Transition – the technical and logistical

My original day to transfer to the home office was going to be May 31st, but there were delays, and I started thinking it would be another two weeks. When I got into the office Tuesday, after the long weekend, I found out it would be Friday, June 1st. I did not feel ready.

There were two main concerns. One was getting the home network running, so that not only could I have my home PC and work PC connected, but that Julie could connect with her laptop when she needed to work from home, an ability which I took away when I tried to set up the wifi so that I could set up my laptop, which still had not been done.

The other was getting everything home. They don’t let you roll your equipment to the train (which is not completely unreasonable), so if I could not find someone to pick me up I would need to hire a cab. I was not ruling that out.

I had two shopping bags at work, because I had been preparing, so I put all the claw machine animals in then, and carried them back with me that night. That was at least one thing done. I also messed around with the network that night, and still had no luck. I was worried, but trying not to panic.

Wednesday I didn’t really do much related to the move, except for have it weighing on the back of my mind.

Thursday I was feeling a little bit of panic, but also some determination. I went through every drawer and shelf, and cleaned everything out. Most of it was paper that could be recycled, and some office supplies that could be taken back to the supply room. I had about one bag of personal belongings, which I carried with me that night.

I left work about two hours early to deal with the network. After getting home, honestly, first I lay down for a bit, then I prayed, and got to work. I had been researching networking on the Comcast site, and I had gotten out the router manual, so I very carefully started from scratch, and restored the wired network. I still could not get the wireless working.

Julie brought her friend and coworker home (who is one of three people who I am not allowed to name on the internet, so my not naming him is not ingratitude—it is respect.) He had to mess with it a lot, but finally the wireless was up. I got out my laptop, and set it up. Julie tested her laptop, both wired and wireless, and it worked. We had traction. That was a huge relief.

One other thing I had done was called a friend, and she was going to be able to pick me up. Our time to go was scheduled for 10-11, so I thought being there at 10:30 would work. Another huge relief. (This was Jen—I don’t think she has any qualms about being named.)

There were a couple of other things that happened Thursday that relate to the personal and emotional, rather than the technical, and I just realized that this is going to be a two-parter, so I guess we will just get on to the technical of Friday.

First of all, having all of my personal items (except for one water bottle) already home was a big help. Nunzia and Lisa already had people waiting for them, so we let them go first, and then Jonah and I went down. I stepped onto the curb at 10:35. A minute later Jen pulled up, and a minute after that the guy with the cart with my PC rolled up, so the timing was pretty perfect.

We made good time getting back, and it was time for the home setup. Having the home network set up did not affect the setup, because what you do is use their hub. So instead of having the cable modem in my hub, and the work PC connected to that, the cable modem, the work PC, and the home router to which all other PCs connect go into the work hub.

I don’t love messing around with cables and things, but it went pretty well, and I had a home connection. Initially my home PC internet connection was down, and my work phone was not working, but it turns out that I had the home router and the work phone in each other’s jacks, and switching those worked really well. I logged in, sent out a message “Houston, we have liftoff” and did some auditing.

It will be an adjustment, and I still have a lot of organizing and rearranging to do, which will probably involve getting rid of many possessions, but it is also an exciting opportunity. We’ll see how it goes.