7 ms·

Things I miss: - interacting with my colleagues, going out to lunch - the very high-speed and reliability of being on the network wire - dedicated work-space

• hiq 6y ago
  > - my commute: I cycled into work, and the daily exercise was great This one is not like the others, it's completely up to you to have a bike ride e.g. at lunch time around the block when you WFH.
  • jonnycomputer 6y ago
    Oh, you're right. But when you have to cycle to get to work whether you want to or not, its easier to get that exercise in. I'm not a leisure cyclist. I don't dress up in spandex and ride an expensive bike. In fact, I have difficulty containing my derision for leisure cyclists. I know that the equipment they use has utility, but it also signals: I don't have to ride a bike. I have an expensive SUV at home, and I didn't lose my drivers license to a DUI.
    • atty 6y ago
      If anything, I would think “i didn’t lose my license to a DUI but I like to get some cardio” is a good thing, and any derision should be aimed at people who actually did endanger themselves and others by driving under the influence. I am very confused by your attitude.
      • jonnycomputer 6y ago
        The information it signals is fine. I like people without DUIs who are getting cardio too. What I don't like is the signalling. I come from a poor neighborhood. The signalling is tightly wrapped up in class attitudes. Frankly, its also something that poor people can't afford to participate in. And I believe it also gets in the way of greater acceptance of bicycling as commuting. I remember several years ago, my work place had a "bike to work day". The gear and getups on display looked like a parade of peacocks, and certainly had very little to do in spirit with biking to work. Perhaps it also irks me that these leisure cyclists will say crap about my cheap bike ... as I pass them on the road.
    • kataklasm 6y ago
      I created an account solely to reply here. What? How did you get around to such an explicit and unfounded gate-keeping of cycling? Cycling is only 'good' if it has the purpose of commute? Cycling is only 'good' if you have a cheap bicycle? Sorry to be this direct, but this is utter nonsense! I do not have an expensive SUV at home, I don't even own a driver's license, and I don't own a super expensive bike either, but I still go out in lycra to use my road bike as a training utility (almost) every day. Why is it that we as cyclists have to gate-keep each other at every step and corner? Both hating on cyclists in general and and gate-keeping in cycling itself is stupid and should not exist, let's just embrace cycling whether we are on a super expensive road bike or a cheap mountain bike we bought second-hand.
      • jonnycomputer 6y ago
        Welcome to HN. In a post complaining about gate-keeping in cycling--that leisure cycling reinforces the idea that there is only kind of cycling that is totally above board, not sketchy--I get criticized for gate keeping. Maybe instead, gear head cyclists should introspect more on their hobby and how it reinforces class barriers.
        • nobody865215698 6y ago
          Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, people dress in spandex to ride because that's what they've found works best for them, and not because they want to make you feel insecure about your your bike or your clothing or that you should get off the road? What you're saying is analogous to saying that because there are people who can't afford nice clothes you should dress as cheaply as possible, otherwise someone might feel that you're gatekeeping being dressed out in public. As a fairly experienced road cyclist, I honestly don't care in the least what people ride or how they dress, I only care that they don't act stupid things around me. At the most I might compliment someone on their speed and that's about it.
          • visarga 6y ago
            You can have perfect equality by lowering everyone to the lowest denominator. yay
    • bagacrap 6y ago
      Your attitude is really rather appalling and it seems you're even suggesting that you did lose your driver's license to a DUI.
      • jonnycomputer 6y ago
        I've never had a DUI. But I come from a neighborhood with many problems. I see many things. Maybe leisure cyclists should spend more time critiquing their own culture a bit more. Have a little more introspection into how their hobby affects other people, reinforces class barriers.
        • visarga 6y ago
          What, they can't have their own identity? They shouldn't feel free to express themselves as they want?
    • zebnyc 6y ago
      I am having a hard time following what you are trying to communicate. Apparently some one performing an activity cause it is leisure / you come from a poor neighborhood / they can afford nice(r) things, invites your derision. Did I understand you correctly? I am not sure how those factors are related but apparently they are to you. Must be hard to find someone / something which escapes your contempt.
