One of the reasons I actually like physically going in to work is the separation of spaces. There’s zero chance of mixing up whether I’m working or doing home stuff. The different location allows me to mentally switch to another mode soon as I enter or leave a space. I know I’m done for the day when I depart from campus. I don’t get triggered by Slack notifications when I’m home because I know for sure those hours are outside of work.
Due to the omicron strain of COVID because super virulent, our campus operations got shut down last week. We all had to work from home, something I haven’t done since last September. There goes keeping work and home life separate! I tried my best, however: instead of logging into work portals from my own MacBook Pro, I took home a 13-inch MacBook Pro from campus. Even though I have a gorgeous 32-inch Pro Display XDR, I rather stare at a much smaller screen than integrate work back into my home tech ecosystem.
Working from home also meant eating lunch at home (again, something I’ve not done since last Fall). That’s when I realized I really should stop eating at the same computer desk - I don’t have a dining table. It’s cumbersome to have to move my computing peripherals off the desk in order to have the room to put the dishes and bowls. Eating noodles (which I often do) can get a bit splashy, too, which doesn’t bode well for the monitor in front of me.
To have separation of spaces, it was time to get a table specifically to eat on. As I’ve written before, I’m one person living by myself, so I don't need something huge (not that I have the space anyways). A small kitchen island, plus one singular high chair will suffice. Off to IKEA! But there’s a problem: due to the never-ending supply chain issues, the closest IKEA location with the items in stock was in West Sacramento. Three hours roundtrip, $50 in gas, and $14 in bridge tolls wasn’t going to stop me. The sad thing is, I had already made the same trip a week ago to buy the stands for my new TV…
Hopefully I’m done needing stuff from IKEA for a long time!
The Imperial March starts playing…