Yesterday, we got some snow. I "worked" from home due to the hazardous conditions, but probably half of the employees at my work went in. Today, the weather was even worse, but I went in to work anyway. Everything in sight was coated in a thick layer of ice, then covered in snow. The roads were horrendous. The fastest I hit on the highway was 35 mph despite there being no traffic to speak of. I was sliding a lot - even on the straightaways - and it was a little terrifying. However, I made it safe and sound and found that four other people were in the office. After about an hour, two of them had left and a third was on her way. One coworker even offered to drive me home, but I wouldn't have any way to get back in the next day, so I gratefully declined. It soon became clear to me that nothing was going on, so I decided to leave. The trip home was not as bad. The roads were slightly better, and there still wasn't any traffic for most of the trip. In retrospect, I definitely should not have gone to work. So why did I?

The first reason is because I overestimated the number of people in the office. The place is old-fashioned to an extreme. I did not expect many people to stay home, and the concept of "working" from home seems too "new" a concept for the president to accept. And the president would come in to work during a tornado. So anyway, I did not know how acceptable it was to "work" from home twice in a row.

The second reason I went is because "working" from home just feels cheap to me. I don't like it. Before you say "WTH!?", let me say that it's extremely convenient and relaxing and not having to drive is wonderful. However, it feels like an exploit in a video game: it's not how things were intended to work, and the more people that discover it, the more difficult things will become. And it feels like cheating to do it. Luke was telling me about some survey or whatever that showed that people were actually more productive at home than in the office. However, I don't buy it. I think it takes an extraordinary amount of dedication and self control to force oneself to work when there are more fun things available and no one will know if you do them. I know that I definitely am not more productive at home. I horking played Fable II for about eight hours yesterday while I was "working" from home. I didn't have any actual work to do (even if I had gone in) but it still felt cheap. Also, a lot of my friends work from home frequently which bugs me, and doing it myself feels like I'm giving in. Anyway, I'm home now, since the office was deserted.

If you will recall one of my previous posts ("The wrath of taco bell") I hate awkward situations with no good outcome. Today, Mike W. and I went to lunch at B-Dubs, and he wanted to stop at Kroger for some groceries. The readers might also remember that I do not like going to Kroger. Nevertheless, I went in because I decided to pick up some junk while I was there. However, it became clear to me that Mike W. was going to get way more than me. I finished shopping and checked out, and then realized I was in another awkward situation. What was I supposed to do while I waited for Mike W. to finish shopping. Was I supposed to stand there by the door holding all my junk? Go out to the locked car and stand there awkwardly? Walk backwards through the checkout line carrying all my groceries and just walk around awkwardly trying to find Mike W.? I simply could not think of any non-awkward way to wait for him to finish. In my typical style, I won't say what I did, but I'm interested to hear what people would do in a situation like that.