      • jonnycomputer 6y ago
        I expected defensiveness when I said what I did. Its also what I got. After all, no one likes to hear that the groups they belong to are the object of ridicule, contempt or derision, or that some one might think that their hobby is a problem; it might come as a short of shock that other people might think that way about them. Get over it. It is not simply a matter of some people getting to do what they enjoy. It is the system of symbols tied to a specific activity. Everyone likes to ride bikes, poor, middle class, and rich. How do the middle class and rich make sure that no-one mistakes them for the kind of person who cannot afford a car? By the price of the bike, and all the specialized equipment they use along with it. Of course that equipment has practical utility--no one says that it doesn't--but that equipment is playing another, probably more important role as a signal of status (if you don't believe me, go biking with your cyclist buddies wearing jeans and riding $400 bike.) So why is it a problem? Because it creates an environment that is not positive, possibly even dangerous, for other cyclists who cannot afford to, or are not willing to, participate in that cycling economy. It isn't really that complicated. Let me put it another way. Who do the police stop when riding through the neighborhood. The cyclist on his or her expensive bike, wearing their expensive equipment, that practically scream: I'm participating in a lifestyle activity? Or the cyclist on a cheap bike, wearing jeans and a t-shirt? Maybe with the wrong skin color. The answer quite obviously is the second.
    • dropofwill 6y ago
      Do you feel the same way about people that wear cleats for soccer? Or should they just tough it out in dress shoes? Like i get you read it as some sort class signaling, but i think that says more about you than the person wearing it. Seriously cycling kit can be super cheap and makes a huge difference in comfort.
  • Camas 6y ago
    Easier to exercise when there's a purpose to it.
    • bagacrap 6y ago
      Like your health and longevity?
      • Sebb767 6y ago
        An immediately visible purpose. Saving for your retirement is important, as well, but spending money on food (which you need) is still more fun. Also, cycling on your commute forces you to do so. For your health, cycling a tour "tomorrow" is just as fine. But it does not serve well as a motivator. Cycling to work, on the other hand, forces you to do that now.
  • scatters 6y ago
    Yes, exactly; it's completely up to you. Having exercise as part of your commute means that you don't get to put it off because you're busy with work, or you've got chores to run, or you don't feel like it, and then a few days go by and you've lost the habit.
  • npsimons 6y ago
    Exactly! You can go both ways with this: at my house, I have exercise equipment, up to and including a barbell and plates. If I feel like grinding out some sets real quick, I can. There is absolutely no comparison to working in an office.
    • jonnycomputer 6y ago
      I have gym weights near my desk, and do curls etc. a few times a day; wouldn't do that in the office (maybe I would if I had a private office)
      • npsimons 6y ago
        Chin up bar, dumb bells, etc, etc. Just too much to have at an office. And the mention of the kitchen in the post is spot on too - it's just way too convenient to have my full kitchen at home for a quick smoothie. Some projects at my job don't even have a refrigerator for Pete's sake!
• ascotan 6y ago
  For everyone that complains about interacting with colleagues. I feel that this can be addressed by having managers do periodic offsite meet-ups. However there are those people that comes to the office to talk all day, and honestly, for everyone else's productivity, it's better they work from home.
  • npsimons 6y ago
    My boss on a project roped me into hobby chat as I was taking a five minute break to stretch my legs. He turned it into 40 (!) minutes of non-work chit chat. I don't want to be unfriendly, but I'm at work to get shit done because I'm getting paid. If someone wants to talk hobbies, we can do that another time.
    • ryanmercer 6y ago
      >My boss on a project roped me into hobby chat as I was taking a five minute break to stretch my legs. He turned it into 40 (!) minutes of non-work chit chat. I've had this happen in the past with managers doing reviews. While in these cases I've usually enjoyed the conversation and been at least as guilty as them as derailing the focus, it's still time where I could be doing work instead of discussing common interests/experiences with them. It's not like we're ever going to hang out outside of work so us discussing local shows we both were at two decades ago, or our morel hunting success this year, or what variety of potatoes we're planting, is just taking us both away from work (sure, sometime that is needed just to get in a different headspace, but the shareholders probably don't care about that).
• sologoub 6y ago
  Pandemic is the only thing preventing organized lunch with coworkers. Nothing about wfh prevents it - just agree on a place and time. Internet is a problem, but a solvable one - assuming you are in the US, we need competition for ISPs. I had ATT fiber for a while and it was for all practical purposes as good as office (symmetric gigabit). Cycling has been covered :) Separation - door closed to the space I work in works great for me. When I didn’t have that, putting everything away and leaving the work space for a few hours did the trick - it’s all in mental discipline.
  • srg0 6y ago
    > just agree on a place and time It would require a commute longer than that of going to the office. An average employee has already organized their life around the necessity of commuting to the office. Office is probably a central location. Most workers will be found within a circle of the tolerable commute time (isotropy assumption). Let for simplicity assume that all workers live at the same distance R from the office, and are distributed uniformly along that circle. The angular distance between any two employees is distributed uniformly in [0, pi]. Chord length is R 2 sin (theta/2). Integrating, we calculate the average distance between two employees: 4R/pi > R.
