EH - Essex > Hebrides...the next step of the adventure?

RelievedSheff

Glad you have not got C19.

There are some really bad bugs doing the rounds though this year. You can tell people have been letting their guards down.

We feel we have been very fortunate that we have been in a position where the last couple of years have not really affected us too badly. I was able to work full time from home  and although the other half was furloughed for a long time we were able to more than manage with the 80% wage he got. It did us a favour in a lot of ways as it gave him the time to decorate our new build from top to bottom.

We were glad that we had the dog as he gave us a reason to go out every day. We had to for his needs.And it gave us the push at weekends to go out and explore our local area. We were lucky that we have some stunning countryside walks right on our doorstep and we have private outside space at home to enjoy as and when the weather allowed.

The lack of anywhere to go and spend money on also meant that we made big inroads into paying down our debts and has put us on a much better financial footing than at the start of the pandemic. It was a bit of a wake up call for us.

savingholmes

Sorry you're ill. I was similar 2 weeks ago. Hopefully you will feel better in a few days.

There is a lot of combined wisdom on here

boxofpaws

I too have been working from home, and no set return date yet. I love wfh. If we’d been in the office, there is no way I could have returned after my Dad died, I spent around 6 months crying all day. I did have to go into a sad empty office in January when mr Paws went back to work after his craniotomy but didn’t have a driving licence and it was very bad for my mental health, hence him getting the e bike 

We’ve been told we need to go back 2 days a week. I can’t imagine what it will be like. If there is only ever 20-30% of the workforce there, that’ll be depressing surely.

Have people’s workplaces been quite empty now they’re returning? What’s it been like? 

greenbee

I was already technically home-based at the start of the pandemic, but in reality mostly travelling. As I started lockdown with Covid and 10 weeks of isolation until I was symptom free, I was incredibly grateful for the outside space I had - and the good weather! Luckily I’m used to remote working, so haven’t suffered as a result of that, although it’s been hard getting some colleagues to understand remote best practices. Thankfully they’re all finally getting used to it. I also changed jobs last October, and of my new team, have only met my boss (who I already knew and lives near me). Thankfully no furlough, and negotiated PILON as well as redundancy, so made progress on mortgage OPs - and being around was motivated (and able) to get on with the house and garden.

It’s generally been positive for me (apart from the long covid, which is getting boring), but I have to admit I was relieved to get out of next week’s US trip on the advice of the chronic fatigue service - something I wouldn’t have thought twice about in the past, and I’m fairly nervous about my cousin’s wedding today. So room for improvement!

RelievedSheff

boxofpaws said:

I too have been working from home, and no set return date yet. I love wfh. If we’d been in the office, there is no way I could have returned after my Dad died, I spent around 6 months crying all day. I did have to go into a sad empty office in January when mr Paws went back to work after his craniotomy but didn’t have a driving licence and it was very bad for my mental health, hence him getting the e bike 

We’ve been told we need to go back 2 days a week. I can’t imagine what it will be like. If there is only ever 20-30% of the workforce there, that’ll be depressing surely.

Have people’s workplaces been quite empty now they’re returning? What’s it been like? 

We are back with 100% in the office.

There have been surprisingly few Covid cases as well.

Cheery_Daff

We were already able to work from home a fair bit of time anyway. Mostly we're just in the (large, open plan) office when in for teaching, so there's never that many of us there at the same time. Had quite a few colleagues go down with covid recently - lots of students had it this time last year living in halls etc, but we were teaching online and not mixing with them. Now we're in classrooms - opening windows when we can, but not always as spread out as I'd like and very few of the students are wearing masks, so not surprised it's spreading round us a bit more.  Thankfully I've avoided it so far, although I did have a nasty cold a couple of weeks ago and a lingering cough (and yes, multiple tests including PCR came back negative). It was nice not having a cold last winter! 😂

rtandon27

We had a gradual re-integration back to the office over several months.  First, one day a week, then 2-3 and then back to whatever our norm was pre-pandemic, which for me is 4 days in the office & 1 at home.  Now that we are back in the office 'full-time', it is more noticeable when someone goes down with Covid, but I'm not sure that it's any more than were previously catching it.  In the office we have fairly strict mask & cleaning policies, as it's an open plan office.  I'm very thankful for that as at the very least, our office feels safer than the long train commute does!  I've had a recurrent sore throat for weeks now, but as the twice weekly lft tests are all negative & no other symptoms, I'm going to blame it on the constant mask use, which seems to make my mouth very dry.

Sun_Addict

We are back one day a week for now. I’ve had days when I’ve been on my own all day with a whole wing of an office to myself, it was pretty depressing to be honest. At some stage we’ll be back 2-3 days with the rest WFH permanently. 

savingholmes

boxofpaws said:

I too have been working from home, and no set return date yet. I love wfh. If we’d been in the office, there is no way I could have returned after my Dad died, I spent around 6 months crying all day. I did have to go into a sad empty office in January when mr Paws went back to work after his craniotomy but didn’t have a driving licence and it was very bad for my mental health, hence him getting the e bike 

We’ve been told we need to go back 2 days a week. I can’t imagine what it will be like. If there is only ever 20-30% of the workforce there, that’ll be depressing surely.

Have people’s workplaces been quite empty now they’re returning? What’s it been like? 

Sounds like you've been through a really rough time. 

I was nervous about going back to the office. Less than 10% are in at the moment I reckon so it has actually been quite nice (says a proper introvert). I love social distancing - the kind of space bubble people should have been giving me all along LOL. Those who are in are grateful for a bit of conversation so you get to bond with some people you might not have had much to do with before. I only occasionally have to go in though.

girlatplay

savingholmes said:

boxofpaws said:

I too have been working from home, and no set return date yet. I love wfh. If we’d been in the office, there is no way I could have returned after my Dad died, I spent around 6 months crying all day. I did have to go into a sad empty office in January when mr Paws went back to work after his craniotomy but didn’t have a driving licence and it was very bad for my mental health, hence him getting the e bike 

We’ve been told we need to go back 2 days a week. I can’t imagine what it will be like. If there is only ever 20-30% of the workforce there, that’ll be depressing surely.

Have people’s workplaces been quite empty now they’re returning? What’s it been like? 

Sounds like you've been through a really rough time. 

I was nervous about going back to the office. Less than 10% are in at the moment I reckon so it has actually been quite nice (says a proper introvert). I love social distancing - the kind of space bubble people should have been giving me all along LOL. Those who are in are grateful for a bit of conversation so you get to bond with some people you might not have had much to do with before. I only occasionally have to go in though.

Introvert here too.  I've been washing my hands and avoiding people for years!  I was delighted when masks were made a thing 😂