Another advantage about working from home on office moving day when there is no access to our computers at the office is, I can access my office email account from home and read my mail, such as the memo that came out this morning, informing us that the new office chairs won't be delivered till sometime around 11:00 a.m. on Monday! So, people who start their workday at 7:00 a.m., as many of my colleagues do, won't be able to sit! According to the memo, "Staff may use that time to unpack and organize their workstation". Indeed! What if staff can't be on their feet all that time and want to sit down? Do they perch on their desks? I am so glad I have Monday off and will go to the new office on Tuesday! Hopefully, there will be chairs for us by then! Some of the private offices, the conference rooms, and the intern workstations won't have their chairs delivered until the following week, according to the same memo, date and time yet to be confirmed! I am glad I am not in a private office! LOL!
Then, there was the memo from upper management, reminding people not to help themselves to the furniture that was left behind! LOL! Good luck with that! People always switch chairs, etc., the moment someone leaves! I've had people come by my cubicle and ask me if I was taking my coat rack with me, what about my file cabinet, etc.
I spent most of the morning working on my office work; I was able to get a lot of it done. I took a break at lunch time, drove to my favorite Thai food restaurant in the neighborhood, and bought some beef fried rice for $7.50; with tax, it came to $8.21. One order of their fried rice is enough for at least three meals for me. I had some for lunch, some for dinner, and there's more left for tomorrow.
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| Lavender and African Daisies |
After lunch, I went outside to take the bag of recycling to the big bin and collect the mail. That led me to taking some pictures of my front flower beds to send to brighten my daughter's day (she had said it was pouring with rain, there, and she was "feeling blah"). That led me to pull some weeds in one of the flower beds for about 10 minutes! I took more pictures than the one I posted above, but they are not loading from my cell phone to the computer, properly!
After that, I did more office work until about 5:00 p.m. Then, I made myself a cup of tea. My gardener friend M came over shortly after that to do the garden and he did more weeding for me while I chatted with him and pulled one or two more weeds, myself. I continued to weed a bit more, even after he left, but I wasn't wearing gardening gloves and I cut my finger on something, so I thought it was best to come in and wash my hands!
I spent the rest of the evening doing my own paperwork and filing. I went through all the stacks of papers and got most of the filing done (not to my satisfaction - more on that in another blog post - but the backlog has been cleared). But, I wasn't able to locate the one piece of paper I was looking for - the DMV registration renewal form, itemizing the license fee which is tax deductible. I had paid it in person at the Auto Club, I had the cancelled check, I had the payment receipt, as well, but I don't have the renewal reminder! Maybe I misfiled it somewhere else? Maybe I had taken a bag of knitting with me when I went to pay the bill and stuffed it in the knitting bag and it is still there with some unfinished knitting project! Anyway, I decided to go online and I was able to access the information and print out the page showing what I paid! I will take that with me when I go to see the tax preparer, tomorrow. I know some of you are probably wondering why I didn't go online in the first place, but I am a bit slow in thinking that way.
Friend R called me in the evening (we take turns calling each other; I had called her, yesterday) and we had a nice chat. She had bought a dinner set to send to one of her daughters; I offered to drive her to U-Haul to pick up the shipping boxes she needs, maybe tomorrow evening, after my taxes are done.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to work from home, today
- Getting my filing done!
- Managing to obtain a copy of the DMV payment, online.
- Being able to do some weeding in the garden
- Some of my favorite Thai food for lunch (and dinner)
Well, I didn't finish my to do list for today, but I worked from home, got my filing done, gave Dancer his flea medications, listened to a favorite CD, and did a bit of gardening, as well. I am keeping my focus on the accomplishments and not on what I didn't do!
Saturday's To Do List:
- Water the garden - front and back
- Water the indoor plants
- Do the dishes!
- Taxes
- Put gas to the car
- Do more gardening - weeding
- Organize a couple of file folders
How was your Friday? Were you able to accomplish what you planned to do, today?
Your African daisies are very pretty. I had them last year for the first time and I hope they come back up this year. I generously sowed seed in their bed. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteLive and Learn, I am sure they will come back. But, don't be surprised if they show up in other places in your garden, as well! The ones you see in the picture above weren't planted by me! They are ones that self seeded themselves and I just allowed them to grow! I've noticed a few seedlings popping up in the former lawn area, and I've asked M to leave them in place. I might end up with a whole garden of African daisies!
DeleteI would think that working from home would be the perfect job, but I have a friend who does just that. She did learn to ignore the company phone and let the machine pick up the message. Her office was in her spare room so she could shut down her computer, close the door and walk away; but she could never leave the office building. She had no cubicle mates and missed all the office gossip that keeps one "in the know". There were definitely benefits like you mention, but she felt very isolated. She is very much looking forward to retirement early this summer.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds to me like you had a most productive day today, both "at work" and at home. My day was very busy and yes I got more accomplished than I planned on. It was also a very emotional day and today I am feeling very fatigued.
Yes, there are pros and cons, I'm sure. I enjoy working from home. It's quiet at home, there's nothing to distract me from my work - no phones ringing, no sound of other people talking on the phone or to each other over the cubicle walls, and so forth. Yes, one misses out on the office gossip, but, I often miss out on it even when I am at the office! :D
DeleteI'm sorry it was such an emotional day for you, Susan. I hope today will be a better one. (((HUGS))) Take the time to relax and do something nice for yourself.