    • sologoub 6y ago
      So meet by the original office location? Why is it always being positioned as a choice - it’s completely a false dichotomy.
  • jonnycomputer 6y ago
    But in practice it is will happen less frequently, and will be a longer commute for most. Not least because many people live in the suburbs, but work in places where places to eat are nearby. On the plus, many more lunches with spouse and children.
  • asdff 6y ago
    Before the pandemic it was hard enough to get people to stick around for a few hours after work to grab a beer. I can't imagine having people drop what they are doing for over an hour just to have a half hour lunch in a central spot. Adult coworkers do not drop everything in front of them for a short good time like college friends would have.
• nprateem 6y ago
  I miss: * The office hotties
  • jonnycomputer 6y ago
    I have one office-hottie. My wife.
• shard 6y ago
  The absolute best thing about WFH: naps whenever I need it. No more slogging through the post-lunch mid-afternoon slump. I take a 15 minute nap and am good to go for the rest of the afternoon. Also, early meetings at 6~7AM scheduled to work with European coworkers can be followed by a short nap afterwards as well. This has done wonders for my energy throughout the day.
  • jonnycomputer 6y ago
    I should try it.
  • bad_username 6y ago
    Power naps are glorious. In China taking a nap after lunch, right at your desk, is common and accepted practice.
    • mywittyname 6y ago
      So are the 996 work weeks.
      • desi_ninja 6y ago
        one good thing, one bad thing - ruled out ?
        • mywittyname 6y ago
          I mean, "working 12 hour days, six days a week" - "naps after lunch" = "in the office 12 hours a day, six days a week, but only working 11 hours a day." Not a trade that I'd make.
  • datagram 6y ago
    You can have this in an office setting too, just a matter of not having a stigma around it, and perhaps some dedicated spaces. In my office, nobody really bats an eye if someone decides that they're too sleepy to be productive and just takes a short nap.
• Johnny555 6y ago
  - my commute: I cycled into work, and the daily exercise was great - my commute: I cycled into work, and the daily ride was sometimes a grind, in cold or wet weather. And it takes a lot of time I too used to bike in to work, but since the pandemic, I've replaced that commute ride with riding on my own (which is nicer than the commute was since I can stick to off road paths and not ride the busy roads near work). But now that I'm full time remote, I have another option -- I have a spinning bike, so when the weather is bad, I can ride indoors.
  • jonnycomputer 6y ago
    I've taken up jogging. Their are some trails nearby, and a highschool running track.
    • Johnny555 6y ago
      I used to run quite a bit but my knees can't take it anymore, biking (so far) is fine. Based on family history, there's probably knee surgery in my future, but for now I'm fine with biking.
      • jonnycomputer 6y ago
        I also have knee problems. Hope all the best for you.
• ryandrake 6y ago
  As a WFH advocate, I totally support you having the option to work from the office. A lot of people really like the office and have been having a really bad time this past year and you should totally go back. We just want the choice, too! Almost no WFH advocates are asking to force everyone to WFH. They just want the option to do what works best for themselves. The people pushing to return to the office, however, tend to want to force everyone back to the office. That’s what we’re complaining about.
  • jonnycomputer 6y ago
    I like WFH. But I also feel like it would be nice to go in occasionally. Some things are just easier that way. But my commute is 40 minute bike ride, or 15 min car ride. Not like the hour commute I used to have in Los Angeles.
  • ashconnor 6y ago
    "Almost no WFH advocates are asking to force everyone to WFH." *raises hand* the hybrid model of WFH is likely to revert to everyone back in the office as people realise that those that go into the office have an advantage over remote employees via side of desk conversations, building rapport with management and the general perception that those in the office are "working harder".
    • occz 6y ago
      I think the option of being in-office does not have to be incompatible with having remote workers not be disadvantaged, but I think it might be the result of 'doing nothing', if that makes sense. The default option, if you will. Explicitly stating that remote workers are first-class citizens along with the infrastructure to make that come true I think is doable.
    • SkyPuncher 6y ago
      I can see companies doing an office share. Basically, like co-working space/conference space. Get everyone in the office for 1 or 2 days/week. When your company isn't there, another company is using the space.
• Asooka 6y ago
  Regarding communication, I find I actually communicate with people more when remote than not. Walking over to someone's desk is pretty distracting, while firing a quick message and waiting for when they're free has nearly zero cost. Plus with video chat we can share both our screens at the same time so we can see what the other person sees, which is very valuable for diagnosing problems that only happen to one person. I can't videochat at the office because the noise will absolutely disturb my other colleagues, but it's trivial at home. It's almost like having infinite quiet isolated meeting rooms that you don't have to reserve in advance.