Test Week
I'm back from San Francisco and eager to see if the trip helps me get through this week. I suspect it will, if for no other reason than I have some small, specific tasks to work on which will be relatively easy to complete. Many small successes are exactly what I need right now.
It was great to see some of my colleagues face-to-face, too. I often say that 90% of the time, working from home is perfect. The other 10% of the time, I miss the random conversations that happen when you're in the office. As great as e-mail, phone, and especially IM are, they're no substitute from gophering—popping up from your cube to say to a neighbor, "hey, do you know how...?" For one thing, you're likely to get an answer faster. For another—and this is the really important part—the person you ask might not be the one who answers. Instead, someone within earshot may say, "oh, I know..." And if nobody within earshot knows, someone will at least make a suggestion about who does.
In addition to gophering, there are also serendipitous conversations that happen, sometimes because someone you haven't seen in a while stops by to say hello, or, more often, because you overhear others talking about something interesting and join in. I so miss those "oh hey, I was just thinking about that, too!" moments... to the extent that when I'm visiting the office, I spend a good portion of my time daydreaming about moving back to the Bay Area. I forget that 90% of the time, working at home is perfect for me.
So anyway, I'm back in Philadelphia, and I'm looking forward to this week. Looking forward to diving back into the code with renewed vigor, to appreciating the benefits of working at home, to wearing non-waterproof mascara with confidence. Oh, and I'm looking forward to turning 39 on Friday.
My motto for the week (which may only be appreciated by my fellow engineers):
with props to Chris Bank for the inspiration