New England B.S. Thread

My company has instituted the option to work from home 2 days, and be in the office 3 days, but 1 of the 3 days has to match your department. So basically I'm sure they'll make people work M-W-F. I work in the lab, so while the office in the city can do a WFH option most of the lab can't work from home most days. I cannot work from home outside of very specific circumstances where I'm just crunching data for the day since if the automation systems break, it's on me to fix them.

We also had a 9/80 schedule which everyone adored, but corporate decided to "align all the offices" and made us back to 8 hour days. I know they they did it (the argument that the last hour of the day isn't productive) but the loss of 26 days of vacation effectively throughout the year really stinks. For the rest of the pandemic we are planning on keeping the 9/80 despite the mandate, but after that we will have to work 5 day weeks. I asked if I could do something like, come in a half hour so I'd effectively be out an hour and a half earlier than now. That being said, it's going to be tough in the spring/summer for me since I have to basically maintain the outside of my house and my Mom's. I used to take Friday and completely do one house and Saturday to do the other. That way I had Saturday afternoon and evening as well as Sunday for family stuff. Now I'll have to double time and do it both on one day. I anticipate having to use vacation or otherwise get creative with my schedule to keep everything afloat, which I am not thrilled about.

We will see what the coming months bring.

Speaking of cars, I read that the average (average!!) transaction price of a new car these days is $40,000! I don't know how people can do it. Granted, glass house since the last two vehicles I bought were close to that, but I threw huge amounts of money down and it was a stretch at the time for me. I suppose it all goes hand in hand with the average age of a vehicle these days. I wonder how much longer until 96 months becomes the standard term.

I keep entertaining the idea of eventually getting either a hot hatch or going back to my roots of a late 90s / early 00s tuner car as a 3rd car / night and weekend project but what a cesspool of car ads. FB Marketplace might have the WORST search algorithm I've ever seen. If you type in "Integra" the first 10 listings aren't Integras, or even Hondas it seems. Forget trying to search for something as simple as Tacoma parts! I understand that FB for whatever reason has a policy that does not let you list a vehicle for more than what they thing it's worth, hence the 8 million $1,234 listings, but what I don't get is the ads where a car will be listed for say $3,000 and then in the ad it says the price isn't $3,000, it's $5,000 firm. (This ignores the fact the car looks different in every single photo).

 

We have 9/80 and are keeping it with the flex schedule. I don't do 9/80 anyways due to needing to pick up giblets, plus the wife's travel schedule. Once we go back and actually start flex schedule I just mandated that everyone on our team(only 5 of us) have to be in one day a week all together. Then people can pick one other day to go in. It would dumb to not all be in the office at least one day a week together.

 

Damn, prob a hot topic for all the parents, but my school just announced that we’re transitioning into a hybrid model come February. Most schools have already made this shift but I’m still skeptical especially hearing that your employers are staying remote until the summer.

I may have to find new work with the shift to hybrid. I’m still working remotely out of Framingham, but we shuffled up to NH. Here goes!

 

Yeah I wouldn't want anyone to tow my stuff especially a boat

With the price and value yours holds, couldn't go wrong there

 

Our school has been bouncing back and forth between remote and in person. Last week week one elementary was remote and the other in person because too many bus drivers were in quarantine. They also burned all snow days out of the budget which almost caused a revolt.

I’ve worked remotely for 15 years now as a sales rep. I have an office that I usually show my face in a couple times a week. But now with the kids remote and a 6mo old I can’t get anything done and I’m searching for reasons to swing into the office or visit a customer site.

 

Makes for a lot easier decisions there..

My company was pretty forward on this long ago, but some managers were just jerks about it. Fortunately this will force the top brass to get on those types.

I'd guess in your profession it's a mixed bag.

My company owns 2 buildings and rents space in Boston, which was already being shrunk prior. Coin flip if they want to maintain a presence in the city but otherwise I think it wise financially to divest themselves of rent which I think is very possible.

 

We've been hybrid in Hopkinton since the start of this year. They do 3 days one week, 2 the next so kids get 5 days out of every 10 in school learning. They still need to do I think 70 minutes of zoom learning on home days per state guidelines, so maybe you could do that? Cause our teachers are obviously teaching 5 days a week to the 2 cohorts of students, so on a kids home day they still need teachers to do the required 70 minutes of remote learning on home days (in addition to the worksheets, pre-recorded lessons erc..).

