Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Gut Punch

Last week was the emotional equivalent of being punched in the face, repeatedly. All state workers were given a date to return to working in the physical office - despite months of work being poured into an official remote work policy, and essentially being told that we could continue working remotely permanently, as long as it made sense from a business standpoint (aka, your job could be done remotely, there was no interruption in services, etc.). We have been told this is just a "reset", and they still plan to move forward with remote work options, but I'm not feeling super optimistic about that right now. I have a lot of thoughts about that whole situation, none of which can be currently talked through ad nauseum here, since it's not complicated to connect my blog to my real life... sigh. And regardless of this current speed bump, I *DO* love my job. It's just frustrating to have worked so hard to make this shift to remote, spending tons of money on a remote work set up, figuring out a way to offer even BETTER service and working longer hours than I did in the office, and then basically being told to flip a switch and go back to my 10+ hour a week commute. My dogs will also be horrified, as they've been living their best lives for the last 14 months... I guess the only tiny silver lining to this situation is that we had decided on an addition so that I could have a real dedicated office (instead of working out of our guest bedroom), but the INSANE price of lumber meant we were holding off on getting started -- so at least I didn't start a VERY EXPENSIVE addition to make space for the remote job that I... you know... apparently don't have. Oy vey. Also don't even get me started on the irony of announcing this during Public Service Recognition Week...
Actually she's probably ready for me to go back to the office and stop obsessing over her every move. 


He's gonna have a rough transition back to his crate :(

Cruce will miss sunbathing in the yard all day, but he doesn't mind his crate, especially now that's got a fancy memory foam bed. 

These hooligans will be the saddest about the change, since they come "to work" with me every morning. 

Friday was a state holiday so then Sunday morning these little goobers thought it was Monday and I couldn't find them -- they had already done their "commute" and were settled in under my desk waiting for me to start work. I died a little inside!

Anyway. Horses. You're probably here for the horses. And shockingly enough, I do have some horse content for last week!
Agreed to buy this bridle off a friend months ago. Forgot until it showed up. I also apparently bought a cute blingy fly bonnet too. So that was a nice pick-me-up the day we got the news about going back to the office. 

Walking out to catch the horses one night last week. 

This little bastard was hanging out with the horses and when I walked up I thought to myself "why is there a random dog in my pasture? OH!" He's been killing our chickens so both DH and the neighbor have been keeping an eye out for him. 

The day the bridle came in the mail I decided I wanted to try it on Ruby. It's a cob, but all the way on the last buckles it was a passably decent fit for a 20 minute hack in the bareback pad. 

I wasn't feeling up to any serious schooling, so we just tested all the buttons and then went for a meander. 

I'm still trying to work her through the weird amped way she gets on our trails (even though she's perfect on trails away from home).

So we hung out at the church for a minute, I let her eat some grass, then we went back to the arena. Very low key. 

I do love that view though! (you know, minus the neighbor's house)

I didn't have any rolled bridles in my collection, so this was a fun addition! Although it doesn't have a throatlatch, which weirds me out a little. I'll just throw a generic french link on it and use it for lunging/ground driving, since my supply of reins far outstrips my number of bridles lol. 

DH got home towards the end of our ride so he came to give Ruby some snuggles. 

Thursday I was feeling a little more emotionally stable, so I thought I could manage a ride on Cinna. She was V MAD that all her friends were out without her. 

Still obsessed with checking out her own reflection, 5+ months in. If I don't keep her at least 3 feet away from it she will march over and smash right into it with her nose, haha. 

Cinna had a reasonably good ride where she did finally relax and let us get some work done. Then when I had her cross tied to untack she went absolutely beserk, broke the cross ties, and rampaged around the back area in front of the pasture until she had herself so tangled up in the broken cross ties that she literally couldn't move anymore.... so. One step forward, 15 steps back? It was a good reminder to replace those crappy nylon cross-ties, so I'm planning on buying some nice biothane ones from the place I got all my buckle nose halters -- at least they won't get so brittle from the weather! Also a good reminder that I have a telephone post for DH to set so that Cinna can spend some time tied to something she can't break, so that maybe we can move past this stage of tying nicely 95% of the time but then sometimes just setting back and breaking the ties just because she can, which I find SUPER ANNOYING. 

Last week we had a 3-day weekend (yay, random state holiday!) so I was able to schedule our annual vet visit on that day, so I didn't have to waste PTO. Spoiler alert -- not nearly as much bad news as last year! :) 

24 comments:

  1. Ugh don't even get me started about the whole work remote thing. I've been battling our company on it for the last six months and my boss told me he wants me to come in on Thursday this week and also stay for a team happy hour. Big NOPE to the team happy hour, I don't want to see you fools! I hope you're able to get some flexibility into your work location

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    1. It's truly maddening - yes there are some jobs that simply can't be done remotely, but if it CAN, there's also no reason to punitively expect workers to come into the office when they've shown the work still gets done (and in some cases, gets done better!) from home. I have a lot of feelings about this 😂

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  2. Ugh. I'm so sorry. My work went back a few weeks ago, but fortunately, they fired me first! I was really anxious about it because at the time I still wasn't vaccinated.
    I'm sorry they mislead you like that, and do hope they end up allowing you at least some work from home days each week.

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    1. I don't think it was intentional, my management really did think we were going to keep WFH, but the order came down from over their heads 😭 the silver lining is our section was already flexible about some of those work options, so even though FT remote work sounds off the table for the near future, I will still get the same flexibility I had before, so at least there's that.

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  3. that sucks :( i have some friends in the same position -- going back to jobs that seem determined to refuse any flexibility in remote work schedules. which means... losing commute time AND a de facto pay cut bc they have to pay for parking again now... ugh. it's just so regressive. here's hoping your company will figure it out or loosen up, maybe?

