*bump* Ouch!

I hit a speedbump today. I realized that I cannot keep up this ridiculous work from home situation I've got going on. No way. I'm miserable. I don't work well in isolation. I really need human interaction and the flexibility I thought I'd be able to squeeze out of this arrangement is non existent.

I thought I'd be able to take my computer to the coffee shop when I needed a break, meet up with friends for lunch, get some sewing done because I wouldn't be working during the time I'd have spent commuting. Turns out, I don't leave the house, I have no time to sew, I start working earlier and I end later every night. I'm tied to my computer and silly headset thing for the VOIP service we use instead of land line phones. Since I don't have the commute I have no buffer between my morning routine/work and then work/dinner time. It used to be that I'd read a magazine or book on the train, listen to my beloved podcasts, chill out and unwind after a draining day at the office. I don't have that now, which means that I stop working when I hear Matthew's key in the lock, guiltily jump into the kitchen to start dinner while trying to hide the fact that I've been working right up until the moment he walks in the door, and I don't have time to come down from the hectic work mode I've been in all day.

I have so many friends who say things like, "I'm so jealous you get to work from home!" or, "You hate it? Oh my god, I'd love it! You're crazy." I understand those kinds of statements, but this is just not me. I'm not a solitary person. I need more during the day than Duke's snores and farts to break up the monotony.

The main problem is that I'm not working for myself... but I'm working from my apartment. I still have the same 8-7 schedule I had before, it's just that I'm tied to my living room. I need to find out how to make this work for me or I have to come up with another game plan. I'm headed to Seattle in a couple weeks to meet the people at the office I now report to, so hopefully I'll get some insight and be able to craft some sort of strategy to cope.

If not, I'll have to call Morpheus for an exit.

Lighter note: Crazy man Matthew on New Year's Eve. Love his tie.