weekend update
May. 16th, 2020 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
1. I presented a conference paper Friday over Microsoft Teams, and it went really well. I wore this necklace I bought from OiShiny and felt very fancy. (I also bought this necklace and put it on a silver chain, and it is even more gorgeous than the picture; they both are. Can't wait to wear the second necklace, too!) I presented on Ouida's representation of the aristocracy in Syrlin, and I think it was well received.
Not gonna lie, y'all. The longer this work from home thing goes on, the more I like it. The more often I use all the virtual meeting tools, the more comfortable I feel with them. It seems pretty likely to me that we'll still be mostly working from home during the fall semester which means remote committee meetings, and while I was initially really anxious about that, I'm coming around. I will be occupying the second-most (perhaps co-equal-most; I think ranking them is a bit subjective) faculty governance position at our institution in the fall, and I've been anxious about chairing that committee virtually. But all the meetings I've been having seem to work well; the tools seem to be intuitive for the most part. Also, it occurs to me that a Teams meeting is in many ways superior to a meeting in which half the participants are calling in on a conference call. We'll see.
2. Nature observed: teeny tiny frogs everywhere; the lantana is blooming all orange and yellow and magenta; a bunny at the edge of the road just chilling (I have so missed the bunnies; we used to see tons of bunnies in our yard at the old house); the hawk sitting on the power line (it let us get really close to it before flying away, and it was huge and majestic).
3. As some of you (looking at you
havocthecat) have already been posting, as work from home drags on, not having a suitable working place has finally become a problem for us. This past week, Josh and I both finally came down with "working on the bed" neck and "working on the couch" back, respectively. So we bought a second desk and chair today at a local furniture store for next to nothing and have installed it in the study. The printer we had to buy to work from home is off the floor! And best of all, I actually really like the desk instead of just taking it because it was the only option (it was literally the only option). We bought a second rug on Wayfair to put under it so we don't scratch up the floor with the chair, but I am feeling so much better. Not only do we now both have a space in which to work (simultaneously even!), but I have been able to get all our work junk that had piled up on the coffee table and kitchen table and our bedrooms into a proper place, and I also found a pretty storage cube I had in the closet to corral some stuff, and it's all just yay! and clean! and organized!
Not gonna lie, y'all. The longer this work from home thing goes on, the more I like it. The more often I use all the virtual meeting tools, the more comfortable I feel with them. It seems pretty likely to me that we'll still be mostly working from home during the fall semester which means remote committee meetings, and while I was initially really anxious about that, I'm coming around. I will be occupying the second-most (perhaps co-equal-most; I think ranking them is a bit subjective) faculty governance position at our institution in the fall, and I've been anxious about chairing that committee virtually. But all the meetings I've been having seem to work well; the tools seem to be intuitive for the most part. Also, it occurs to me that a Teams meeting is in many ways superior to a meeting in which half the participants are calling in on a conference call. We'll see.
2. Nature observed: teeny tiny frogs everywhere; the lantana is blooming all orange and yellow and magenta; a bunny at the edge of the road just chilling (I have so missed the bunnies; we used to see tons of bunnies in our yard at the old house); the hawk sitting on the power line (it let us get really close to it before flying away, and it was huge and majestic).
3. As some of you (looking at you
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no subject
Date: 2020-05-16 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-16 11:04 pm (UTC)I have been working at the kitchen table and I have a very good chair, so I'm okay.
And I'm with you on dealing better than I thought with remote work. I miss interacting with students SO MUCH though. And yet I am in no hurry to go back. I don't see how it can be made safe in the classroom at my campus. But we'll see.
But I don't miss my fifty mile one way commute. This has solidified my resolve to take early retirement if I possibly can in three and half years. I don't know if I will be able to afford it but I really do want to.
Sniff. I was supposed to be with you this weekend. Sigh.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 12:20 pm (UTC)I didn't have that commute daily (OMG!) but I was routinely driving several times a month to our main campus about an hour away. Do not miss that.
I do miss interacting with students, and I do miss some of the performative aspects of teaching. But in any given semester, I was usually doing half or more of my teaching online anyway, so this isn't a whole, whole lot different for me. I've done a couple semesters of entirely online before in the past as well.
*hugs hugs*
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 10:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-18 04:53 pm (UTC)We can use Zoom, and we can use Microsoft Teams, and both seem to do just fine.
We are opening the library already for limited use with social distancing in the computer labs.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-16 11:09 pm (UTC)♥___♥
YAY! That's awesome!! *\o/*
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 12:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-16 11:13 pm (UTC)HA! SAME OMG. It was only yesterday that I started feeling the effects on BOTH my back and neck, and so this morning I came up with a plan to move some furniture around and rig up a temporary work space in the guest room.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 12:22 pm (UTC)And it's especially important if WFH continues into the fall semester, which I suspect it will. We can't just work for eight months in the conditions we've been in so far. We'd be broken by the end of that. LOL
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 01:32 am (UTC)"HUGS"
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 12:22 pm (UTC)I love those necklaces. Jack does such good work. Everything on his site is absolutely beautiful.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 10:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-18 04:55 pm (UTC)This marzipan clasp....
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 05:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 12:23 pm (UTC)I think before when I was just using my laptop on the couch setup for a small amount of time each day, it wasn't really hurting me. But a couple months of constant use has killed my back. LOL
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 12:09 pm (UTC)Aww, bunnies! We have a lot, but I rarely see them. :(
Yay for having a desk to work from!
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 12:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 12:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 08:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 02:59 pm (UTC)Yay for the new desk! Glad you won't have that kink in your neck anymore.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 08:31 pm (UTC)I had started to feel like a crone. LOL I'm trying to just be more conscious of how I sit all the time even when I'm lounging so this doesn't happen again.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-17 10:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-18 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-18 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-19 02:34 pm (UTC)Good idea.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-19 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-18 02:42 am (UTC)And congratulations on getting a good workplace, so no more 'back' and 'neck', heh.
I really want a pic of teeny, tiny frogs (if you can - not a demand). :D
no subject
Date: 2020-05-18 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-18 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-20 08:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-20 09:05 pm (UTC)I went through everything and organized, and it's so much better now.
I am one of those people who starts getting antsy when space gets cluttered or just a bit askew. I can take it for awhile, but I crave order and neatness.