Working from home with humans during COVID

I’ve always worked from home. But since this COVID thing began, my human has, too. She used to leave in the morning and be gone all day, but she hasn’t done that for a very long time now. I have to share the house with her now.

She spends time in her “home office,” sitting in front of the computer. I work alongside her from my own workstation, a large basket in front of the window. Mostly I work independently, but sometimes we collaborate. In those cases, I sit on her desk in front of her monitor, until she gives me pets. I like to provide support when she is trying to type.

I also sometimes participate in videoconferences, and that’s how I know more about some of the others working for OCLC. It’s a great group.

There are really a lot of dogs

Seriously, what’s with all the dogs? I thought library folks had cats?!

For example, I see a lot of Alvin during video meetings. He’s super chill and appears well rested. I also see a lot of Westy, who is a very good listener, and Elvis is also usually in the building.

Mona and Jojo recently joined us, along with their mom, Lesley Langa. I occasionally hear Dolly with a squeaky toy, which is always followed by her dad yelling, “hey, cut it out!” I hear, rather than see, a lot of Wembley, who I think may need a sleep study.

Cats provide superior desktop support

The best part of working, though, is getting to meet the other cats. Julia is a super great collaborator, pacing right in front of the computer, providing great desktop support. Like Jojo and Mona, I’ve also only just met Kage, whose mom, Kathryn Stine, joined OCLC Research late last year. As you can see from this picture, she’s a hard worker, helping her human with typing. And, here’s a picture of me, hard at work, too, helping my human with some writing.

Making the workplace brighter

I don’t know how long my human is going to continue this “work from home” thing, but I’ve gotten used to it, and really enjoyed getting to see the other pets who have had to adapt to having their humans around. Sometimes the days have seemed a little dark, and seeing Westy or Julia always makes things brighter. I couldn’t mention everyone in this blog post–there’s also Churro and Prudence and Toffee and many others. Maybe I’ll write more about them sometime, but first I have to take a nap.

Thanks to my human co-worker, Senior Program Officer Rebecca Bryant, as well as Senior Manager Merrilee Proffitt for their assistance with this post.

3 Comments on “Working from home with humans during COVID”

  1. This is such a wonderful post! I’m so grateful to OCLC for all their work with metadata, and the wonderful Connexion client. I’m also grateful for their support of the PCC. However, this post has to rate way up there with reasons that I’m thankful of OCLC! 🙂 I laughed out loud, and loved the pictures. I hope Chobe contributes another post in the future. Comment contributed by Ally the Spitz, Olivia the Pug, and Zulema, the cat.

    1. Ally, Olivia, and Zulema–Thanks for taking the time to comment and suggest I write another post. I’m taking it under consideration, but first I need to nap.

      Chobe.

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