I know this isn’t news or anything, but it’s been cold here in Chicago. Like massively, intimately, I-can’t-feel-my-extemeties-after-three-minutes cold. Metra has been completely jacked up, and there have been more phantom CTA busses in the last two weeks than I can remember. Simply going outside has reached a level of difficulty that our brethren in warmer climes simply cannot appreciate.
Because of these life threatening conditions, my workplace has allowed us to work from home for a few days. I would have toughed it out and gone into the office, but the option to work in a bathrobe and slippers was too tempting to turn down. My wife does all of her work from home too, so I’ve been able to spend some more time with her than I normally would. I do get in her hair sometimes when she’s trying to focus, but overall it’s a pretty sweet deal.
But there’s one little complicating factor. During the week, I’m not always scheduled to come home after work. Today, in fact, I was supposed to head to Jamie’s after work, and go back into the office the next morning. I’m certainly not going to cancel my time with Jamie because it is cold, but I was missing my usual transition pattern.
So I chose to take care of both problems at once today. I start this morning working at my house, and then at lunch I hopped in the car and came over here to Jamie’s. I’m sitting on her couch now, tapping away at work. My wife gets the house to herself to focus on her work, and I still get to work from home.
I love that my poly life allows me to expand the definition of home, in both concrete and emotional ways. I don’t think this is necessarily what my boss meant by “work from home”, but it certainly what I was thinking about. And if they let me, I’ll be working from home again tomorrow, right here on this couch.