Return to work dilemma

[Food Lady]

UPDATE: I picked up the monitor and docking port today and did manage to get them to fit with even my own laptop on the desk at the same time. But the monitor is at least 18" and it's just ridiculous. It was sitting in my windowsill which is already dented and scratched up by my window fan and all these cords and the power strip and stuff. I just unhooked it and put them under the snack bar on the floor and worked the rest of the day on my laptop. Well, I was able to get my 14" TV to serve as a monitor by using the VGA cable from the office. I have to keep the monster monitor "as a backup". I hate having to be responsible for that thing. If the TV situation stops working, I'm just using the laptop. It will be fine. The best thing is that the TV weighs 5 lb tops. Also, in this week's meeting, Boss said they are working on getting us all back in the office so I know my work-from-home days are limited.

Original post:
Boss Man says people above him insist we have two screens at least because one little laptop hampers productivity. I disagree. I know full well that having to deal with the same clients over and over is a big part of the problem, and the other part is me getting distracted. Basically, I don't want to bring home a big, heavy monitor and charging port. I don't really have room for this equipment. I can squeeze it onto my tiny desk in my room but I can't really clear it off at the end of my workday. At the moment I stick my laptop in my closet and I'm done. I would have to leave the monitor up, in the way of my after-work projects. There is really nowhere else to go in the house because the dining table would need to be cleared off and so would the snack bar. Mom's desk isn't bigger than mine and her desktop is there. There's a desk cubby but it would be my too-small desk, same as in my room. Beside all that, being out there is not best. My brother is loud and stompy and it's bad enough when I'm stowed away in my room. I can't imagine having to deal with him out there, laundry all over the table while I was trying to work, in the kitchen making noise. Mom insists on cooking dinner an hour before I'm done. I wouldn't be able to hear my clients. So, in my room I stay and I do alright with my laptop.

The alternative is I'm forced to go back to the office because I HAVE TO HAVE a second screen. I don't like that. I'm unvaccinated* and would have to mask the whole 8 hours, even alone at my desk. Difficult with allergies for that long. And I'd feel somewhat branded as an anti-vaxxer, which I'm not. No fratching, please, and see below. Anyway, there's that and the fact that I don't really want to stop working from home, despite the challenges. I guess I have to take the equipment but I feel like trying it, and if it doesn't work, putting it in my basement. Maybe I can find a way to configure it that works I asked Boss to find a monitor that was kind of small and not heavy, if possible. Also, when home I can listen to whatever I want online and in the office we can't. Nice when doing busywork.

And then here's the kicker: sometimes I do want to go back. It would solve a lot of annoyances with my family because I would not be home. It would get my butt out of bed and dressed earlier. It would force me to make sure I'm prepared with food. I honestly don't eat enough during the day because I don't pack a lunch and it's easy to binge at night. It would mitigate the electric bill because the AC is on at home mostly because I'm here. The office is frigid and I like it that way. I just can't seem to decide what I want to do.


*I'm not anti, just on the fence because this isn't technically like past vaccines and I'm a little nervous. What would push me is confirmation that it would keep me from infecting someone asymptomatically but no one has been able to cite any sources for that. If you have anything, please message me. I'm completely open to input. As it is, I mask around people indoors. I'm not very concerned about getting sick myself. I don't. I just pass stuff to others, I think.

[telecom_goddess]

Lord I couldn't even function with just the screen from my work laptop, it's way too tiny. Currently I use it and one large monitor, taking up half a large table in our office/ritual room/photography/exercise room. I could probably get a second monitor but I genuinely don't have room for that, which is sad.

[csquared]

I hate laptops (as I sit here typing this up on one ). It is fine for casual use, like this. For work, I want my 24" monitor, full sized keyboard and mouse.

For a while, I had two 19" monitors. Better than a laptop screen, but not as good as a single 24". I like having two windows open to be able to easy view both and jump between them. I am guessing that is what your boss wants,

I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
As the "standard progression" of the virus says that you are highly contagious the two days prior to showing symptoms.
And
You can still show symptoms with the vax.
I would say that if you progess to the point of showing symptoms, you are likely contagious.

However
With the vax, you are FAR less likely to progress to the point of being contagious.

I need to find the article. 4,000 people in Massachusetts have tested positive for Covid after receiving the vax. None required hospitalization. None have died. Proof that you can catch Covid with the vax, but the vax will keep you out of the hospital, and worse.

ETA:
Found the article:
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local...-mass/2408052/

[Food Lady]

Will it keep me from transmitting the virus asymptomatically? That's been my question and I can't find anything, even with the CDC and such. Does anyone know for sure?

For work, I want my 24" monitor, full sized keyboard and mouse.

I think I had a 20" and a 15", plus my laptop off to the side in the office. My chromebook is 15" and I now have it where the monitor would be with my work laptop off to my left. I am using my full-size keyboard at the moment. It's alright but if I introduce a docking station, it will be tricky to fit it because of where I have my lamp. I'm leaning toward staying home for my mom and my own convenience but I don't like feeling like my hand is being forced.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Two screens? I don't even like having two windows open side by side. I don't multitask very well, if at all.

[MadMike]

Lord I couldn't even function with just the screen from my work laptop, it's way too tiny.

Neither can I, along with the tiny keyboard and... whatever they call that flat piece that's supposed to pass as a mouse. I keep bumping that damn thing, and I need a full-sized keyboard to type on. Luckily, they give us docking stations in the office, and I have a KVM switch at home that I use to share my keyboard, monitor, and mouse with the laptop.

