So This Happened Last Night

As I've mentioned, since last Tuesday I've been working from home. I won't lie. It was stressful, and I swear I did more during those four days than I normally do in twice that amount of time.

My boss was kind of surprised that I hadn't brought my company-issued laptop home, and was instead connecting back to the office via a perfectly serviceable Dell desktop that I'd pulled out of storage and just upgraded in anticipation of all this going down. Not knowing at the time how long all this would last (or if we'd even ultimately get approval to do this) I didn't want to have to drag the laptop back and forth in addition to my personal Mac.

He was also surprised I didn't have a dual monitor setup at home. I told him it's no big deal; the ol' Dell supported only a single VGA connection without a separate video card and like I'd said, it was working just fine.

"Order yourself a video card and go downtown and grab a second monitor," he said.

I reluctantly said I would, but as long as my current setup was getting the job done, I didn't feel any urgency.

Well, a lot can happen in 48 hours amid this Coronachaos. Friday evening we received a notice that starting Monday all our facilities would be closed to the general public except by appointment. Shit was getting real. Add to that rumors were circulating that Phoenix was going to join other municipalities and go into lockdown mode next week.

So after some further contemplation, I last night I texted my boss and told him that instead of ordering a card for my personal PC, I was just going to go downtown (while I still could) and retrieve my company laptop. He said that was great; he was planning on heading down with his wife after dinner to retrieve her equipment (same organization, different department).

We met downtown last night around 7:30, and I have to say it was eerily quiet. Phoenix has always pretty much rolled up the sidewalks after dark (even on weekends), but last night it was dead.

We grabbed his wife's equipment and then headed to our work area. Once I got to my desk I realized that the docking station for my laptop only had display port and HDMI video. I know we didn't have any VGA adapters, but I knew I had a USB C-to-VGA dongle at home that I occasionally used with my Mac.

Since I was there, however, I decided to just grab everything: the dock, my company-supplied Verizon hotspot (the power went out at home briefly last week), my wireless keyboard and mouse, and finally the incredible Bose noise-isolating over-the-ear headphones we got a few weeks ago—the reason for which I'm still trying to determine

We had the cart loaded and were heading to the elevator when my boss said, "Where's your monitor?"

I would've loved to have taken it as well, but I told him I didn't think I could.

"Of course. Go back and get it. Anything to ensure you're as productive at home as you are when you're here, especially since this telework situation may last weeks…or longer."

So there we were.

This widescreen monster has been on my radar as something I'd like to get for for home since it first appeared on my desk at work, but could never justify the cost considering I mostly use my Mac in the evening on the coffee table or on my lap. But this is definitely a joy, even if it means I have to work in the den.

I think I'm going to get spoiled.