Fond memories. On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 12:13 PM Bruce Chitiea <[email protected]> wrote:
> My cat now looks at homebound-me and asks "traffic? What, am I traffic to > you now?" > > Emmitt help me greatly in my early yeaR:s on the list; your posting a > reminder of the generosity of his soul. > > Bruce Chitiea > > ------ Original Message ------ > From: "A. Razzak Memon" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: 3/25/2020 6:55:03 AM > Subject: [RBASE-L] - My first day in the Home Office (No, not in the > British sense!) > > 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? > > > > > > > > > -- For group guidelines, visit > http://www.rbase.com/support/usersgroup_guidelines.php > --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "RBASE-L" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbase-l/202003251355.02PDtkn0036966%40atl4mhob21.registeredsite.com > . > > -- > For group guidelines, visit > http://www.rbase.com/support/usersgroup_guidelines.php > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBASE-L" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbase-l/em01c88581-b4cb-449b-8b47-d2b6dc5d8d98%40pathfinder > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbase-l/em01c88581-b4cb-449b-8b47-d2b6dc5d8d98%40pathfinder?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- For group guidelines, visit http://www.rbase.com/support/usersgroup_guidelines.php --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBASE-L" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbase-l/CADeqk-6NHbunzGkxhYj%2BycLXt3-j75btL4hM%3Dn-RDK1a8_Gu-w%40mail.gmail.com.
