Work and Heels

[Cali]

54 minutes ago, Jkrenzer said:

Pandemic is over, killed those who couldn't survive now it's basically a cold. Get back to office and socialize. I've had covid as many times as the vacation, 3.

It's really time to move on.

I really like my 5 foot commute compare to a 40-45 minute drive over a curve mountain freeway in the EARLY morning.  I haven't had covid (to my knowledge) and I have major surgery coming up in April, so I want (need) to stay that way.  This spring I need to be on-site 2 days a week and 2 days off-site.

 

Thanks @Shyheels. Real suede.  They have a platform, so it's only a net 4 inch rise, but very comfortable. Bonus is they fit my calves.  I have other JS booties with the same basic profile and they are all very easy to walk in.

Too bad I only found these too late to get another color.

[Shyheels]

Real suede is lovely. I’ve a couple pair made of really thick rich Nubuck suede and really like them a lot. Only trouble is wearing them in a place where it rains all the time! 

[pebblesf]

10 hours ago, Cali said:

I've only been on-site for less than 40 days since the start of the pandemic.  Today was one of those days.  I will be back on site less than 30 days till June.

Lunch meeting heels. These Jessica Simson boots are so comfortable.

Always like Jessica Simpson boots, you look great in this outfit.

[Shyheels]

People can and do find alternative ways to connect with others. Over here at least all the polls and studies are showing that with rare exceptions, the overwhelming number of people would prefer to work from home. Most companies - the enlightened ones at any rate - are taking this into consideration and working with this new way of looking at things rather than against it.

Covid is a Corona virus - as is the common cold - but they are not the same thing. It’s like saying a garden snake is a reptile and a crocodile is a reptile - very different even if they are both reptiles. Covid has a markedly higher mortality rate than influenza - another coronavirus - and has known after effects that are unique to it. Long Covid is no joke and not something you’ll find with the common cold. 

[Jkrenzer]

2 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

People can and do find alternative ways to connect with others. Over here at least all the polls and studies are showing that with rare exceptions, the overwhelming number of people would prefer to work from home. Most companies - the enlightened ones at any rate - are taking this into consideration and working with this new way of looking at things rather than against it.

Covid is a Corona virus - as is the common cold - but they are not the same thing....

Wasn't my point. My point is, since it is a corona virus it's highly susceptible to mutations and as such we'll just have to learn how to live with it. We can't crawl into a hole every time it peaks. There likely not be a cure in our life times. The reality is, the fatality rates are way down from 2020 and not likely to return to those levels even though infection rates will continue. 

[Shyheels]

I don’t think anyone’s thinking about more lockdowns, but working from home is something that has evolved out of that and has become something separate now , no longer connected to Covid. People have discovered that working from home has many benefits, productivity is at least as good if not better, and technology can support it.

Companies that are insisting that things return to how they were in 2019 are just not in tune with how the world has evolved. The workplace is never going to be the same. At the very least there will be a new demand for flexibility. The clock won’t go back to 2019

[CAT]

I handle 30 buildings in 5 states, new construction, remodeling, maintenance, inspections for a technology company that does marketing, managed IT, cyber security, cloud storage, business automation, etc.  900 plus employees and not 1 is allowed to work from home.  We have found that not everyone will give you 8 hours of work for 8 hours of pay.  Productivity is higher when people collaborate together, work together, party together.   Some of the bigger companies have realized that it does not always work out with people working from home and are slowly bringing people back to the offices.  Baxter had required 2 days in the office last year, this year it is 3.  I will say that Allstate insurance sold off there headquarters in suburban Chicago as they found they don't need the offices.  who knows where we will be in a year or two,,,,,  The Doomsday  clock just got moved closer to 12 midnight so at that point it won't matter   :-o

[Shyheels]

Yes, but as someone who manages buildings you, and your company, obviously have a vested intrerest in seeing those buildings used and occupied as much as possible. To someone with a commercial interest in office blocks it really becomes irrelevant how productive a worker might be at home - they could be toiling like a galley slave at maximum effort - but if they are not doing it in the office, boosting occupancy rates, it is a loss.

Sure some people might take it easy working at home - just as some workers manage to slide by at the office. It's probably those very same workers. There will always be slackers in any collective environment, just as there will be people who are driven to do their best. THey will be just as driven at home - possibly more so, as it is that bit harder to switch off.

All the studies I've read about suggest no loss of prduuctivity at all from home working. The people who are losing out are those who own and mamage office buildings, and while I can understand their frstration and sense of loss, the world is moving in a different direction. To be sure, some can - and are - using their clout to force workers back to their offices, but that will not be a long term solution. The demand is out there - other companies will offer the desired flexibility and ultimately changes will have to be accepted. 

