For some, the new, good life

"I have read articles about the number of folks who could leave the metro area, did leave. Found a nice spot on a lake somewhere north. In fact, so many have gone after the good life, all of a sudden lake shore property became scarce and expensive."

Most of the large cities have been hit with a double whammy this year. First the pandemic, which sent many employees home. Some to work from home, and others to look for another job. Then came the social unrest. Some employers could no longer afford to be robbed and/or vandalized numerous times. All of a sudden, some cities started to look very empty. For sale signs were popping up everywhere. Many thought if they no longer had to work at an employer's facility in a crime ridden city, it was time to check out.

The folks who really had it "made in the shade", were the ones who had jobs which were totally remote. In other words, they would work from anywhere, so long as they had an internet connection worth a darn. The only fly in the ointment, was if they could sell their house or condo in the city. If they could, there was a huge amount of "outstate" property they could buy. Property they could live in, work in, and play in. Now this - was the good life! 

A brief moment of disclosure. I have worked remotely when I was employed at IBM. Compared to having an office at a company I would go to every day, just being with me, myself and I most days took some getting used to. But the amount of extra time it afforded me was huge. The amount of time it would take every day, to get up, get dressed, get in the car, drive to work, park, and then get set up in my office - was a big time waster. Same on the back side, when the work day was over. After putting in eight or so hours a the office, and then fighting rush hour - I was beat when I got home. With remote working - not so much.

I have read articles about the number of folks who could leave the metro area, did leave. Found a nice spot on a lake somewhere north. In fact, so many have gone after the good life, all of a sudden lake shore property became scarce and expensive. Some got up at the butt crack of dawn, powered up the laptop, and had a good four hours in by 10. They would take an extended lunch hour, get in the boat, and wet a line or two. Early afternoon, it was back to work in the great room of the cabin. At supper time, the laptop was powered down, the grill was lit, and the remote worker was ready for a nice "up north" evening. Like I say - the good life.

Some articles I have read have predicted that remote working will be more common than uncommon. Sure, some companies will want their employees back at the company. Others however, will not. I will say this however - the one drawback of working remotely as a steady diet, is not partaking in the synergy with fellow co-workers. What suited me best was a hybrid of remote and on-site working. 

Many experts don't think we will get back to any kind of "normal" until reliable vaccines are available. Then it will be interesting to see how many workers remain remote. Of course, we still might have the job killing social unrest in our large cities. If that persists, the cabin up north will look very good, more many different reasons.