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Morning and a very happy Friday to you!

Nothing terribly special going on here.  Napped a little bit yesterday.  I got woken up with several emails flowing in.  One of them was a reminder from my boss that his boss and his bosses boss asked him to pass on that was a reminder we need to be in the office three days a week.  Since they are leaders they need to set an example.  They were asked to remind their teams/staff.  I think this stemmed from them finding out that an executive wasn’t meeting this goal so it’s time to send a reminder to try to scare the rest of us.  There was some verbiage in the email which I can use to my advantage that says “back office positions” can work from home, I know it doesn’t apply to my specific position.  However, my position is very much a back office position, I’m in the shadows lurking.  I’m there virtually every day of the work week and always watching even when I am not working.  I always go above and beyond.  It just makes no sense to waste time, energy and gas to travel to a box in the sky where I sit in a closet that they call an office for 3 days a week.  I don’t have enough work to occupy my every second and there is lots of free time.  I’m not stupid to ask for more work so that I am drowning all the time.  I don’t want that kind of pressure.  Still all it takes is one person to blow the whistle on me and I’m cooked.  Not sure if that will mean I am asked to get back to the office or if they would truly kick me to the curb.  I know I should probably heed the warning but as of right now I am just planning on keeping up what I have been doing, no one is complaining per se.  We get these types of reminders periodically about all sorts of silly crap.  It has added to my list of worry.  I’ve been away so long that it would really be tough to go back one day let alone 3 days.  Besides that if you trust me enough to let me work 2 days from home then there should be no difference with the other 3 days of the week. 

The whole RTO (Return To Office) is because companies signed leases for space and they want to occupy them.  It’s not my fault you signed a lease for a ton of space that we honestly don’t need.  They could downsize the space and save money.  They won’t.  It’s funny that ever since the whole pandemic and remote work thing came about that year over year we keep making record breaking profits.  I know that I am not the only one who abuses the system and doesn’t go in, there are others.  My work still gets done, I’m quick to respond and often finish ahead of deadlines.  That’s not because I am working from home it’s because it’s who I am and who they hired.  The only thing that has changed is the fact I don’t wake up an hour early to travel in and spend an hour traveling home.  Corporate America does a lot of stupid and wasteful things the RTO movement is one of them. I have thought for a very long time that eventually we will revoke remote work entirely and require everyone to come back to the office full time but thus far it hasn’t happened.  People like remote work and the flexibility that it offers, it’s a great perk.

Speaking of work, the new guy is out today.  Sounds like this was unplanned.  It’s just me and the mistake maker.  No word on salary increases just yet but I am hoping that I get that call today.  It should happen soon if not today then next week for sure.  I’m on call next week but it’s a 4 work week day.  Were off on Friday for Juneteenth.  I have nothing planned yet but it leads right into my vacation time, which including weekends will be 10 full days off.  I know I won’t want to go back even if I am working remote and I know there will be an avalanche of email to wade through.  It’s the punishment for taking time off.  However, it’s my benefit and I plan to try to use every hour of time that I am given. 

When I take time called PTO which is short for Personal Time Off, in my case it stands for Prepare The Others.  Its usually at time when something hits the fan and not in a good way.  I’m not saying I am irreplaceable or unable to be fired, I’m saying that I am a vital part of our team and have a lot of working knowledge.  If all of that walks out the door I can tell you that things will seriously be fucked up.  Its noticeable every time I am out of the office.

I’m closing out this venting and worry and heading back to goofing off while I keep an eye on work before I head up to be with the cats.  They are longing for me.  Imagine how lost they would be if I had to go back 3 days a week, I know they would adjust but it would be difficult for all of us at first. 

Have a great day and weekend!