 

My wife has been teaching remotely since September with the kids in front of her via Teams from 9-12 on Mondays and 9-3:30s (with lunch and specialist breaks). She's eager to get back into the classroom so she can be in front of them, because it's challenging for them to learn in that arena. She can easily engage students in-person that aren't engaging in the lesson, but it's all but impossible virtually. She teaches in a district that's been very hard hit by the pandemic and even they're pushing to get the kids back in using a reasonable method. The most recent push is 25% capacity by dividing all classes into 4 and sending one group each day Tuesday-Friday. She'll live stream to the kids at home in addition to teaching the kids in front of her.

There are still options for parents to elect to send their kids full remote if they so choose. My hope is that she gets the vaccine before the hybrid model starts, but we will see how that happens. Our kids are both in daycare and have been since the summer, so it's a mixed bag there. I don't love the idea of her going in front of kids right now, but she's got great classroom management skills so I'm not worried there. I also know her district will be quick to shut down if anything flares up. Teachers have been allowed to work from home (and heavily encouraged) if there were any flare-ups amongst staff at any of the buildings, even without kids in front of them. There is a good relationship between the administration and union in terms of getting agreements in place on all of this, so hopefully things go well.

 

I'd guess/hope teachers will be prioritized for the vaccine

 

THAT is a serious question?

 

My kids have actually been in hybrid since the beginning of the year. Sorry to hear about this from your situation. Just think of it like this. Yeachers right now are a very hit commodity......almost as valuable as nurses. You will get a new job almost anywhere I it is necessary. Good luck sir.

 

Want complexity. T-town has been hybrid but want to go fully back. Numbers are still high. Way back when the teachers union negotiated due to remote learning etc, it was agreed upon that if t-town was in the red for 3 weeks it went back to full remote. School system is ignoring it, union filed a grievance, hearing is on the 25th I believe.
Wife admits remote learning ain't great but she's afraid for herself, the kids, and that giblet growing inside her. She's high risk due to gestational diabetes and high blood pressure.
Then you have the vaccine which she is due to be able to get next month i think. But she's prego, some people say get it, others say don't.
My opinion, the whole world is a shit show and humans are the virus of this planet and we simply don't deserve it....

 

What kills me about the price of new cars is that you go out and spend $40-50K on one in the Western part of the country and you can reasonably expect to still have a functioning car in 20 years. New ones can pretty easily last that long, if you maintain them properly. But here in this part of the world, you spend $40-50K on a vehicle and the local government pretty much immediately starts trying to dissolve it

 

We have been in person 4 days a week, Wednesday remote. Couple of shut downs when the superintendent decides there are too many cases in the school. My wife brought COVID home from the school, so needless to say I’m pissed about how this is being handled. Education is very important, but is it more important than teachers lives? We have no idea about the long term impact a COVID 19 has on someone, so why do we put people in the germ factories of school?

 

Get a 5 gallon pail of Fluid Film and an air sprayer. There is no reason a well cared for car can’t last 20 years in the NE.

Trucations are always an option. Fly to someplace between Arizona and Washington and drive something back. That is my loose plan if I ever get around to buying a land cruiser. I also have fantasy plans about buying an old Defender in Scotland, spending a vacation touring and visiting family there before shipping it back. Gotta finish my basement project and let the checkbook recover first.

 

We do Group A - Group B - Remote - Group A - Group B. Except we've been remote since around Thanksgiving. We're set to go back to hybrid February 1st now but it's been pushed back a couple times so that's no guarantee.

If I had a family, I would not be able to have the truck I have. Since it's just two of us with no kids and I don't care about any other really expensive things, it isn't a big burden, but it still definitely isn't the most responsible financial decision. I try to be good in other ways, like I'll have my mortgage paid off by the time I'm 41.

I do get confused by some people driving new expensive vehicles with a big house and 2-3 kids when I know their incomes aren't much different from the girlfriend and I combined.

 

Reminds me of this commercial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0HX4a5P8eE

 

that's what i was thinking of too haha

 

That helps the body and the frame; doesn't do anything for the suspension components on these roads

I can't even tell you how many rust-free pre-emissions diesels I've drooled over on Ebay and considered doing a fly-drive vacation for over the years. And old XJ Cherokees, old Datsuns, etc.

 

After I win mega millions, I’m going to have to build a big pole barn to house all the perfect $10k cars I find on eBay and BAT. What did you buy with your lotto money? A Ferrari? Lambo? Probably 3 of each right? Nope, I got a perfect rust free 83 Toyota pickup!