes781 said:

I walk my dog several miles a night and have yet to see anyone wearing a mask. Plenty of people walking but we can just give each other a wide berth. Stores are a different story... everyone in masks and many wearing gloves. Every saw a woman with a face shield on at Wegmans last week. I just wear a buff.

About three weeks into the pandemic I saw multiple people wearing face shields inside Whole Foods....

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I really like this quote 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

On 5/26/2020 at 11:37 AM, toast21602 said:

451 new cases in PA. Low. Curious what data tomorrow will look like because of the 3 day weekend delay of results. 

780 new cases. 

[toast21602]

Just now, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

780 new cases. 

Not as bad as I anticipated. Tomorrow might be similar. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 minute ago, toast21602 said:

Not as bad as I anticipated. Tomorrow might be similar. 

I think pretty similar tomorrow and Friday..if numbers go up the next week I wonder if they extend the lockdown.  Yesterday’s 400something number was based on only 5,000 tests while most days the last few weeks there have been 7-12,000 statewide tests.  

Edited May 27, 2020 by GrilledSteezeSandwich

[Zonked]

Our office has determined to reopen effective July 13th. We have some strict guidelines and things that will be in place for those who want and can return to the office. Should be interesting to see how this all goes. We sent a survey out to the employees to gauge their readiness and only 6 people said they were eager and ready to return. For a while we will be on a every other week onsite schedule so I will still get to enjoy working from home.

 

[toast21602]

3 minutes ago, Zonked said:

Our office has determined to reopen effective July 13th. We have some strict guidelines and things that will be in place for those who want and can return to the office. Should be interesting to see how this all goes. We sent a survey out to the employees to gauge their readiness and only 6 people said they were eager and ready to return. For a while we will be on a every other week onsite schedule so I will still get to enjoy working from home.

 

I think this has made a lot of companies realize that employees can be just as productive from home. It took me a bit of time but I know I have adjusted well and seem to have created even more flexibility than I have been able to before. Of course I realize that is not as easy for everyone or applicable to all professions, but I still think some organizations are going tone more open to the option in the future - pandemic or not. 

[saltyant]

If my job ever becomes 100% work at home I'm changing careers. Working at home is nice in moderation but I need to get back out in the real world at some point. Absolutely can't see myself working at home for the next 30 years without social interaction, my morning routine, changing scenery, etc

[Zonked]

4 minutes ago, toast21602 said:

I think this has made a lot of companies realize that employees can be just as productive from home. It took me a bit of time but I know I have adjusted well and seem to have created even more flexibility than I have been able to before. Of course I realize that is not as easy for everyone or applicable to all professions, but I still think some organizations are going tone more open to the option in the future - pandemic or not. 

Oh absolutely.  Working from home with flexibility will be the new thing. Those who want and need to be in the office, go for it. If you want to work from home and come in when you have big meetings or such, great. Shoveling employees into small cubicals will be a past for many employers. I've enjoyed the flexibility and have adjusted fairly well to being at home (minus not having a true desk area - which is in the works).

 

My boyfriends company has scheduled September 14th as their re-opening the office. His company was one that thought everyone had to be at the office to do their jobs and it became very clear that was not the case. They've maintain efficient and worked through some tight deadlines with no issues. 

[tarponhead]

Generally agree but running large meetings and connectivity issues at times is getting old

[toast21602]

5 minutes ago, tarponhead said:

Generally agree but running large meetings and connectivity issues at times is getting old

And the majority of people suck at Zoom / video meetings. Just fucking @mute1080 yourself. Especially older folks (no offense).

Edited May 27, 2020 by toast21602

[Benm]

if you end up wfh for some time from here on out, remember there are tax benefits - provided your home office isn't a kitchen table or your bed. i'm not sure if it's applicable for a portion of the year or not (or if any amount during the year qualifies). it's something to keep in mind for next year. i write off a ton of stuff, percentage of my house used for office, utilities, other expenses (think of your computer if it wasn't provided by the employer, the physical phone you use, any installations to wire your work area, etc). 

depending on your employer/employee relationship, consider asking them to supplement utilities (internet / phone) if you can highlight that your wfh saves them money in the long run.

as an employer though, i'd be skeptical of any employee with a child under school age in the home - or working from a sofa - to be even remotely as productive as they would be in an office, that's just my opinion. it really depends on the job. some employers are paying you for your time, some are employing you to just take care of whatever your tasks are.

our employer is confident enough with wfh now that it's basically set in stone for everyone into perpetuity. when the next actual physical 'meeting' will be is anyone's guess and it would likely be something 'social' with some work talk peppered in rather than an actual business meeting. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

 

1 hour ago, saltyant said:

If my job ever becomes 100% work at home I'm changing careers. Working at home is nice in moderation but I need to get back out in the real world at some point. Absolutely can't see myself working at home for the next 30 years without social interaction, my morning routine, changing scenery, etc

Would you be an accountant?  I thought you have to physically go to banks..a lot of office jobs will likely go to at least partial work from home as employers realize it will save money on office space and in your situation on hotels. 

