Thoughts and Feelings towards 2020?

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Thoughts and Feelings towards 2020?

  • F*** Off 2020

    Votes: 1 7.7%
  • No Seriously F*** Off 2020

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • All the Above

    Votes: 10 76.9%

  • Total voters
    13

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
2,810
126
Unbelievable. That word pretty much sums up my feelings for this year. Unbelievable things happened this year around the world and in my personal life. Things I would've never guessed in million years. It still feels like this year wasn't real, and I'm still dreaming.

I feel blessed and fortunate my family and I stayed safe and in good health. Financially, I don't know if I will ever have a year like this year again. I might make bigger $ in the future but nothing will top the highs and lows I experienced this year. My family and I are no longer slaves but free man & women in control of our own destiny. So I will never forget the year 2020. FREEDOM!
 

snoopy7548

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2005
8,126
5,151
146
Kinda sucked. I mean, I didn't get COVID, I still have my job, I exceeded my savings goals, but I haven't seen my parents (or my brothers/nieces/nephew) since last year, which has been a huge bummer.
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,419
5,852
136
Kinda sucked. I mean, I didn't get COVID, I still have my job, I exceeded my savings goals, but I haven't seen my parents (or my brothers/nieces/nephew) since last year, which has been a huge bummer.

same

not getting to see the kiddos every few weeks has made this year feel really crappy

at least i get to chat with them every once in a while
 

Artorias

Platinum Member
Feb 8, 2014
2,147
1,431
136
The best thing about 2020 is people realizing that commuting to work for office jobs is a bullshit waste of time. Once shit gets back to normal I'm going maybe one day a week back into the office. They can either cover my commute cost or just let me work from home.

Other than that yeah the year can fuck off.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,459
12,613
126
www.anyf.ca
The best thing about 2020 is people realizing that commuting to work for office jobs is a bullshit waste of time. Once shit gets back to normal I'm going maybe one day a week back into the office. They can either cover my commute cost or just let me work from home.

Other than that yeah the year can fuck off.

Even pre 2020 I never understood how so many people put up with that. That is time you don't get paid for, and wear and tear on your car and gas that is not covered. Either move closer or get a job that's closer.

Got to be careful what we wish for about working from home being permanent though. As much as I would love to see this be a standard, the reality is, companies will realize that if a job can be done remotely, then why hire local and not just outsource it to India for 1/10th the cost. Even the ones that do decide to keep local employees they will lower salaries to compensate for the money you save by not needing to go in the office. That or governments will start taxing people who work from home more. Any time you face a situation where you can save money, someone wants that money. Either the company, or the government. Or both.
 

Artorias

Platinum Member
Feb 8, 2014
2,147
1,431
136
Even pre 2020 I never understood how so many people put up with that. That is time you don't get paid for, and wear and tear on your car and gas that is not covered. Either move closer or get a job that's closer.

Got to be careful what we wish for about working from home being permanent though. As much as I would love to see this be a standard, the reality is, companies will realize that if a job can be done remotely, then why hire local and not just outsource it to India for 1/10th the cost. Even the ones that do decide to keep local employees they will lower salaries to compensate for the money you save by not needing to go in the office. That or governments will start taxing people who work from home more. Any time you face a situation where you can save money, someone wants that money. Either the company, or the government. Or both.

It seems like there was a bad stigma with working from home, that your actually not working, and the expectation that you need your ass glued to the seat 8 hours or your not doing shit. It's hard to push management for change regarding these things. I'm glad that people have come to their collective sense and realized people need flexibility and you can actually be more productive with non standard hours of works.

Regarding salaries, orgs can downsize office space, that's where they can save huge money. I imagine the office rental market my collapse at some point once companies start shift permanently. I don't know about government taxes, but people this year are going to look to qualify for that home office tax credit. I swear if they start taxing home workers. :mad:
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
It seems like there was a bad stigma with working from home, that your actually not working, and the expectation that you need your ass glued to the seat 8 hours or your not doing shit. It's hard to push management for change regarding these things. I'm glad that people have come to their collective sense and realized people need flexibility and you can actually be more productive with non standard hours of works.

Regarding salaries, orgs can downsize office space, that's where they can save huge money. I imagine the office rental market my collapse at some point once companies start shift permanently. I don't know about government taxes, but people this year are going to look to qualify for that home office tax credit. I swear if they start taxing home workers. :mad:

To be honest - there still is.

While my position is 100% remote - mostly because I am sales based (they don't care if we have an office - as long as I show up if needed for sales opportunities, which I'm not even the sales person overall) - I still hear plenty from articles and shit about how they can't wait to be able to go back into the office again and how vitally important it is. Personally, I don't buy it - but I still hear that message.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,459
12,613
126
www.anyf.ca
I swear if they start taxing home workers. :mad:

Oh you know they will. And insurance companies will threaten to drop you since you're using your home for "business purposes", and the city may even give you trouble because it's not zoned commercial. They will basically expect "work from home" people to rent office space in a commercial building which will defeat the whole purpose. I can totally see that eventually happen. Hopefully I'm wrong though, but I just know how ridiculous of a world we live in these days so I would not be surprised if these things eventually happen if working from home became standard.
 

Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
11,897
2,716
136
Things not related to COVID messed up my 2020.

I am a natural introvert so my routine would have not changed at all and I can see just how pathetically weak extraverts are when "lonely".