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    1. Yeah, it's rough, feeling that time suck and also losing the extra money I saved last year. I'll wait to see how it plays out before making any long-term decisions but I'm really frustrated. I felt really good about how progressive our state was being and now wham. All the good feelings are gone.

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  4. That sucks about being forced back into the office, I was really hoping this would be a WFH revolution but I think middle managers realize they have no job if they don't have people to micromanage regularly.

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    1. I understand concerns about team building and relationships and blah blah but a hybrid schedule would still let that happen while also keeping workers happier. It's not rocket science 🤦‍♀️ but you're right, in a lot of industries that's the only purpose of middle management.

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  5. I'm anticipating the same office move heading for me in June. We're lucky in that we still are allowed 2 work from home days a week, but it's hard to give up all of the amazing work/life balance that working from home allows.

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    1. Yeah it's definitely hard to give it up now that I know how much better it can be :( sigh. I guess that's adulting? I hate it.

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  6. I think you feel like Cinna with the return to the office. :)
    I suspect that some people aren't doing well working at home so they may be bringing people back so they can request working and agree to some guidelines. At least I hope so.

    Do you have a blocker tie ring? Those are helpful. you must have been terrified she was going to hurt herself.

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    1. Yeah I know some of the problem is people slacking off and NOT doing their work, but I wish they would evaluate on a case by case basis instead of making blanket rules for everyone. Just because "John" can't be trusted to work at home doesn't mean "Susie" should be dragged to the office when she's shown she excels at it!

      I had a variation of the blocker ring but she pulls until she gets entirely free, not just until the pressure releases, so it still wasn't helpful :( and yes, I was internally screaming to myself "please don't impale yourself on the manure spreader" since it's parked in the back corner away from way the horses should go (you know, assuming they don't break cross ties and rampage around loose where they're not supposed to be). Ugh. Horses.

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  7. Ugh, that is so frustrating! Hopefully they truly do mean to return to some balance of WFH and in person. The puppy dog eyes do make the whole thing much worse :(

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    1. Thanks :( I'm hopeful that my direct management seems to have embraced it and seems committed to continuing to fight for us, so we'll see how it goes.

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  8. I'm fortunate that apparently I'm considered "geographically remote" (I'm 10 minutes from the closest office, it's the role I'm in apparently LOL), so I can do what I want. With a geriatric pup, I'm very grateful for being able to have her nearby all the time. But talent retention is going to be an issue for organizations that don't have a thoughtful approach to understanding what employee engagement truly is and don't recognize the benefits of being able to be fully remote or mostly remote for roles where that's a good fit - the employment market is providing lots of remote options to access a wider pool of talent. It's a good time to polish up the resume a little and flip on the "Open to recruiters" toggle on LinkedIn and see what your options might be that give you the flexibility you want!

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    1. Yeah the last year being able to work remote has really been a blessing with my aging dogs, especially as Cici has had so many issues. But it makes it even harder to go back to the office knowing I have to leave them all for literally no reason.

      Talent retention is already a HUGE, MASSIVE problem for the state (due to the lowest state wages in the country and some supremely crappy jobs, not mine, but I've been in some), and the fact that they spent so long paying lip service to WFH including hiring people with the understanding they'd continue to be remote only to abruptly do an about-face is already hurting them. I've indirectly heard of quite a few high profile resignations to take jobs that will continue to allow remote work. I've definitely considered polishing up my LinkedIn :-/ it's hard because I really, really love my work and my direct management, but I'm frustrated at the decisions made above that, and there's clearly nothing I can do there... sigh.

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  9. I dread being called back in to work. My senior dog is on medication three times a day now, so someone has to be here. And because excitability can trigger a seizure for her, it can't be a dog walker. I am basically prepared to beg, plead and cry!

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    1. Yeah I'm really struggling with that too, as the medication Cici has responded best to in terms of helping keep her calm enough to recover needs to be given 3 times a day at 8 hour intervals, which clearly can't be done when I work 8.5 hours away with a 2 hour round-trip commute :( I wouldn't mind paying someone to drop by midday and medicate her but it would be such a pain since the other dogs are in cages so they would want to be let out, and then it would just be a circus trying to make sure everyone got back where they needed to be :(

      With just one dog, could you set up one of those automatic treat dispensers every day to give her a pill (wrapped in cheese or in a pill pocket or something) at a specific time? I can't do that with Cici because she's loose in the house with my other geriatric dachshund as her "emotional support animal", but if she were alone I would try to set that up!

      Hopefully you are more successful than I am at negotiating the ability to continue to work remotely!

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  10. Gah, I hope the work situation has an easy resolution for you in the near future. That's so frustrating :(
    Glad you've been able to get some rides in - that bridle is gorgeous!

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    1. I don't think the resolution will be easy, or quick unfortunately... Sigh. Ah well. C'est la vie 🤷‍♀️

      But yes, I'm excited for the weather to be better so I can do more riding! 😁

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  11. The preview for this post scared me. I saw "gut punch" and a picture of your dog and freaked out. I'm sorry about the work BS. I suspect Mike is going to be dealing with a very similar situation shortly.

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    1. I didn't even think about that 🙈 no no, she's still doing okay for the moment. And at least my impending return to the office has given me something else to obsess about besides her, sigh. Fingers crossed that Mike's employer handles it better than mine..... 🥴

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  12. One of "my" Friesians is also crazy about the mirror, lol. Cinna and Ruby are both so gorgeous <3 I'm going to have to find an Iberian stallion to put to my Nooitie mare next season!

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    1. Probably just like people, some are more invested in their reflection than others ;) haha.

      There's nothing like a good Iberian cross! :)

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