[EricKei]

Another non-fan of laptops here. As for the second screen -- do they require some sort of proof that you're actually USING it, or does it just have to be THERE? I mean, if it can be done without getting into trouble, maybe the solution could just be a long video cable and leaving the damn thing on the ground next to the desk, not really using it, if they can somehow check to see if it's on?

To the best of my knowledge (not a medical guy): The virus can be transmitted asymptomatically for as much as two weeks if you are unvaccinated, so I do not see why having the vax would change that. The vax, methinks, would simply make it far less likely that you, yourself, will become ill if you are indeed exposed.

[Food Lady]

I mean, if it can be done without getting into trouble, maybe the solution could just be a long video cable and leaving the damn thing on the ground next to the desk, not really using it, if they can somehow check to see if it's on?

If I did, there would be nowhere off to the side to put it because it goes bed, night table, desk, space where the closet door opens into. I actually would like to use it because it does make things a tiny bit easier. I think I'm going to go ahead and get vaxxed after a couple of conversations. I don't know if it's a risk to me but I've always believed in putting others before myself and this is a very practical way to do so. I don't want to make my coworkers sick. So in that event, I have to decide if I want to go back to the office. I'm leaning toward staying home for now. I guess I'm not ready to go back. I might come back later and post a picture of my desk. Maybe y'all would be able to make suggestions.

[EricKei]

Check with your doc/the vax site with regards to how long after your shots it'll take before you're considered properly protected. AFAIK, it's around two weeks. If nothing else, it'll give you time to think about whether you want to go back in person or not. Not much point in going in if it'll just affect your health by stressing you out.


Note that there have been more reports of medical issues linked to the J&J vaccine that just came out recently -- albeit rarely (around 100 cases in 12 million shots) -- so check with regards to which one you'd be getting, too. Pfizer and Moderna seem to be the most common.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronav...emely-rare-cas

[Food Lady]

Check with your doc/the vax site with regards to how long after your shots it'll take before you're considered properly protected. AFAIK, it's around two weeks. If nothing else, it'll give you time to think about whether you want to go back in person or not. Not much point in going in if it'll just affect your health by stressing you out.

I think that brings me to my real diliemma--whether I really want to go back.

Office pros: really good AC which would take my bill down since if I'm not home they won't run it as much, brother is not there (love him, but he's loud), internet should work better, could leave right after work for errands, wouldn't feel obligated to family dinner (whole other thread for another time). It would motivate me to lose weight because most of my work clothes don't fit. Working from home in pajamas doesn't help. I'd have a much bigger desk and no cube-mate because they are not allowing that.

Cons: coworkers drive me nuts as much as my family do, less flexibility in eating (I have run of my own kitchen, whereas I'd have to pack up and haul food to work), spending more on gas, definitely no lunchtime naps, not around in case Mom needs me. She'd be alone a lot more because Bro is gone a lot. My cell phone reception is terrible at the office, just battery draining and so frustrating. There are distractions in the office, too.

I'm leaning toward staying home but my family can be distracting, though only when my brother is home which is generally 2 days a week.

[Argus]

Will it keep me from transmitting the virus asymptomatically?

The CDC cited some studies that show a decreased viral load: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...ed-people.html

"This observation may indicate reduced transmissibility, as viral load has been identified as a key driver of transmission."

[RealUnimportant]

What would push me is confirmation that it would keep me from infecting someone asymptomatically but no one has been able to cite any sources for that.

You won't find a study about this because it's not possible; I don't mean a study's not possible, I mean the result's not possible. That's not how vaccines work. Being asymptomatic means you have it and can pass it along, and you can have it whether or not you've been vaccinated - the risk of catching the current strains is lower once you're vaccinated but not removed, just as with all other vaccines.

Vaccination is less about the individual and so much more about the whole. Some people cannot get vaccinated, or can but they don't work as well. (I have been vaccinated but I am on immunosuppressants, so there is a significant chance that I have developed no antibodies whatsoever.) Any time you've passed an infection along, it's because you've had that infection; you may have recovered from it swiftly but it has held on long enough to be passed on. Anything you can do to reduce that is going to help uncountable other people.

The only difference between this vaccine and the ones you had as a child is you're having this one as an adult. Back when the other vaccines came out, plenty of people had those as adults too and look at what happened - they worked, we all survived.

[Nunavut Pants]

Being vaccinated reduces transmission in the population as a whole. It can also help you fight off the virus before it gets to the point of being very contagious. It's worthwhile.

If they don't have a way of checking up on you remotely, then the path of least resistance for the second monitor is to say "OK", and then bring it home and stick it in the closet. If you're getting your work done, does it matter if you actually have the second monitor turned on or even in the same room as you?

[Food Lady]

If they don't have a way of checking up on you remotely, then the path of least resistance for the second monitor is to say "OK", and then bring it home and stick it in the closet. If you're getting your work done, does it matter if you actually have the second monitor turned on or even in the same room as you?

This is what I'm thinking. In the office my coworkers are the distraction. I want to stay home.

I was trying to make a vax appt. last night but it's 2 weeks away at Walgreen's so I'm going to look at walk-in options instead. I did find my vaccination record within the last 15 years because I had to sign in online with my healthcare provider to see about an appt. at the hospital. I find I had the tetanus one in 2014. I don't remember that and now I'm wondering what sort of injury would've prompted that. It's been too long. I don't remember anything significant that year. I do know I got a piece of dirty glass in my foot once, but I was still in CA at the time. That was over 20 years ago.