Work from Home

The universe gave me a gift today.

I have been having to emotionally psych myself up to get to work each day the past couple of weeks. Literally, coach myself to get myself up and out of bed and to work. Sounds depressing doesn't it? I guess it sort of is, but always once I get there life is different and rosier and I am happy enough to be there. I think I am just dealing with the reality of having to work every day. That is exhausting to me. I've been doing it for a while, of course, so not sure why I have hit this crisis now. But in any event, I've just been in this mode of dreaming of only working part time or working for myself or working from home. Something other than the the "9 to 5" grind, which as we all know is never just a 9 to 5 grind.

So thank you, NYC subway system, for failing us today. Thank you! I woke up late, sent my immediate supervisor an email letting her know that I would be a little late (like 15 minutes....I debated even sending the email since no one really cares if I am 15 minutes "late" or not...but anyway). Then I leave and put myself out on the hot humid hot humid humid hot humid street to walk to the subway....

And I notice. There are TONS of cars on the street. Tons. Does being 15 minutes later in my commute really expose me to a busier time for car traffic, I wonder? And, there is tons of foot traffic too. Going away from the subway stop I am walking towards. Hhhmm....I think this is a lively day in Brooklyn. But I don't think of much else, because I did not turn on the news or read the paper this morning.

Then I get to the subway, and I see a cop standing at the top of the steps and everyone walking away from the subway. "Did something happen to the subway?" I ask. "The rain." The rain. Does he mean the rain that came down in the torrential thunderstorm that happened between about 4am and 7am this morning? The lightning that lit up the sky and that my dogs were fairly certain was hitting our house, and the thunder that came along instantaneously with it...you mean, the rain that came with that lightning and thunder. You mean the rain that came with the lightning and thunder that made my little big dog Deuce alternate between hiding in the bathtub and hiding underneath our bed, and cry the entire time he was hiding....you mean that rain? "The rain?" I ask, wondering how this rain could impact the subway. He said the subway is flooded, and a transitor went out. "So you mean the B and the Q lines aren't running." "Yes, and the 2, the 3, the 4, the 5, the A, the C, the F are not running either." Oh, you mean every subway that is remotely close to me (as in every subway but one connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan) is not running. Wonderful!!!

So I tredge home. I call my supervisor, and agree to work from home. No big deal, people I work with do it all the time. I am drenched in sweat, b/c did I mention it is HOT. And so I am working from home, and it is WONDERFUL! I know most people walking home from the subway were taking it as a day to not work at all. I am not quite them, but happy enough just to be doing the work I am doing from home without the phone ringing...without anyone barging into my office....working in peace:)

The subways are probably running now. Or soon they will be. But I will be here. Happily making calls and reviewing documents from my own computer. Eating lunch with my husband and dogs. Taking breaks, including likely a nap on my sofa. Working from home will definitely be on my list of options I'd like with that perfect job that I will one day have in the future.