Telework Aides Offer Reason to Put Phone on Mute
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After draining the pond, we were pleased to discover that Fluffy the turtle had, in fact, survived her first winter outside,” said Jennifer Sizemore of NIGMS.
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“My dog, Sally, appreciates me being home and taking her on walks during conference calls,” said Dr. Peter Kilmarx, deputy director of the Fogarty International Center. “Here she is modeling and providing scale for a neighbor’s display of what 6-foot separation looks like.”
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“I’m going to have a serious discussion with my coworker about boundaries,” said Nicole Popovich, a management analyst in NIEHS’s Division of Extramural Research and Training.
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Gerry, who usually floats about at FIC, was also sent home to telework. Gerry was rescued from a wading pool at an NIH event back in June 2017. Spoiled with love from staff, the fish has grown to be quite beautiful and friendly, said Mili Ferreira, FIC global health program specialist.
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“My current favorite companion is our kitty Mystic,” said Dr. Pat Brown, director of OER’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, who has had many pets over the years. “He was a rescue that my son found as a kitten in Salisbury, hanging around the student apartments. He is now 11 and considers himself the master over me.”
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“I am loving this social distancing rule because now I am able to spend ALL day with mom and we get to go on 47,473 walks a day!” says Princeton, owned by Ashley White, recruitment & outreach specialist in the Clinical Center’s Office of Patient Recruitment.
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“I have two cats and this one [Moon] is the oldest,” said Judy Bartz, an administrative technician at NIEHS. “She turned 20 in January. She thinks she is a kitten yet. She lightens the mood and helps us stay upbeat.”
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“My quarantine coworker, Kona, at work providing IT support,” says Karen White, web content manager at NICHD.
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NIEHS’s Debbie Gaffney has a personal assistant, Lansky, who she says “will be getting a 2 on his PMAP for social distancing!”
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NIEHS’s Ru-Pin “Alicia” Chi has a cat named Gary who yawns constantly, not realizing it is contagious.
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Hazel supports Omar Echegoyén, Clinical Center patient recruitment specialist, during his telework days.
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Dr. Erica Spotts, health scientist administrator in the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, notes, “My supervisor is working hard.”
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One day while eating lunch, NIAMS’s Alisa Machalek caught sight of this red-shouldered hawk in her backyard. Using her husband’s new zoom lens, she was able to capture this image.
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“How can we play if you’re working all the time?” says Charlie, who belongs to Richard Barnes of the Online Information Branch, OD.
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“Billy provides ’round-the-clock IT support,” says Dr. James Onken, a contractor for OD. “The PrtSc key [has been] retrieved from his mouth. G key still missing.”
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“Listen up, this is what we are going to do to get her out of our house!” say cats Pixel and Luna, who belong to Eli Ney of NIEHS. “As you can see,” says Ney, “they don’t practice social distancing either.”
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“Are you having a ruff time?” asks Max, a German shepherd belonging to Gladys Gonzalez, a study recruiter at NIEHS.
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“This is Luce (the mini labradoodle), who has been stealing the show during Zoom and Webex meetings since the start of the pandemic,” says Dr. Alyssa Brooks of the Clinical Center. “She wishes everyone would mute themselves except when they are speaking, but not as much as she wishes she had more treats.”
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Gabby, a 13.5-year-old lab, comes in for some petting from Joseph Shealey, senior electrical engineer at the Research Triangle Park Facilities Management Branch.
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Justin Kosak of NIEHS has two at-home supervisors.
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“This is Clark,” says Dr. Allen Dearry, program director in the NCI Cancer Research Data Commons. “He is a 1.5-year-old whippet. He loves the beach, which is unfortunately closed right now. But every day, he helps keep me sane and focused and serves as a reminder of what’s important.”
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Christine Sizemore of the Fogarty International Center has an assistant, “Peck,” a green-rumped parrotlet who loves NIH’s director.
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The support team belonging to Paul Williams, communications director at NICHD
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“Goldie, a 4-week-old Nubian goat, is my telework co-worker and also my stress relief,” says Erica Jaworski, clinical manager of oncology clinics in Bldg. 10. “My kids bottle-feed Goldie and her goat sister three times a day. We are all getting an education of the farm-yard variety.”
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Duncan, a cat belonging to Christine McGowan, an NCI research nurse specialist, likes to catch up on email.
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Bo has been the best co-worker during this extended time of teleworking, says Stephanie Wildridge, clinical manager of 3NW Adult Oncology in the CC.
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Bella is in the habit of distracting both Daniel Avila, an anesthesia tech in Bldg. 10, and Belinda Avila, supervisor of sterile processing in the hospital.
Raise your hand if your pet ever interrupted one of your telework efforts, to your embarrassment.
Here are more of NIH’s prized telework helpmates, who have assisted their (alleged) masters since the workforce was encouraged to begin telework in mid-March.
On Apr. 24, NIH’ers learned that telework remains the preferred mode of operations until the end of May.
Here’s hoping the unprecedented amount of attention works to the benefit of all.