After more than five years of remote work, today I returned to the commuting office life. It was…fine. In the most general of terms, it’s not really *that* much of an inconvenience, though to be honest, it’s kind of a bummer, just because. I likely could have waited until Monday to come in, though I figured that coming in on a Friday, which is generally a pretty quiet day, to make sure my desk had all the stuff it needed, it wasn’t falling down, and ensure that the cube wasn’t full of bedbugs or rodents or whatever…

All told, the workspace was in reasonably good shape (as I learned, someone had been squatting in it, so it at least had the essentials, like a monitor/docking station), and while I still have an open ticket to get the eVOIP phone to register my number, I did get the software-based phone working (not that we don’t use Teams most of the time anyway).

The one thing I didn’t expect was how loud the place was going to be. While most folks haven’t actually come back to the office yet (that’ll happen over the next month or so), those that here truly don’t understand the concept of “inside voice,” and it’s really damned hard to concentrate. I suppose, however, that I’ll have to adapt. Until then, there’s noise-cancelling headphones.

At least the week’s over. The weekend is largely full of chores. As I have to spend most of the afternoon at home anyway waiting for the dishwasher repair guy, I figure I’ll mow the grass and clean my car inside and out, since my lovely spouse has a fancy new one to splash caramel iced coffee around in. That, when combined with dog, isn’t exactly the olfactory bouquet I’d prefer. I suspect we’ll get out to see Thunderbolts* at some point, because that’s what we do; otherwise, I just want some quiet after the office day.

Here are some tunes; metal, new wave, and a little bit of 80s pop. I’ll take it:

1. “Higher Ground” – RHCP
2. “Helter Skelter (live)” – U2
3. “Never Say Die” – Black Sabbath
4. “Used To Love Her” – Guns N’ Roses
5. “Money Changes Everything” – Cyndi Lauper
6. “Goody Two Shoes” – Adam Ant
7. “Round and Round” – Ratt
8. “Cold Hard Bitch” – Jet
9. “Boys Are Back In Town” – Busboys
10. “Running Free” – Iron Maiden
11. “Louie Louie” – Motörhead
12. “Bad Luck” – Social Distortion
13. “Cuts Like a Knife” – Bryan Adams