The Eternally Wasted Hour
Jul. 9th, 2010 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snousleEvery job I've had - and I mean every one - has involved a commute of roughly 30 minutes each way. I thought that by telecommuting, I might escape this. But no! This wasted hour will not leave me.
My Internet service is just not up to snuff for the work I'm doing now. Right when I get on a roll, wham, Remote Desktop drops the connection. While it is true that RDP is vastly more reliable than HTTP, for reasons I still don't understand, it is also true that it halts at the most annoying possible moments, and getting it re-started is disruptive. (Often, when I get back on, I find all my windows are minimized, and the sizes of different panes have changed. Way to derail the old train of thought...)
So I've rented some office space in town from a friend. Cheap - just $125 a month - but as always, it's a half hour from home. The productivity gain is worth it, though, even if it means billing fewer hours.
The odd thing is, this office is shared by another friend who has his own DSL connection that he's always complaining about. Why, I asked, are you guys paying for two DSL lines in one room? Both of them seemed unaware that you could use more than one device per line. So I went out and bought an inexpensive wireless router, plugged it in to the more reliable line, and voila! Once again I tried to explain that he didn't have to pay for his crappy DSL, that he could use the wireless I'd just set up instead, but for some reason he seemed uninterested.
Finally, after he complained again, I went over to his computer, unplugged his network cable, established the wireless connection, and said "try this".
He was worried that he wouldn't be able to use the same email account!!! It occurred to me that he must see DSL as being like a telephone - that his email could only arrive on that particular line, as if someone were calling his land-line number. Anyway, his notebook contined to work exactly as before, except for the "Look Ma, No Wires" thing. I did switch it back, as some apps were balking at the sudden change of connection and I didn't want to screw with his computer a whole lot today. But I think he's finally gotten the picture, which is good because he doesn't have a lot of money and he could surely find a better use for the eleventy zillion dollars he's sending to AT+T.
Anyway, with reliable, high-speed internet, I can now procrastinate with more efficiency than ever before, without any of the distractions that might lead to accidental productivity.
My Internet service is just not up to snuff for the work I'm doing now. Right when I get on a roll, wham, Remote Desktop drops the connection. While it is true that RDP is vastly more reliable than HTTP, for reasons I still don't understand, it is also true that it halts at the most annoying possible moments, and getting it re-started is disruptive. (Often, when I get back on, I find all my windows are minimized, and the sizes of different panes have changed. Way to derail the old train of thought...)
So I've rented some office space in town from a friend. Cheap - just $125 a month - but as always, it's a half hour from home. The productivity gain is worth it, though, even if it means billing fewer hours.
The odd thing is, this office is shared by another friend who has his own DSL connection that he's always complaining about. Why, I asked, are you guys paying for two DSL lines in one room? Both of them seemed unaware that you could use more than one device per line. So I went out and bought an inexpensive wireless router, plugged it in to the more reliable line, and voila! Once again I tried to explain that he didn't have to pay for his crappy DSL, that he could use the wireless I'd just set up instead, but for some reason he seemed uninterested.
Finally, after he complained again, I went over to his computer, unplugged his network cable, established the wireless connection, and said "try this".
He was worried that he wouldn't be able to use the same email account!!! It occurred to me that he must see DSL as being like a telephone - that his email could only arrive on that particular line, as if someone were calling his land-line number. Anyway, his notebook contined to work exactly as before, except for the "Look Ma, No Wires" thing. I did switch it back, as some apps were balking at the sudden change of connection and I didn't want to screw with his computer a whole lot today. But I think he's finally gotten the picture, which is good because he doesn't have a lot of money and he could surely find a better use for the eleventy zillion dollars he's sending to AT+T.
Anyway, with reliable, high-speed internet, I can now procrastinate with more efficiency than ever before, without any of the distractions that might lead to accidental productivity.
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no subject
Date: 2010-07-09 10:19 pm (UTC)I wouldn't be surprised if there are many instances of this scenario playing out worldwide!
no subject
Date: 2010-07-10 01:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-10 09:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-10 02:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 04:38 am (UTC)And that is a good thing.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 09:04 pm (UTC)I know it probably sounds elitist and whatever - but seriously, we don't let people drive without a license, is an introductory internet class - just the functional basics of how the net works (like, your email account is not tied to a particular DSL or cable line), how not to wind up with a massive malware infestation, that kind of thing - really such a horrible idea before letting people online for the first time? Some of the stuff I hear adults saying about computers or the internet is like some of the insane crap kids tell each other about sex....