“Remoted - Hybrid” – Day 546 (Monday)

What do we call this first day of the new hybrid schedule? The new schedule splits the week between days working in the office and days working remote and I don’t know how to label the time anymore. Maybe now it’s just Monday? It’s a new chapter of an ongoing adventure, that’s for sure.

King of the upstairs.

Overall, it was a good Monday but Winston knew something was up right away.  After his breakfast, which for three mornings has involved him refusing to eat from his bowl and only eating from my hand, he snuck upstairs instead of sitting with me on the couch while I drank coffee. He likes to sit at the top of the stairs or slink off into the bedroom. 

It required coaxing him downstairs by saying the word “cookies” about 100 times and basically begging. When I hijacked him with the pee wrap and then lied that I would “be right back” as I was leaving, I felt like a terrible, deceitful human. 

The old preferred route downtown that avoids both the university and the high school, planted me squarely in a massive traffic jam. I bailed and backtracked to a different bridge and eventually arrived at the parking garage two miles from the house after 20 minutes of travel. Walking from the garage and then back to it at day’s end represent a significant increase in physical activity which feels like a win. I still need to return to taking the stairs to the fourth floor, and once back in that groove, there will be cause to really celebrate.

Part of the morning was spent moving the contents of my desk and file cabinet from one side of the office space to the other to accommodate some desk shuffling. The distance isn’t far and the resulting paper purge was liberating. The computer at the new desk seems weird and my Outlook calendar is messed up, and assistance from the Help Desk was required for printer access, but none of this is a big problem.

There are “Welcome Week” activities happening all this week, and this afternoon the Cookie Monstah truck was in the parking lot. There was a variety of made to order treats featuring big scoops of ice cream between two amazing homemade cookies. They were 100% photo worthy and yet, despite having my phone tucked into the waistband of my women’s pocket-free capris, I managed to not take any pictures of them. It was a definite two-handed snack, so there was no chance of photos while tackling one.

Back at home, Winston was happy to see me, prancing and tapping his feet and acting excited. His bed had been moved across the kitchen. Maybe he was sensing my move across the office. It was a wonderful welcome home, but since supper he’s made himself scarce. It’s possible we’ve advanced to the punishment for today’s crime. Maybe I can atone for it tomorrow.