Week 31: Cosplaying as a Commuter

Week 31: July 30-August 5, 2023

As a strong believer in a work hard, play hard lifestyle, I am proud of myself this week.

I managed to maintain a good balance between work and play, while not entirely exhausting my social (and regular) battery.

There were two large company events this week: a day at the Del Mar Races and a suite at the Padres vs. Dodgers game. Because these two events were back-to-back, a couple of my out-of-state coworkers made the trip out to San Diego. My direct supervisor and the CEO were part of this select group, AKA those able to afford airfare and lodging, and requested that I come into the office if possible to get some time for face-to-face meetings.

It wasn't new for me to go into the office or to go to these company events, but it was a new experience cosplaying as a commuter for two days straight. I had to change my entire routine by selecting what to wear, packing lunch and snacks, and most importantly, actually driving and making the commute up to the office.

I cannot imagine what life would be like having to drive in traffic (in a curated business casual outfit) every single day, day in and day out, just to do the same exact work I do at home (in my work pajamas). The increase of my blood pressure and general grumpiness this week can 100% be attributed to the hour-long drive home in bumper-to-bumper traffic. This was the first time I drove into the office two days in a row, and I have fulfilled that mission and do not plan to do that ever again. If I can avoid it, I will.

Once actually at the office, it was a normal work day, and I was able to meet some of my remote coworkers that I've never met in person before. It wasn't as productive as it could have been, because as many of you may guess, the gathering of remote workers at an office space is more likely to turn into social hour ("Oh my god, so good to finally meet you in person!") than a super-focused productivity session. I admittedly found myself feeling a bit of imposter syndrome, bolstered by the fact that I was the only woman sitting in a room of successful white men who definitely fly first class, but I have to remember that I also work hard. And I also deserve to play hard.

On the complete other end of the activity spectrum, I spent time playing a new open-world, single-player game called Ghost of Tsushima (Director's Cut) on Ps5. I am partial to games like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, and Ghost of Tsushima is very similar. The storyline differs, of course, because it is based in Japan and centers around samurai warriors and the Mongol invasion, but the gameplay features feel familiar. I am a sucker (pun intended because this game was created by Sucker Punch Productions) for a gorgeous game (see this list - #14, #9, #7, #6, and #1 are games I've played and loved). I applaud the animators and artists that worked on Ghost of Tsushima. It blows me away how detailed and beautiful video games are becoming. I am so glad two of my (many) interests, art and games, can come together in a package like this game. It will take hours to complete the entire storyline (I shamefully admit that I still haven't reached 100% completion on Assassin's Creed: Origins OR Odyssey), but I am looking forward to really diving into this game.

See you next week.

P.S. I will probably always be more invested in video games over baseball games, but here's a nice picture of the view from the suite.

It felt strange posting without including at least ONE photo.