在家上班到今天已經整整半年了，一直沒有一個比較完整的記錄，對比起別人的日記，周記，月記，我這個，就算是半年一記吧！

今年吃到的唯一一顆後院的百香果。留個影。

As we were approaching the seventh month of working from home, I got an email from the company, seeking our advice of continuing working remotely, and what the company can do to help out those in need.  I later heard that our office leases are expiring and that the executives plan to size down the office space. I believe this will be hailed as a good decision, a welcome move most employees favor. A recent HR survey on August 21 shows that out of 69% respondents, 92% employees enjoy working from home. As surprised as the result may sound, it speaks volume of our preferences.
 
While we see no end of this pandemic, people and companies are voluntarily and involuntarily changing their way of doing businesses.  What would have previously seemed a bit bizarre of remote working is now becoming a norm, as more employees settle into routines. More importantly, the business owners are accepting it. In my company, it is a big leap from first suspiciously following suit, to now proactively endorsing it.  On September 9, HR issued a Telework Program Policy, telling us that each eligible employee will be reimbursed monthly with $25 cell phone expense, and $25 equipment connectivity fee, retroactively to March 2020. Then on September 12, a surprise gift of a Snackbox was delivered to our doorsteps.  Small the gift is, I remember the day with warmth and joy swelling in my heart.  
Though the workplace is only ten- minute- drive from home, working remotely still makes differences.  I don’t have to dress up in the mornings.  I can nap 20-30 minutes at home on a comfy bed. I cook three meals every day, tending to his weak stomach.  I don’t have to worry about my little watchful boss lurking behind me.  I can do my readings in the down time, and once in a while going downstairs or backyard for a stroll or a breath.  But whenever an urgent request comes, I overtime at night, never missing any work or deadline. It is true that telecommuting may has blurred the start and end of working hour, but we have at our hands the freedom of tackling the fixed workload at our preferred pace without much interference.
I don’t know what our reactions will be once the lockdown is lifted, and we are asked to go back to the office. Some of my co-workers live in a suburban area, hours’ drive away. In order to avoid the traffic, they get up five or six in the mornings.  I remember one of them once told me that how hard it was to get up in the dark and drive in the cold in winter.  In my team, I have a coworker who has three kids. Two elder ones are in the elementary school, and the youngest one, less than one year old, is in daycare.  Each month, the daycare and after school expenses alone exceed $2000.  Will people like them wish that the clock will never be turned back?