The work-from-home has been a massive stress-reliever for me. I don't like cities, but most tech jobs are in cities. I get to live in a nice quiet suburb now. I loathe commuting in any form, and now I don't have to do that. There used to be work-from-home jobs, but they were the exception, and it was hard to be treated as a normal, engaged team member. Now nearly everyone in tech works from home, and even after the pandemic, it's going to be more widely accepted. It's tragic that is took a pandemic to get to this point, but it's the best thing that ever happened to my career.

I'm burned out from the lack of social contact, though. I don't mean coworkers; I'm glad I don't have to interact with coworkers beyond Zoom. I mean the lack of family-and-friends get-togethers; the inability to pop down to the pub for a quick beer with friends; the lack of new friendships made because of the distancing; having to treat everyone and everything as though they're radioactive; the constant doomscrolling. Everything non-work-related is stressful and hollow.

Work from home would have made my life better under other circumstances. I'd have gained all the commute time back; I'd be living near family, friends, and activities that I enjoy; I'd be far from cities that I dislike. I have some of those things, but in this perverse alternate reality, I feel like I'm being teased and can't have it.

One of the biggest downsides to the past year is the lack of vacations. I took a week off for a break, but spent it at home doing nothing. There's no way I'm getting on a plane before I'm vaccinated, nor going to a restaurant or bar, and I'm not keen on staying in a hotel.