It's all coming together now....

[gothams3rdrobin]

Work finally arranged for a computer to be installed here today, ready for when I start working from home. Still don't know when that's going to be, though they reckon it should be by the end of the month. *sigh* I know they need to get as many possible issues resolved before we 'go live' as they can, but honestly, the phrase 'couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery' springs to mind...

I still don't know exactly how my shifts are going to be organised, or where exactly I'm going to get my work from. I could probably talk to the Operations Manager who put me through for the trial, but I don't know if he knows any more than I do. The woman co-ordinating us certainly doesn't! I'm really hoping I can shuffle my hours a little so I can get Thursday off as well as Friday, as this will help me with my studies - if I can manage to hold down two courses this year and next, I'll be graduating by the end of next year. Plus if I can sufficiently increase my hours, there's a good chance I'll be able to move. Need to be closer to wherever the hell it is I'm going to be sending Rowan to high school anyway - I've only got a year and nine months, and I have to start the application process in nine months time.

Those of you who also have experience with working from home for long periods of time; do you have any suggestions for what works best at lunchtimes? If I stay home to study or clean I have a bad habit of not bothering to eat, or maybe snacking on something unhealthy. I'm also trying to lose some weight through calorie counting - started off quite well, but I do tend to go on a bit of a binge over Christmas. I've been cutting bread and dairy out of my diet as best I can, as I've noticed it makes me somewhat congested and sluggish. My nose is a lot less blocked these days, and any time I eat a sandwich or some toast I feel a bit rubbish. It's quite wierd, actually; one time I ended up eating a breakfast bap, followed by a sandwich for lunch, then some toast for tea, and my sinuses went nuts! I had a headache for days afterwards.

I won't be able to walk as much as I do at the moment, as my current routine has me attempt to walk between the office and Rowan's school at least once a day, if not twice. Can't do that between school and home due to very steep hills - I used to walk home from this district when I was at my first high school, when I was living down where Rowan's school is, as it was mostly downhill. But in order to get to that long downhill part, you had to walk halfway across this estate (which took me half an hour on a good day last year when it snowed) then up a long hill to the top of the downhill leg of the journey.... I did it sometimes in the summer when I wanted to spend my bus fare on a Mr Freeze ice pop - but as you can imagine it wasn't a habit!

The upside is that it will make my online shopping a lot easier, even if work are somewhat disapproving of that idea. I should therefore be able to keep ingredients to hand much, much easier.

Right now, however, Matilda is snoring as she snoozes across my arms, and I almost fell asleep watching Transformers with Rowan. Looking forward to a lie-in tomorrow!

Comments

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

Tom would leave a comment but you don't appear to be mutually friended :p

He tends to make up a bowl of salad (lettuce and spinach) and keep it in the fridge, and then add stuff like feta cheese and carrots and chicken to it for lunches. It's easier to have stuff made up ahead of time.

[gothams3rdrobin.livejournal.com]

.... that's bizarre, as I sure as hell didn't un-friend him. I've fixed that now, anyway.

Yeah, I've been doing something similar for the office; bag of mixed leaves and some other stuff thrown in. Didn't always have the time, as I don't much like eating food I prepared the day before - I'm strange like that :-p So much easier to throw that stuff together when I'm home though.

[mcganndoc.livejournal.com]

I find it easier to make up a bowl or two of basic salad (lettuce, spinach, maybe some chopped onion greens) on the Sunday before the week starts. Then I can put whatever I want in it, like lunch meat, tomatoes, carrots,etc. I advise eating first before you get started on other projects. My breaks are very structured so I prioritize what I need to do. Also, if your work schedule requires you to be at your desk/computer most of the time (mine does), you'll probably need to factor in your visits to the bathroom with your scheduled breaks and lunch times. You will probably want to have a drink available, possibly in a non spill container, and possibly a bottle of aspirin/paracetamol at hand as well. For drinks I usually use sugar free drink mixes in a bottle of water, which is less fattening than milk, sugar, etc. Hope this helps :-).

[gothams3rdrobin.livejournal.com]

Hey hon - yeah, at the moment I only get fifteen minutes break (perils of only working a four hour shift), so I pretty much only have time to eat, perhaps read a couple of things on an online newspaper at the same time. I don't know what it'll be like once I'm home, but I doubt it'll be much different. Going to the canteen to buy some food always means I have to eat it while I work, which is permitted, but never fun.

The good thing about my flat being so tiny is that I have less distance between my desk and the kitchen sink than I currently do to the office water cooler. And the bathroom's equally close, so that shouldn't be a problem either :-)

[mcganndoc.livejournal.com]

That's good. Let me know if you need to know more about working from home since I've been working from home for a while :-).

[gothams3rdrobin.livejournal.com]

Thanks hon :-)

[aprilmay430.livejournal.com]

I think almost every company I've worked for has been just as disorganized when it comes to starting something new. Today, I got an e-mail from my supervisor saying that our computer update that was supposed to be installed last month now won't be ready until probably March. That didn't surprise me.

For my lunches, I usually have something I can stick in the microwave for a few minutes - usually something frozen like Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones. I also sometimes make myself a sandwich, although that wouldn't be a good idea for you if you're trying to cut down on bread. :/

Good luck with this! I think you're going to like working at home. :)

[gothams3rdrobin.livejournal.com]

I try to avoid things like Lean Cuisine for the simple calories issue - while they're lower in calories than the alternatives, they're still pretty high. I used to buy salads in the
supermarket on the way to work, but it shocked me when I started logging my intake just how different it was between them and ones I'd managed to find time to make at home. And sandwiches... man they're high in calories, even when homemade! :-/

Thanks! It's certainly going to be interesting!

[fair-witness.livejournal.com]

These days I'm on a sandwich kick. It doesn't take me long to put 'em together, and if I can take a decent lunch break, I eat in the living room and relax on the couch. Sandwiches are nicely portable so I can also take them to my desk if I have to work over my lunch break. At other times, it's leftovers that are easily reheatable (especially curry or chili), or salads.

[gothams3rdrobin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think salads and leftovers are going to be what I go with the most. I really don't like how bread effects my nose - even after cutting it out of my diet briefly. Amazes me that I never noticed before.