The Southern View

Well I am back at work today after the Xmas / New Years break and am trying to get back into the swing of things.

I see from comments on some of my posts I have been 'stumbled' which is nice, thanks for the kind words from all of you.

I began work in the New Year on 01/02/08 and was fortunate enough to work from home.   I REALLY like working from home (who wouldn't) as I can avoid the commute and work ratty old clothes.   My home office is able to connect to my companies network using VPN through my high speed cable setup and I am able to attend conference calls using a toll free number.   During the day I assist client systems in far off locations such as Japan, Ireland, Germany and Austrialia using remote control software.    It is interesting to think that the commands I type through my keyboard are actually affecting systems in far off locations I would LOVE to vist in person though I hate the actual process of traveling itself.   I have visited a few of the sites in person and enjoyed the visit though the trip itself was tiring.

Last week when I worked from home I had to keep my dog inside.  I now have one dog, a chihuahua/jack russell mixture which is a breed known as a 'Chi Russell'.   This is the most hyper animal I have seen in my life!   He is constantly leaping around the den with wild abandonement and generally causing chaos until he collapses in his bed in exhaustion.  
I am certain he is deranged.

I enjoy getting him fired when I see him resting.

I have different sounds of dogs barking on my computer ranging from a great dane to a small yapping poodle.  I crank up my PC's speakers and aim then towards the den while clicking on the great dane sound bite.

The speakers then bark "WOOF" with authority.

"Yap?" goes my Chi-Russell (Translation - What!?!) as he suddenly lifts his head.

"WOOF WOOF" go my speakers again.

"BARK!" goes the Chi-Russell (Translation - Where are you and why are you in my house!?) while standing up with eyes bulging.

I then click the sound bite of the small yapping dog and then the great dane one for good measure..

"YIP YIP....WOOF!" go my speakers

"RUFF! RUFF! RUFF! GRR!!!! RUFF! RUFF! RUFFIDY RUFF RUFF!!!" goes the Chi-Russell while tearing around the den looking for this strange dog which has obviously invaded his house and stolen his chew toy....

Even though I miss interacting with my co-workers in person I really like tele-commuting.   With gas prices well above $3 a gallon in my area I am also able to save money.    When I telecommute, I often go to my gym During my Lunch break which is something I cannot do when I am on site at the office.    I feel much more relaxed when telecommuting and end the day truly enjoying my work and feeling good about my employer.

 I can see more companies allowing workers to work from home as gas prices continue to rise.   I imagine I am in the same situation as a lot of you are, I have two perfectly good cars that are but a few years old and are paid for yet are not the most economical in the world.   I can't justify buying a more economical car and getting into a car payment again just to save a few $ in gas each week.   At least I am helping those poor oil executives because everyone deserves to have more than one Yacht....

I wonder what the work will look like in few years if telecommuting really takes off.

A few thoughts:

Employers would no longer have to worry about hiring someone 'in the area' and paying moving costs.

Meetings would take place over the internet except for special occaisions.

Contracts would have to be set to insure employees only worked for one company at a time.

Harrassment suits would probably decrease since people would no longer be in the same building.

Overall, I think the workforce would be happier.

What do you think?