Working from home: The pets of ZDNet
Most of us are now six weeks into what seems to be an interminable lockdown. While many of us are among the lucky ones because we can work from home, we miss going outside, we miss our friends, and we worry about the future.
Within that miasma, there's one bright spot: our furkids. Rather than talk more about pandemic and COVID-19, I wanted to do something to cheer us all up. Nothing can induce us to smile more than a look at our furry (and feathery) friends. And so, without further ado, I present to you the pets of ZDNet, the little guys and girls that keep your favorite ZDNet editors company while we bring you our daily look at the tech world.
Pixel - David Gewirtz' little guy
It seems only fitting that we kick off our pets of ZDNet piece with my favorite little furbaby, Pixel. He's a six-year-old Yorkie-Poo (a Yorkie and Poodle mix). He's cuddly, fierce, fun, playful, and oh-so-willful. He gives us smiles and cuddles every day.
Kimchi and Izakaya - Charlie Osborne's kitties
Charlie tells us, "Kimchi and Izakaya, named after my favorite food and in remembrance of time spent bar-hopping in Japan. They love hunting slow worms, not big fans of selfies."
Boomer and Lilly - Larry Dignan's buddies
Larry shared with us some pictures of Boomer the dog and Lilly the tortoise.
Olive - Catalin Cimpanu's feathery friend
Catalin tells us, "Olive is currently one of eight rescue pigeons. She was taken in after some children cruelly broke her leg in a public park. Olive is unreleasable because she's super-friendly with humans and will constantly land on people's shoulders, looking for scritches and food. Makes for a great writing companion, though."
Sorachi - Mary-Jo Foley's work buddy
Mary-Jo tells us, "Here are a couple shots of my work buddy. His name is Sorachi (yes, named after a hop used in brewing beer). He is five. I got him from a local NYC shelter when I moved into my new place three years ago. He's very rambunctious and has to be shut out during webcast/podcast recordings because he often steals the webcam and runs off with it. Or chews all my wires 😊 Hope you're all well!"
Gumbo - Jason Perlow's poodle
Jason tells us that Gumbo is his 12-pound poodle, who clearly has the run of the fun.
Mr. Kitty - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes stealthy fuzz ball
Adrian tells us, "His fur is like the surface of a stealth bomber, so he's super hard to photograph... He ends up looking like a fuzz ball. But he looks awesome using the FLIR thermal camera on the Blackview BV9800 Pro. His favorite hobbies are napping, sleeping, destroying things, and sleeping more."
Emoji - Jason Cipriani's English bulldog
Jason tells us, "Here's Emoji. He's a 4-year-old English bulldog, who comes to work with me daily and snores under my desk all day long. Unless it's too cold, then he refuses to come out to my office and stays in his bed all day. "
Ava - Beth Mauder's kitty
Beth says, "This is Ava, who is more affectionately known as Ma'am. After being found on the side of the road when she was a few weeks old, she's helped ease the transition between graduating college and moving states for work. She loves laying in boxes, killing spiders, basking in the sun with her belly in the air, and snuggling with her stuffed giraffe."
Angelica Mari's chickens and roosters
Angelica tells us, "I live in a countryside town in São Paulo, Brazil and I have a lot of chickens and roosters roaming around. Tending to their simple needs and being close to nature helps me focus on the present and get the headspace I need to work in these crazy times."
Lucy - Ed Bott's office dog
Ed tells us, "Lucy has a bed under my desk and she usually hangs out there during my workday, pausing only to remind me that it's time to go for a walk. She's a rescued English Springer Spaniel, and she turns 12 in just a couple weeks, although she still has the energy of a feisty young pup."
Twiggy and Bella - Steven Vaughan-Nichols' editorial team
Steven says, "Twiggy, aka Mr. Twiggs, a 17-year old Shih Tzu, is my senior editorial assistant. His best buddy Mirabella "Bella" Marvel, a two-year-old calico, is my editorial intern. Together they're great at their main job: Maintaining morale during these difficult times."
Anna - Tonya Hall's kitty cat
Tonya tells us, "This is Anna (stage name Venom) she's a foster that I adopted in 2015. She was named after a computer virus at the time (as well as my late grandmother Anna Louis). Anna has had appearances on technology news shows such as ScreenSavers and TWiT.tv's This Week in Tech. Anna can always be found in the studio when recording and she loves to bird watch. She's always up to play and her job at our home office, besides on-air talent, is as HR."
Teddy, Brando, and Lucy - Elyse Picaro's pack
Elyse writes, "Teddy is a three-year-old Siberian husky, and Brando and Lucy are six-year-old Russian Blues. They spend their days begging their fur mom to be let outside on a leash (even the cats) and require lots of snuggles and kisses in between article edits."
Speckles, Dorothy Ann, Cherry, and Biscuit - Aly Windsor's support staff
Aly says, "Speckles, our five-year-old lab mix, takes her watchdog duties very seriously. If she's not staring out the front window waiting for offensive passersby, she's asleep on the couch below it where I often work. Dorothy Ann, our two-year-old german shepsky, is the family therapist and resident goofball. Cherry (black pig) and Biscuit (the blonde) are technically my kids' pets (but guess who takes care of them). They have the sweetest squeaks and love grazing in clover."
In memory of Lucky - David Grober's best buddy
It's with sadness that we end with David's news about Lucky. He tells us, "Our dog Lucky died on Good Friday. Lucky was the best companion a work-from-home empty nester like me could have wished for. I will miss him terribly."
We hoped you enjoyed meeting our pets, and that our furry friends brought you a few minutes of cheer. If you'd like to share your pet stories, feel free to do so in the comments below. If you'd like us to see your pet's picture, post an image on Twitter and include @DavidGewirtz and @ZDNet in the message.
Hang in there, folks. Stay safe out there.
You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.