Thanks for the photo of flowers. Much appreciated hearing about plucking weeds and spring activities. We are all so fed up with daily snow squalls in April.
ReplyDeleteI'm not looking for answers, just questions/suggestions in attempt to be helpful as you transition to retiree.
* You've done the basics, ADVANCE CARE DIRECTIVE, WILL, LIVING REVOKABLE TRUST
* If you have life insurance as a staff benefit, do you have the option to transfer that benefit? Is it cost effective to continue paying the premium somewhat like the group rate in the manner required by the provider?
* . You likely carry term insurance that covers your mortgage, estate fees and final resting [run the numbers].
I wish you would mention to DD that Honour is nattering about the value of a simple
spread sheet that merely requires filling in the cells with current, end of month numbers...gives totals for each category automatically
* Three [or more] income streams [ie] 401 K, SS, Investment Portfolio/Saving [tracking balances]
* . Expenses
* Estate Planning [non liquid assets]
Hon, thank you so much for taking the time to prepare this list. You are being more helpful than you imagine, as you raise issues I haven't even thought of. I am at the very early stages of thinking about retirement; I haven't done any planning beyond the preliminaries.
DeleteYes, I have a will, medical directive, etc. It was last updated when I was diagnosed with cancer and I didn't know if I would survive.
I will know more about my benefits when I attend the retirement seminar.
I have no mortgage to cover. I have no debts of any sort.
LOL, yes, I will pass on the message to daughter! I don't know if she keeps a spread sheet or not. I don't keep one, either! At least, not on a computer! All my budgeting is done on a piece of paper, with pen and ink. Yes, very old fashioned, I know. But, can't be hacked into that easily, either, or shared with various data gatherers for their benefit! I've managed my finances just fine all these years without the benefit of computer programs helping me to keep track of it! I've paid off my mortgage, put daughter through college and grad school, and currently live debt-free. Daughter has no debts, either and is managing to live within her means and saving up for a nest egg. :)
That three or more streams of income might be a bit more difficult! I will have two streams of income in retirement. I might have to doll myself up a bit and walk on Sunset Boulevard in the evenings to find a third stream! :D But, all joking aside, and without revealing too much, I will have sufficient to live on when I retire.
I do thank you for bringing up all these points, Honour. You've done a lot of research that you are sharing so generously with me. Much appreciated!
It seems like poor planning to not have chairs until 11:00 am - it surely won't take 4 hours to organize and unpack your work station!
ReplyDeleteYour African daisies are lovely. I am going to have to see if they are available in this part of the country.
We have sunshine but temperature is only 37 F - we are all anxious for a little warmer Spring like weather. I have put together cottage pie for this evening so am now ready for some down time.
Sandy, I agree with you - very poor planning; I wonder why they couldn't get the furniture store to deliver over the weekend. But I laughed when I read another memo in which management congratulated the move coordinators on a well planned and executed move! Yes, indeed!
DeleteThe African daisies are at their peak, right now! Later, in the summer, when it gets really hot, they won't flower so well. I hope you'll be able to find them in your area - they are also known as Osteospermum. Once they've established themselves, they will self-seed and come up, year after year. At least, they do so here.
37F is cold! Brr! A cottage pie is just right for weather like that! Hope you have a lovely rest of the day, Sandy.
Love the African daisies! I have them at the back of the house, you are right they dont flower well in the heat of summer but they are coming back into full bloom now that it is getting cooler.
ReplyDeleteThe logistics of your company's move are funny first take your bins an then no chairs! What next? LOL
Its Sunday here and I dont really remember Friday, but Saturday was a good day for me my to do list abandoned as I had a visitor for the afternoon a friend whom I hadnt seen for a while and we had a lot to catch up on! Today is going to be another glorious Autumn day.
Enjoy your weekend.
Personally, I think it would have been cheaper for them take our chairs over there and buy us new trash bins, but, other units are moving into our old offices, so they will get our old chairs and we will get new chairs. Eventually. :)
DeleteNice that you got to spend the afternoon with a visiting friend. To Do lists can wait until you are not catching up with friends. Hope you have a lovely Sunday and the week ahead is a good one.
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ReplyDeleteHon, again, a lot of good points. I will spend more time figuring things out over the next few weeks. I might need to schedule another appointment with my FP before I retire. :)
DeleteI always thought I'd die when I was 65. I am 62+ now. I have 2 1/2 years till I turn 65; if I live any longer than that, it'll be a bonus. :)
I love the African daisies, especially as we woke up to a large amount of snow! However I was surprised when Facebook showed me a photo I had posted on the same date in 2016, showing the same picnic table and chairs with at least two and a half times as much snow on them as we saw today! It's all melting, thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteI notice you said you cut yourself on something in the garden and I wondered if you are up to date with your tetanus jab? Ten years goes by quicker than we realize so it is worth checking when the next one is due.
It's a good thing we have our pictures and FB to remind us how things used to be, isn't it? Glad the snow is melting, though. Spring will be there, soon. In the meantime, I will send you some warm air from here - it was 75F today, in the late afternoon, and I was wearing a cardigan (although I've since removed it; but I kept my socks on!)
DeleteYes, I believe I'm up to date with the tetanus shots, but thank you for reminding me; I will check with my doctor on my next visit. I think I cut myself on the thorn of one of the aloe leaves as I was reaching between them to pull a weed. Those things are razor sharp!