[VirginHeels]

I think folk here in the UK are getting the idea that WFH is damaging the economy. There is a third of companies that are going to come back full time to the office this year. It is also being shown that the lack of office work is also hurting the “high streets” with shop occupancy being at a third to two fifths down on pre pandemic 2019 levels.

It has been suggested that getting folk back to the office will increase shop occupancy and bring employment to those shops, increasing the tax base as well. This could reduce inflation in the economy as well.

I know of many folk who are going back to the office this year. Some of the women are also panicking as they will be expected to wear heels again. One has started wearing heels in her everyday wear right now as to get used to them and get some new ones worn in. She had reduced the amount she had to about 5 pairs during lockdown, now she is buying about 20 new pairs so to have variety in what she will wear. She is also getting a new wardrobe as well, more smart casual wears and less sportswear.

Im predicting that WFH will be gone by the end of 2024 in the majority of cases.

[Shyheels]

I disagree. I doubt WFH will be going anywhere anytime soon. There is no putting the toothpaste back in the tube.  There are too many obvious benefits - both personally for workers and for employers who will save on exhorbitant rental costs for downtown office space. And there's simply too much demand for it for things to return to the status quo of 2019. Technology allows for so many jobs to be done from home these days. More progressive employers were already recognising this and acting  on it long before the pandemic. Thirty years ago I had a great work-from-home deal when I was on the staff of a big international magazine. I was by no means the excepton there either. Everyone knew it was a good deal all around.  And so it was. And this was using early 90s technology. 

Emlployers who are demanding that employees return to their cubicles, to be monitored and treated like battery hens, are looking increasingly Dickensian. The world has changed.  

Edited January 28, 2023 by Shyheels

[mlroseplant]

There is no question that Work From Home is here to stay, because of the many benefits to all as mentioned in depth above. However, it doesn't work for everyone (no pun intended). WFH is not an option for me, both because of the nature of my work and my personality. First, it's awfully tough to build any physical structure from home, and second, I'd be fired within months if I worked from home. I'd never get anything done. I'm finally old enough and mature enough to admit that shortcoming. Luckily, I've got a place to go every day, where I'm not allowed to get distracted, but when I leave in the afternoon, I don't think about the job (much) until the next day. There are definite advantages to having work and home completely segregated. My only regret is having a profession where I can't ever wear heels to work.

[Shyheels]

I have been freelancing now for over 25 years - working from home when not on the road on assignments - and one of the things I’ve done to separate work from home life is to dress for work, not lounge around in pyjamas, even though I could if I wanted to. Making a point of changing into office attire - whatever that might be - helps to define the workday. Heels have become a part of that, my office dress code if you will.

[VirginHeels]

WFH will have advantages for the likes of call centre work, where its about quotas and targets that way. However for more collaborative workplaces like design manufacture and even the insurance folk I have spoken to, its all about getting back. Journalism is a profession that is now WFH advantageous. One of the folk i have spoken to had their garage converted to allow them and their husband to WFH. They have different jobs in different places, also different WFH standards, she has still to do the full work attire and her husband does sports wear. She has taken the option to go back to the office this year as she feels more professional that way. She will keep the option to WFH a couple days a week if need be.

I am looking at the broader economy, I was in Glasgow on Tuesday and the sheer amount of shops and even office places vacant is harming the recovery. I mean, the lack of shops open, let alone busy is a very bad look. Yes some of the largest units need redeveloped, even bulldozed and re engineered for maybe more mixed use is going to hurt for the short to mid term. We need more small to mid sized cultural venues for gigs and comedy nights, even bloody night clubs for the teenagers, and not so teenagers. I suppose, maybe, i am looking at it from a pre pandemic prism, getting folk back to work helps get things populated again. Plus it gives more traffic on the rail system, and will allow the rail operators to pay better and avert all the rail strikes we are presently having.

For folk who are sales based representatives, WFH is not gonna stop, they are on the road. WFH may not go back in the tube for some professions, however for some, it will need to go back in the office sooner than later for the sakes of the greater economy.

Edited January 28, 2023 by VirginHeels
Addition.

[pebblesf]

Same here buddy.  Too many distractions at home for sure.  I'm great at making excuses for not doing what I'm supposed to be doing for sure.  Especially now, at tax time.  The war department will have to lock me in the office with the shredder, or I will find every excuse not to go through last year's paperwork and organize it for the accountant.   

[Cali]

@pebblesf I suppose it would a little difficult to be a Flight Attentend from home. 

I've done freelance work and have written books from my home office for decades.  You have due dates that keep you going.  I like to go in though because I know I will have my heels on for at least 6 hours. And I get to wear more styles.

[pebblesf]

1 hour ago, Cali said:

@pebblesf I suppose it would a little difficult to be a Flight Attentend from home. 

