Tuesday Thoughts 06
This is my first full week - with my team, with other team members - at our new office building. For months we've been split between two buildings. Officially we haven't been "kicked out" of the old office, as some people have to work out of that location - the renovations here to support them aren't complete. But considering there are days when I'm the only person on the floor I'm happy to be out of there permanently, even if it means a longer commute both ways on the major highway through the city. Other people have longer to travel than I do, so I don't have a lot to complain about.
I no longer have my own private office, as the building uses an open office floor plan. Meaning that when I choose a desk, I'm sitting out in the open. This means I am now super self-conscious about having any windows open other than Microsoft apps and my main work software. These monitors are pretty big and people can easily see what you're working on. So, I try to fill my day, but there are times (like right now, as I write this) when my day is devoid of work. At this point I'm just staying online to keep an eye on things in case an "emergency" comes up (which is not often).
It's going to take some getting used to, even if I have been doing it once a week; but I'll get there.
¶
Speaking of that commute. It's been a while since I've had a commute longer than 10-15 minutes. Right now, depending on when I leave and if there's some sort of mishap on the highway, it takes between 20-25 minutes. That's a really good commute! But this means that I'm able to listen to more podcasts than I have previously. I have a backlog to work through (I say, as if listening to podcasts was "work"), and in most cases I won't be able to listen to an entire episode in one commute; but I'm looking forward to being able to listen to podcasts more often.
But today I'm not going to be listening to a podcast, I'm switching on some loud music. I'm grateful that I'm able to use Android Auto for this - although yesterday it failed me. I couldn't figure out why - suddenly when I left in the morning Android Auto wouldn't connect to my car. There was nothing wrong with the USB-C cable - it charged the phone just fine. I tried removing the device from the car's bluetooth and Android Auto listing, but nothing worked. I was afraid that something happened with the car's infotainment system (it's a 2018 car, so it's possible).
Thankfully the solution was to clear Android Auto's cache on my phone. Once I did that it worked. I guess it must have got stuck when it last connected to our newer vehicle that has wireless Android Auto. That's the story I'm sticking with, anyway. Whatever, it works! I'm happy.
¶
More about the new office location. It's such a breath of fresh air to be here compared to our old location. Where we used to be was mostly an industrial / commercial area, without very much around. I would go for walks, sure, but there's not much around at all. In this new location, it's a bustling retail area with homes behind. It's great. There are so many places to visit (or even just walk by) compared to the old location. There's even a book store I intend to check out. And not to mention all of the different coffee shops (other than Starbucks) that are in walking distance.
Overall there are far more positives to this change than negatives, and I'm looking forward to what a full year will be like.
Only 1½ weeks until I'm off for two weeks.
Reply by email Share this post
Or if you prefer, find me on Mastodon.