Call me callous, but their mental struggles are merely because they are wired and bred soft.
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,419
5,852
136
Things not related to COVID messed up my 2020.

I am a natural introvert so my routine would have not changed at all and I can see just how pathetically weak extraverts are when "lonely".

Call me callous, but their mental struggles are merely because they are wired and bred soft.

F1PvrRb.png


username checks out
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
In all honestly, I have been incredibly fortunate:

* No one I personally know has died from COVID
* I didn't get COVID (this year, at least)
* I live in a place that was outside the California fire zones, the Gulf hurricanes, etc.
* I was able to keep working (albeit I've now installed more VPN's this year than I have in my entire 15+ years in IT lol)

Pretty much won the lottery this year in luck, I think!

Any other year the "I didn't die, didn't get a disease, didn't catch fire and kept my job" would be a low bar of achievement. In 2020 its "fortunate"
It seems like there was a bad stigma with working from home, that your actually not working, and the expectation that you need your ass glued to the seat 8 hours or your not doing shit. It's hard to push management for change regarding these things. I'm glad that people have come to their collective sense and realized people need flexibility and you can actually be more productive with non standard hours of works.

Not everyone can and some otherwise great workers flounder when yanked from the structure they grew up with and flourished in
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Kaido
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
Things not related to COVID messed up my 2020.

I am a natural introvert so my routine would have not changed at all and I can see just how pathetically weak extraverts are when "lonely".

Call me callous, but their mental struggles are merely because they are wired and bred soft.

You.... Uhhhhh... you got some uhhh.... personal issues there bud.

As an introvert I can clearly say that undoubtedly.....

Even as a an introvert I can say that extroverts clearly have an advantage over us. Last I checked 93% of CEOs are extroverts - I wouldn't have a problem wagering a bet that the higher you go up in the working world the higher the probability that you're an extrovert.
 
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Xcobra

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2004
3,660
409
126
I went through some intrapersonal changes for the better so while it was a difficult one, I cannot complain. Stay safe, y'all!
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,389
1,778
126
2020 wasn't really bad in Jan-Feb for the US. The stock market tanked when I was on vacation in Hawaii and we missed out on all the scary lockdown news from NYC that week because we were enjoying sunny weather and beach time. We returned from the trip and I never went back to my office...just worked from my couch. I had a bonus room that I was near completing, so I finished work on it...setup a true home office and my wife and I worked from there. We got a "quarantine" bed up there, in case we needed to spread out and we made quite a few home improvements this year (*and got them paid for).

We had a vacation booked for May/June that went off without a hitch. We just avoided restaurants that week and cooked in our condo. My wife was more upset about that than I was. She's taken many more risks this year than I have.

June-October, I was able to meet up with my parents outdoors and we grilled out when we could. My wife started an amazing garden and I was able to help her plant a bunch of tomatoes and green beans. This was planned prior to COVID, but we put up 60-70 quart jars of each (beans/tomatoes) for the pantry.

I knew a few people to get sick, but we didn't really see a drastic number of cases in my area until Sept-Dec. Both of my in-laws got covid around Thanksgiving and my wife had the foresight to tell her mother not to come to our house after she travelled the week before. We dodged that bullet and knew to hunker down as 40+ people in our church got sick with 3 deaths. We still don't know if there are others that sick, but expect to hear about more people. I found out that a good friend of ours (40 year old female) was exposed this past week to one of her friends.

Try to avoid getting sick if you can. Severity of the cases varies so much you don't want to risk having chronic problems when a vaccination and masking up can prevent dealing with it for the rest of your life. My goal for 2021 is to get vaccinated the first chance I get. I've been so careful this year when around others and don't want all that effort to be for nothing. I hope you all feel the same.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,459
12,613
126
www.anyf.ca
Things not related to COVID messed up my 2020.

I am a natural introvert so my routine would have not changed at all and I can see just how pathetically weak extraverts are when "lonely".

Call me callous, but their mental struggles are merely because they are wired and bred soft.

At the start I felt the same way, but another way to look at it imagine if for whatever reason this whole situation meant we are not allowed to be alone and have to be partying all the time. Now that would make us introverts go crazy not being able to have alone time. The extroverts probably feel the same way about being alone at home.

Even as an introvert I like having SOME contact with people though, but I've been getting enough even with covid. I think more logically rather than just look at the rules, since lot of the rules are not logic. They say I'm not allowed to go visit family but then say it's ok to travel to places where the cases are high. I will go ahead and bend the rules and see friends and family, while also lowering my exposure, and they do the same. Avoid crowded areas as well too, like Walmart, which is legal to go to.
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,389
1,778
126
At the start I felt the same way, but another way to look at it imagine if for whatever reason this whole situation meant we are not allowed to be alone and have to be partying all the time. Now that would make us introverts go crazy not being able to have alone time. The extroverts probably feel the same way about being alone at home.

Even as an introvert I like having SOME contact with people though, but I've been getting enough even with covid. I think more logically rather than just look at the rules, since lot of the rules are not logic. They say I'm not allowed to go visit family but then say it's ok to travel to places where the cases are high. I will go ahead and bend the rules and see friends and family, while also lowering my exposure, and they do the same. Avoid crowded areas as well too, like Walmart, which is legal to go to.
Most of the rules and directives are loosely based on assumptions. The early ones made sense when everyone was in lockdown. Now, too many people aren't. Between organized religion, universities, private parties, and bars/restaurants/shopping, there's always opportunity for transmission.