I apologize for neglecting my site today, but it’s been one of those days. On the positive side I am working from home today, and will be again tomorrow. Yes, I finally worked out the details for telecommuting and I will be doing so on Monday and Tuesday each week. Then I’ll spend Wednesday through Friday in the office. This should be a nice split between the two.

As for the crappy part of the day, my boss is out again so I’m filling in for him. And another from my team is out as well, so I have to fill her shoes as well. This has led to a stressful and busy day. And to top it all off I’m fighting some combination of allergies and/or a cold. Though I’m starting to feel better as the day goes on, I just hope I’m back to 100% soon.

What is one thing I wish I knew more about? Stocks. Over the past year or so I’ve definitely thought about branching out and “playing the stock market” a bit, but honestly I really don’t think I understand all that goes into it. For instance, take my employers stock, HRS, which rose as high as $66 a share over the past week or two with speculation of a merger or buyout from a larger company. We received an email from the CEO yesterday saying that we are not seeking either. Once that was released the stock fell to under $56 a share. I own nearly 200 shares as part of my 401K, meaning that I lost over $2000 since the start of the week. There goes my retirement!

Good news at the end of this crazy busy week, my application for our company’s telecommuting program has finally been approved! What does this mean? Simply that I will once again be allowed to work from home just as I was doing since we moved to Denver until a month or two ago. I’m not sure why it took so long to get approved as I was working from home full time before, but this time the approval did have to go beyond our small work group.

Unfortunately it’s not a full time telecommute this time, now I will only be permitted to work two days from home and then the rest of my time is spent in the office. We haven’t settled on the days yet, but I know that Friday’s are likely out of the question. We have a weekly meeting that day and my boss really likes us to be in as few locations as possible. So I’m leaning towards Monday instead, and then I can hopefully get Tuesday as well. We’ll see, as I mentioned my boss is on vacation this week, so I may have to wait another week before anything is finalized.

This is going to be a busy week. My boss is on vacation and I’ll be covering many of his tasks for the week. I’m hoping that it won’t be as bad as it has been before when he took extended vacation, since there is another individual in the office who will be doing some tasks, but I guess only time will tell. So far it’s been a really busy day.

Our Memorial Day labor day weekend (I always mix the two up) was good though. We were back in Cincinnati for the wedding of one of Kim’s cousins. Kim was a bridesmaid in the wedding and we’ve known her cousins husband for awhile as well, so it was nice to attend their big day. And since a good number of her extended family was there it gave us a little taste of what our wedding will be like. Everyone better get their dancing shoes out and be ready to swing all the way into party mode! I took some pictures throughout the day and I hope to get them online sometime soon. I’ll be sure to post a link.

Though most of us probably still aren’t aware, today is Earth Day. While my daily adventures on the light rail were originally intended to save money, it’s nice to know that I’m contributing one less car on the roads each day. It may take me twice as long to get home, but I’m proud that I am starting to do my part in being more environmentally friendly. To make it even easier for me and others in the Denver area, Google now has RTD schedules built into their maps and transit applications. This should help make it even easier for us to use public transportation as much as we can.

Other things that Kim and I have been doing recently include setting the thermostat to 60 degrees while both of us are at work, using refillable water bottles instead of regularly buying disposable bottles (even though they may be causing cancer), replacing standard light bulbs with CFLs, among other recycling efforts. What other easy things should we be doing, or what have you been doing to help save our planet?

Just as I get all settled into spring time mode, it snows in Denver once again yesterday. I was hoping that it was all behind us now that we are in the middle of April, but I guess mother nature had other plans. So all of the flowers out back are looking a little droopy this morning, especially the daffodils, which were nearly in full bloom. The tulips just started blooming so I’m holding out hope for them. I don’t know what’s going to happen to the daffodils though, but I don’t think there is anything I could do or could have done.

This huge change in temperature must have played with my sinuses too. We were in the 80s just a few days ago, and then yesterday it was freezing out with snow falling. My nose just wasn’t sure what was going on. So I decided to hang out at home today and work remotely. That’s one benefit to my condition. And guess what, I’m feeling better already! And hopefully I can convince work to let me split my time between the office and home, working about half my time in each. We’ll see, that’s my most recent proposal to my boss as of today.

After two days of taking the light rail home from the office, I must say that I am really enjoying it. So far I’ve avoided the shuttle to the station and have been walking instead. I put my headphones on, find some good tunes, and enjoy the nice mile long walk. I find it to be very relaxing after a long day of work. Once at the station, I’ve been extremely lucky so far and hopped on the train right before it’s departure time from the station. However if I do end up missing one, there is usually another one around ten minutes later. After taking my seat, I’ve been reading a few issues of Paste magazine while continuing to enjoy some music. This really helps to pass the time on the near half hour ride. At the Broadway station it is just a few block walk home. Perhaps I’ll take some pictures of the commute one day.

Today appears to be a little better than yesterday from cubicle hell. I remembered to bring along some headphones so that I could drown out all of the background noise. It seems to be working as I’ve been able to focus on some of my projects for most of the morning. I still haven’t met too many folks, as everyone seems to keep to themselves for the most part. Maybe that will change as time goes on and everyone settles in to their new cubes. But I don’t want to spend the whole day socializing anyway.

Later today will be my first time using the light rail for my commute. Our office is approximately .9 miles from the station, which could be an easy walk. I’m still not sure if I’ll walk it today or take the shuttle service that stops outside the building. The bad part about the shuttle is that it takes at least twenty minutes to complete the route back to the station. I’m thinking I can walk to the station quicker than that. Once on the train it appears that the trip will be twenty eight minutes in length back to the I-25 & Broadway station, the station closest to our house. I’ve brought along my mp3 player and a few magazines to help pass the time.

I forgot how crappy cubicles really are. I don’t think this office thing would be so bad if I had walls that were more than three feet tall and a little more privacy. At home I was able to remove myself from all distractions and get things done quickly and without being disturbed. Now I can hear every conversation that at least three other people have throughout the day. People are constantly walking past my area, and there are just way too many distractions. I still haven’t figured out if I’m going to be in here every day, but I’m guessing that’s what they want me to do. I guess I’ll figure out more things as the week goes on. The person that was supposed to show me around today and help make the transition easier didn’t even show up. I guess I should have figured that would happen, this whole process has been extremely disorganized. Here’s to hoping for a better Tuesday.

I’ve already received one positive benefit for having to go into an office for work, an RTD Eco Pass. This allows me to ride the light rail and buses unlimited for the entire year, even during non business hours and weekends. And it is paid for by the employer, with no cost to me, at least that’s what I’m getting out of it so far. They haven’t really told me much about it, but I picked up a form and got my picture ID today. Now I just need a sticker from the employer that I’m hoping I can get on Monday.

My work week is essentially over now. My brother is in town visiting with six friends, and I took off tomorrow to take them up into the mountains for a fun filled weekend. The next time I write I’ll be back in a cubicle. Such is life. Have a nice weekend.