To all:
This message is an off topic post from a gone but not forgotten
friend to the R:BASE Community Emmitt Dove on July 5th, 2006, when
working from home was more optional than the current environment.
Enjoy this blast from the past!
Razzak
-------------------------------
You may not know that today was my first day in my new home
office. Being the opportunist I am, events at work transpired to
make this possible, and I jumped at the chance. For those of you who
think a home office is a bed of roses, consider:
The Awakening
I have one of those "atomic" alarm clocks that set themselves to the
Naval Observatory and also display the indoor temperature and
humidity. For the past several years my alarm has been set to 5:45
am. That allows time to negotiate two bridges under construction and
still make it to work at a reasonable hour. So I decided I could
take some of that time back.
Well, this clock has four buttons on the back - mode, mem, up arrow
and down arrow. Intuitive, right? No amount of fidgeting with the
blasted thing could get me to the set alarm time mode. The
reasonable alternative would have been to consult the
documentation. Oh, but where in blazes is the doc? Nowhere I can
find it. So I did the logical thing and hopped online, went to the
manufacturer's website, hit the clock section, went to the
documentation download page. Now, where is my model? Not
there. They have online doc for every other clock made in the
history of Mankind, but not mine.
By this time it is getting late, so I decide to go ahead and hit the
sack and deal with the clock another time. So could I get to
sleep? No, I was to busy steaming over a piece of plastic and
electronics that had failed to yield to my superior efforts. Turn
the light back on ... fidget some more ... no luck. Light
off. Light back on. Off. On. Finally, somewhere after midnight, I
inadvertently hit some unidentified combination of buttons that put
me into alarm set mode! For joy!
At 6:15 AM this morning the clock faithfully sprang to life and
emitted its annoying chirping to wake me up. Off to a good
start. After all, tonight I can make up the hours of sleep I missed
last night fidgeting with the blooming clock. Note to self: just
plan on awakening at 6:15 for a good long time.
Now to get going and get ready ...
The Brief Commute
No, not that kind of brief - I meant quick! I did run into some cat
traffic between the food dish entrance ramp and the litter box
exit. However, that was offset by the fact that there was no wife
traffic (she's up in Newfoundland for a few days). The lack of wife
traffic was fortunate, since there is only one "rest stop" along the
way, and it can get jammed with wife traffic. The facility, such as
it is, is a one-holer. (Note to Southerners: this one-holer is
indoor, and has plumbing!) Naturally, wife traffic has the
right-of-way. I'll have to schedule future commutes around this
potential log jam.
The weather was nice - incandescent light with a background of
filtered overcast. Even though it was raining steadily, the road was
dry and I didn't need my wipers. The temperature was a comfortable
74.3 degrees and 61% humidity, according to the aforementioned
undocumented electronic clock device. A gentle, cool breeze emanated
from the east, courtesy of the Friedrich Corporation. Indeed, the
trip was almost idyllic.
There was no wait at the breakfast place, but the selection was very
limited. Strangely enough, there was cat traffic here, too. Note to
self: put groceries on the to-do list.
The coffee joint had just the blend I like, all hot and loaded into
an insulated mug. Things were looking up, except for the cat traffic.
Even getting up half an hour later and taking the cat congestion into
account, I still made it to work well ahead of my previous
arrivals. As before, I arrived before anyone else and had to turn on
the lights. But I'm accustomed to being first-in, and I really enjoy
having some quiet time with my coffee, Doonesbury and RBG7-L before
the others start showing up.
[later]
Hmmm. Was today a holiday? Where is everyone?
Lunchtime
After a morning of the usual emails and phone calls, noon rolled
around. So I moseyed over to the local sandwich shop. Again, no
wait, but an extremely limited selection. Note to self: I really
must get to the grocery store soon!
The afternoon was filled with the usual brain-disengaged user support calls:
Caller: "Would you add these valuations for me?"
Me: "You can do it yourself."
Caller: "How?"
Me: "Click that button right in the middle of the screen
that says 'Add valuation'."
Caller: "You never told me I could do that."
Homeward Bound
Quitting time rolled around, so I hit the reverse commute. Funny
thing, though - the phone kept ringing, so I had to keep turning
around and going back to work! And, there was all that cat traffic
again. Then, I discovered that if I opened the door the cat traffic
disappeared! I'll have to remember that one. Note to self: The
food dish entrance ramp is in need of attention. More groceries!
But, somehow, this is better than 30 miles each way that can turn
into over an hour on two major highways with even more major
construction and untold numbers of out-of-staters in a big hurry to
get out of this state and into some other state.
I guess I can get used to it.
And, upon reflection, I miss the wife traffic. Now, where is that cat?
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