Working from home

Since the country turned white the other week the advice that was trotted out was to avoid all unecessary travel. For me this meant that I didn't have to go into the office, but sadly didn't mean I got some extra days off. Internet access and a laptop means that in theory everything that can be done in the office can also be done at home.

This isn't always the case and there are definitely some things that are made more difficult working away from the office. First is the lack of people, normally I'd be sharing an office with another person and there is the rest of the team in adjacent offices ready to have a chat or discussion. Second is the type of work being done, if you're doing something that can just be done with minimal input from other people then being sat with few distractions can be very efficient but the opposite is true, if you require input from a number of people then distance will hamper your efforts. Finally is the timing, there's a natural rhythm to office life from when people arrive to when they leave an it's very easy to stick within this rhythm. Outside it you need to ensure that you're working at the right times and more importantly finishing at the right time so you don't overwork yourself.

Fortunately the weather has gone back to the British norm (cold and wet) so it's ok to go driving back into work. Hopefully we'll have learnt a bit from the enforced remote working so when it next happens we aren't impacted quite so badly. How the rest of the country copes, well we'll just have to wait and see.

Driving Karma

I like driving, always have done. Ever since I had my licence and got used to doing longer journeys I've often found I can relax by hitting the road with something good to listen to and possibly a particular direction in mind.

Part of my enjoyment of driving, particularly good country roads, is to drive them at the limit. Not speeding, not dangerously, but if there's a decent straight bit of tarmac, with the occasional interesting bend then I want to be at the limit and it can at times be a bit frustrating when stuck behind someone going significantly slower than that.

Strangely I don't enjoy my morning commute all that much. Yes it's country roads which are interesting to drive so I guess it might be a case of familiarity breeds contempt but I actually believe it's because I get stuck behind a slow driver more days than not.

Today however was very different, on the way in the roads were clear and I felt like I had the road to myself and mentioned this to my colleagues at work. I may even have suggested that my thoughts to all the other drivers in Hampshire to get out of my way had finally worked and that karma might come back to bite me.

Turns out I may well have been right. About an hour before I would normally consider leaving an email arrived which indicated my normal route home was closed. Fair enough, I'll take the motorway, it'll just mean working slightly later than normal to avoid the worst of the jams. Then it turned out that the motorway was jammed due to a broken down lorry. This meant that my smooth journey in was going to be complemented with a slow, queue laden journey home.

Fortunately it was as bad as it could have been, but certainly wasn't as interesting, and the motorway definitely crawled in places. Looking back on both journeys I don't think that they're going to necessarily change how I view driving on the road, especially my commute, but perhaps I'll be just a little less smug if it's a good run in.

A post about work

I don't often talk about my job in any great detail, mostly because I get the impression it wouldn't be that interesting for anyone that isn't in the trade, and because I can get away with saying I work in computing, or that I work for IBM.

There have been several changes in what I do in the 6 years I been working there full time but I've stuck with the same team because it's always provided a challenge, whether that's going to Poughkeepsie for a month to write a book, or being put in charge of a group of people and told to produce something by the deadline.

The latest 'opportunity' (which I'm sure is management speak for more work) to be sent my way is to act as a design architect for one of the systems we use. From a personal note, this is very cool, the sort of role I've wanted since I started, and without sounding too bigheaded I think it's a job I can do well.

However there is scope to get things horribly wrong. While I may be in charge of the direction things take, I can't micromanage every little detail of the work, nor can I reject something because it isn't exactly how I'd have done it myself.

After a week in the role I've a list of requirements and plenty of ideas, just need to sort out how and when they get done. Good times.

Don't ignore the support acts

I enjoy going to gigs every so often and aside from the fun of watching a band you like play live I'm a big fan of the support or warm up acts. It's a tough job playing while the venue is most likely still filling up and a lot of people will be at the bar.

Last night I went and saw Nine Inch Nails at the O2 in London and had a perfect example of what I'm talking about. The big names on the tour weren't due on till over an hour after the doors opened and so Mew were playing to a still forming crowd and a packed bar.

Turns out that they are a fantastic band with a different sound and incredible vocal harmonies. It's a shame that they didn't have the full crowd to play to and that we missed the beginning of the set however a quick download from iTunes later and I can get to know the music a bit better.

So next time you're at a gig, make sure to check out the support act(s) as you may well be surprised at what you hear.

Protecting our Internet Access

So the European parliament has got it into its head that it should be fine for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to limit our access to websites on the internet based on whatever package we've purchased from them.

Think about how Sky and Virgin Media work today, there are different packages you can purchase which give you different channels you are allowed to view. Without the right package you can't watch Premiership matches or the latest movies.

While this is ok for television, the internet is a completely different beast though. New sites are being opened up all the time and once they're in a search engine like Google it should be possible for anyone to find them and use it. However if this goes through and their site isn't part of your ISPs package they're not going to get your custom.

Now I really like the way when I need something slighly different than what you get on the high street they are often a few sites which can provide this and get it mailed out the next day. I don't want my internet compartmentalized based on what I'm prepared to pay a company that supports the physical wire to my house.

If you agree that this plan just has bad written all over it then head on over to http://www.blackouteurope.eu and follow their advice for lobbying your MEPs to vote against the bill next month.