I've done freelance work and have written books from my home office for decades.  You have due dates that keep you going.  I like to go in though because I know I will have my heels on for at least 6 hours. And I get to wear more styles.

Yeah, I do much better with a tight deadline.  Give me plenty of time to do something, and I will wait to the last minute...

[Shyheels]

It’s funny how that works. During the course of my career I’ve gone from a daily newspaper, to a weekly, and from a weekly magazine to a monthly with long lead times and book projects and my ability to crank out copy in a hurry has vanished. I just can’t do it now. It’s like your speed slows in propertion to the extended length of your deadline 

[Pascal]

13 hours ago, pebblesf said:

Yeah, I do much better with a tight deadline.  Give me plenty of time to do something, and I will wait to the last minute...

Indeed!

I tend to do the same.

'Procrastination!

[Shyheels]

Tomorrow I’m going to stop procrastinating…

[Pascal]

2 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

Tomorrow I’m going to stop procrastinating…

I figure it would be a good day to start.

An activity that will always be postponed : not wearing heels.

Edited January 29, 2023 by SophiaHeels
typo

[Shyheels]

Yes I’m still making up for lost time on the wearing boots and heels front…

[Chorlini]

I think you might put in less hours working from home. So if that's the metric to go by, which is usually the only one that Pointy Haired Bosses know, then yeah, working from home is less productive. But working in an office does not make you more productive. There is coming in, getting the coffee, talking with your colleagues, checking email, lunch, after lunch dip, constantly getting distracted by office talk, Pointy Haired Bosses. And if I don't feel like it, there's always the internet to browse. So yeah, i put in more hours at the office probably, there's no guarantee I will be more productive. Coffee, email, lunch, lunch dip, they're at home too. But when I am going fully at it there's no colleagues and Pointy Haired Bosses to distract me. We should move away from having to work X amount of hours and instead move to productivity. That you are supposed to do X amounts of work per week. And how you do it, and where you want to do it, should be up to you. If you want to work really hard for like a day or two so you have more free time the rest of the week. And not get assigned more by a Pointy Haired Boss. Because then I ain't gonna work so hard and watch more cat videos behind his back, because then there is no incentive for me to work hard.

[Shyheels]

I think most people put in more hours at home. They start earlier (no commute) and tend not to switch off. The temptation to just finish something after dinner is always there and often acted upon. That has been the experience of all the people I know.

[Chorlini]

20 hours ago, Shyheels said:

I think most people put in more hours at home. They start earlier (no commute) and tend not to switch off. The temptation to just finish something after dinner is always there and often acted upon. That has been the experience of all the people I know.

Not this guy, I put in less hours. But when I did get started I was way more productive as no one else was distracting me. So that made up for it.

[Jkrenzer]

Red at work. This is a old pair of Italian Heels. Well worn and feel like leather gloves.

[spikesmike]

JKrenzer: I love the photos you post from work. I would think that would be a gigantic thrill. However, I never see anyone else in the photos-not even in the background. Also, who is taking these pictures?  Nosie me. I like red also, see below.  Mike

[pebblesf]

1 hour ago, spikesmike said:

JKrenzer: I love the photos you post from work. I would think that would be a gigantic thrill. However, I never see anyone else in the photos-not even in the background. Also, who is taking these pictures?  Nosie me. I like red also, see below.  Mike

Love those killer red boots and spurs!

[Jkrenzer]

3 hours ago, spikesmike said:

JKrenzer: I love the photos you post from work. I would think that would be a gigantic thrill. However, I never see anyone else in the photos-not even in the background. Also, who is taking these pictures?  Nosie me. I like red also, see below.  Mike

It's OK. even if I weren't wearing heels I wouldn't takes shots of myself with others around. That's simply not cool. My neighbor's computer is on as seen in the background. 

[mlroseplant]

22 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

Red at work. This is a old pair of Italian Heels. Well worn and feel like leather gloves.

Yes, they kind of look like leather gloves, too! How many miles do you have to put on before they look like that? Also, what is the sizing like with Italian Heels? I realize these shoes are old, and your experience may not be applicable any longer. 98% of the time, I take a 40 in EU sizes. So many conversion charts that claim 39 = USW 9, which drives me nuts. I'm sorry, 39 ≠ 9. It just doesn't. It's taken me a long time to figure that out.

[Jkrenzer]

56 minutes ago, mlroseplant said:

Yes, they kind of look like leather gloves, too! How many miles do you have to put on before they look like that? Also, what is the sizing like with Italian Heels?

I think these are over 10 yrs old. They are butter soft and conformed to my feet quickly. The soles are pure leather. It took very little time to break these. I bought 42's. My true size seems to be 10.5 US You have a lot of Nine West, these size accordingly. These and a light grey pair are the only two I bought. Price with shipping was over $100 back then. A bit pricey. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Jkrenzer