Edited May 27, 2020 by GrilledSteezeSandwich

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

9 minutes ago, Benm said:

if you end up wfh for some time from here on out, remember there are tax benefits - provided your home office isn't a kitchen table or your bed. i'm not sure if it's applicable for a portion of the year or not (or if any amount during the year qualifies). it's something to keep in mind for next year. i write off a ton of stuff, percentage of my house used for office, utilities, other expenses (think of your computer if it wasn't provided by the employer, the physical phone you use, any installations to wire your work area, etc). 

depending on your employer/employee relationship, consider asking them to supplement utilities (internet / phone) if you can highlight that your wfh saves them money in the long run.

as an employer though, i'd be skeptical of any employee with a child under school age in the home - or working from a sofa - to be even remotely as productive as they would be in an office, that's just my opinion. it really depends on the job. some employers are paying you for your time, some are employing you to just take care of whatever your tasks are.

our employer is confident enough with wfh now that it's basically set in stone for everyone into perpetuity. when the next actual physical 'meeting' will be is anyone's guess and it would likely be something 'social' with some work talk peppered in rather than an actual business meeting. 

I feel bad for office manager while she’s been working from home her electric bill is high and for the first time our electric bill at work was under $100 due to lights out and also office managers computer not in use here 7 hours a day.  Office manager is saving a lot of money on gas 

[saltyant]

10 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Would you be an accountant?  I thought you have to physically go to banks..a lot of office jobs will likely go to at least partial work from home as employers realize it will save money on office space and in your situation on hotels. 

Nah, accounting doesn't appeal to me. To clarify, I'm ok with working at home sometimes or more frequently, but not 100% of the time. While most people seem to want to work at home all the time, I actually enjoy going outside my house to work.

I've always thought being a long distance trucker would be fun, or maybe I'll buy a van to live in and drive around out west and live off the land.

[skiincy]

1 minute ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

I feel bad for office manager while she’s been working from home her electric bill is high and for the first time our electric bill at work was under $100 due to lights out and also office managers computer not in use here 7 hours a day.  Office manager is saving a lot of money on gas 

How much higher could her electric bill be? I just compared my PECO and Water and it's slightly lower than last year. 

[trackbiker]

One of my best friends runs a tech company. He used WeWork space to set up satellite offices in London and Seattle. He can pay for more space as he adds people instead of paying for space that you may not use for up to a  year. I have another friend who is in sales with an office in NYC. He spends 25-50% of his time on the road. The company did away with private offices about a year or two ago and added cubicles in their general area. They use 70% of the space that they used to (saves a lot of rent in NYC) but he doesn't have his own office now after 20 years. He just gets whatever cubicle is available when he's in the office. When they have a monthly meeting where everyone is there there is not enough cubicles for everyone to get their own space. He hates it. But the change did give him more flexibility to work from home even before the Pandemic and he does save time and money by not commuting as much.

[tarponhead]

And the majority of people suck at Zoom / video meetings. Just fucking [mention=13078]mute1080[/mention] yourself. Especially older folks (no offense).

Lol

We use webex which is the standard platform but remote bandwidth is a challenge at times.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

21 minutes ago, skiincy said:

How much higher could her electric bill be? I just compared my PECO and Water and it's slightly lower than last year. 

No idea maybe $20...she’s got a college aged kid there as well who is on her computer all the time...when I lived in apartments my electric bill was like $40-50 a month.  

[Benm]

35 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

I feel bad for office manager while she’s been working from home her electric bill is high and for the first time our electric bill at work was under $100 due to lights out and also office managers computer not in use here 7 hours a day.  Office manager is saving a lot of money on gas 

there's no reason a computer or some lights are going to increase it dramatically. if she's using an electric heater in her workspace, that's a different story.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

4 minutes ago, Benm said:

there's no reason a computer or some lights are going to increase it dramatically. if she's using an electric heater in her workspace, that's a different story.

Yeah but being home all those extra hours with the lights on when before she was at work would make a difference right??  

[toast21602]

5 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Yeah but being home all those extra hours with the lights on when before she was at work would make a difference right??  

I imagine the money saved from driving in daily is more than the slight utility increase from working at home.