Mixed feelings about return to the ‘old normal’

Word is that us journalists will be returning to our offices shortly.

It will be a breath of fresh air to spread paperwork over a desk instead of it slipping off the duvet.

It will be nice to have a proper phone to tuck under the chin when in a long, complicated chat to a councillor instead of juggling and then dropping the mobile.

And it will be a welcome return to the bakery to pick up a pasty for lunch or recharge with a mid-morning hot chocolate from Greggs.

The loyalty card is looking sadly depleted. But there are things about working from home I have grown accustomed to.

There has been no panic about missing delivery drivers because I am always in.

The cats have rediscovered their lord and master and have taken to following me from kitchen to ‘office’ whenever they hear me move. One now curls up across my feet.

After attempting to work from the sofa in the early days I have commandeered a bedroom and turned it into a passable office.

The laptop and phone are neatly positioned on a makeshift desk and I have notes strategically Blu

Tacked to the walls.

It has been a joy to listen to my music without offending anyone else. And being able to occasionally slip into the garden to keep a check on Mrs Nurden’s cucumbers has been a positive advantage.

All that could change with a return to the office or, as we say, the ‘old normal’.

The premises have been kitted out with ‘cough screens’, hand sanitiser and hazard tape on the floor.

But none of our computers are fitted with cameras so Zoom chats may be become a tad difficult.

The biggest challenge, though, will be remembering the log-in password. I am dreading the first time the computer says ‘no’.