Fuzzy Slippers and no commute

As I sit here in my fuzzy slippers, I'm so glad I don't have to commute to work. I remember when I worked for a brick and mortor company in the Dallas area and had to commute to work and home each day. Most days it was hair-raising at best. But when it rained or there was any kind of precipitation, it was a living hell.

I remember my first year back in the Dallas area after being away for a few years. They had a record ice storm that year. When I got up there was probably 4-6 inches of ice on the roads, all of them. I listened to the traffic report and was horrified at all the accidents. Most of the major highways were shut down because of all of the accidents.

Dedicated employee that I am, I got my car de-iced and headed off to work. But I knew better than to even try to get on the highways. I lived maybe 30 miles from work. I took side streets. What normally took 30-45 minutes, an hour if there was a wreck on any of the highways I usually used, took over 2 hours. That's two hours of white knuckles, many cigarettes and a few centimeters of enamel ground off my teeth. Plus a few inches less on my brake pads.

The commute home was even more terrifying because I didn't leave early enough and spent most of the 2 hour drive home driving on icy roads in the dark. I made it to work and home with no mishaps. However, I vowed never, ever to do that again. If it snowed or iced, I would not drive to work ever again. And I have succeeded in my promise to myself.

Now I work from home. I never have to fight traffice, good weather or bad. My longest commute is the 1 minute it takes me to walk into my office. I don't pollute the air with my car fumes, I don't spend half my paycheck on gas and car maintenance, and my nerves fair much better. And my middle finger gets used a lot less. Although it's not near as much fun when the person you're flipping off can't see it, but it makes me feel better.

A Total Fuzzy Slipper Day

I'm sitting here working, pretty much bored to death and looking outside. It's cold, it's raining and looks really nasty in general. It doesn't bother me though. Here I sit in my fuzzies, with my hair all a mess in my jammies and i'm making money. This is one of those times that gives me a little giggle. When they call, my customers would never know i'm sitting here all cozy and comfy sipping my coffee. I use my professional voice and charm, do what needs to be done and I do it probably better than someone in a call center does.

Unlike Katy, I've only been working at home for about 3 years now. I love to work, pretty much anywhere to be honest. As long as I'm busy, i'm happy. Working from home though is the absolute ultimate for a workaholic like me. I can work as much as i want to and I still get to be here with my kids and be a MOM. Even though my kids are older now, it's still very important to me that I be here for them as much as possible. Soon enough they'll all be gone living their own lives and I want this time with them before that happens.

Katy and I met first while working a a particular project with the WAH company we're employed with. We never really got to talk much back then because the project was fast paced and really required concentration. When that project ended we met again on a new one. This new project still required some dedication of course but since we are both a supervisor of sorts we have more time to chat and get to know each other. We have a great deal in common. Mostly that we're both pretty attitudal about most everything but we also both like to crochet and such.

We've started this blog to get a bit of our personalities out to the world. At this point we plan to talk about a variety of things. Neither of us are boring in the least so there's NO telling what we'll think of to talk about on any given day. What our readers can count on is an honest, forthright opinion and no bullshit. Just because we wear fuzzy slippers doesn't mean we can't take names and kick ass, it just means we're cute at the same time. ::grin::

Nessa

Working at home

I started working at home probably about 13 years ago. I started out writing. I wrote some small books for a seminar company and some articles that got published in a couple of magazines and newspapers. Then I progressed to writing non-fiction books. In the years between 1995 and 2001 I wrote and published at least 5 books on internet related topics as well as chapters for other books. You might ask if I was doing so well at it, why didn't I stick with it. Well the answer is the publishing industry is notoriously slow about paying while demanding quick turn-around times in their requirements for writing assignments.

Back in July of 2005 me and my husband moved from Dallas to a very small town in the Ozarks of Missouri. We just fell in love with the scenery and had to move here. Well like most very small towns in the US, while the cost of living is low so is the job market.

I tried answering ads for jobs I was qualified for but never had any luck. So I went online and tried to find things I could do to earn a living. As fate would have it, I found the perfect job, or so I thought. It was a work-at-home job. It called for Independent Contractors to work in a virtual call center taking calls for direct marketing products. Direct marketing products are all those products you see advertised in those infomercials on television.

It was a wonderful training ground and I stuck with it for a little over two years. While with that company I took orders for products like Walkfit Insoles, Slim in Six and various other products. From time to time we would also have clients who just needed us to gather information on callers so the customers could be contacted by another associate to assist them with their needs, like the American Diabetes Association, Gerber Life, Direct Buy and such. Then there were the straight order taking clients like florists and fast food restaurants.

Finally I found another work-at-home company that offered a different type of clientèle. This company offers projects like tech support, client retention and customer service.

I love working from home for a variety of reasons. Number one, I set my own hours within scheduling limits. Number two, I'm my own boss. I don't have someone looking over my shoulder at any time. Number three, I set my own hours and control to an extent my own pay. Oh yeah, and I get to work in my jammies and fuzzy slippers.

There are many other reasons why working at home is ideal. Let's hear your stories.