WFH

Long before it was the "Covid" thing to do I have had the opportunity to work from home. Though I really did like the concept, I thought that getting out of the house on a daily basis was the better option. There was also the fact that if you worked from home full time that you would lose your workspace and have to use a "hoteling" station if you did require office presence on any particular day. With close to 30 years of accumulated "stuff" this seemed like a not so simple endeavor. Enter Pandemic Working in IT it really makes no difference where I am located to perform work. The amount of work normally hanging in the wings does not allow for much slacking as well. From my perspective working from home simply meant that on the rare occasion that I do look up from the keyboard, the scenery will have changed. With the pandemic stretching throughout the entire year of 2020 and with no signs of stopping any time soon (or ever at this point), I have finally opted to work from home full time. My getting out of the house every day routine has pretty much turned into stepping out on the deck to let my eyes focus on something that is more that two feet in front of my face. Times be a changing and I hope that others are able to adapt without much difficulty. I have turned my front sunroom (which was simply a porch that was made into a room by the previous owners) into an extension of my previous office which is only 10 minutes up the road on a good day. A nice thing about that is that I am now in charge of facilities. If I want something different, I can change it and I do not need consent. As far as the 30 years of buildup, I made a final trip into the office to get most of the things I needed or wanted to keep. The rest of the things I threw away figuring that if I have not touched or seen it in 30 years, why keep it. The only thing of real value to me was to make sure I get all of the plaques and certificates which I have accumulated over the years. These are a constant reminder of the blood sweat and tears that got me to where I am today... though I am having a problem with convincing myself that I should hang them in my new front office. Especially now that I am playing the facilities role as well. Toy Stories 2021 was also the year I cleaned up my collection of toys. The first to go was my boat named Overtime. When I got her she was a beautiful 19 foot Citation with cuddy. Well it was beautiful when I got her but due to lack of use and rogue animals it was pretty much getting to be an eyesore. It was depressing seeing such neglect but I simply did not have the time to keep up on it. I let it go for a whopping price of free. It however made me happy to see that the new owner is working on her and can hopefully get her back to shape and extend the years of fun she provided. Good luck girl, I will miss you. As you know, you had a very "special" place in my life. Next to go was my 23ft Mallard camper. Slightly newer in age than the boat but not in as good of shape when I bought it. It took close to 3 years to rebuild the entire camper and a boatload of money. I did not mind that I would never recoup the money I put into it, I did it so I could enjoy it. I sold it for a miniscule fraction of the original price, but like the boat I hated to see it deteriorate. The new owner who is a neighbor has already started cleaning it up and I am sure he can now partake in the enjoyment it provided. Finally... the golf cart. My original camping spot did not allow gas powered carts so I bought a used electric club car. After a few years I had to replace the batteries which is an enormous expense but worth it. The ability to ride around the campgrounds instead of walking (though I realize the latter is healthier) was worth the price of the cart. It also required some customization to make it the way I want it but less than all of the other toys. While I sold everything for a fraction of what I paid (seems to always be the case for me) I can honestly say that I got my monies out of all of them, so the money lost was still worth the enjoyment gained.