Comments on: The laundry break

By: mandarine

mandarine — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:41:17 +0000

The picture was taken two weeks before. Apart from the windscreen, there was no frost on the laundry break day. And with the southern breeze blowing gently, the bed sheets dried in no time.

By: bloglily

bloglily — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:57:52 +0000

What a lovely photo Mandarine. Did your bed sheets freeze when you hung them out? Or maybe it was that magical time of day, even in the cold, when the sun comes out and warms things for a little while.

As for working from home, I love those days.

By: Benoit

Benoit — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:14:21 +0000

at last… congratulations.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:01:59 +0000

‘It could easily morph into two or three’ — that would be next year and the year after that, hopefully. In fact, the unfortunate part is that there are no legal arrangements yet for official telecommuting in my company. Therefore it’s not up to my boss — he can tolerate some unofficial homework, but he has no legal frame to let me do this on a regular basis. Things are changing slowly in France, though, and I have heard the big car manufacturer Renault had sent half of its engineering staff to work at home (to save on real estate).

By: Emilybarton

Emilybarton — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:48:12 +0000

Ahhh, yes, definitely request one day. It could easily morph into two or three…

And you and Dorr are right: you must maintain contact with others. I talk on the phone to colleagues and authors a good deal of the day and meet people for lunch (this requires me to leave the house, which is also a good thing to do occasionally) as much as possible.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:16:16 +0000

litlove: I confess I prefer hanging out bed sheets rather than baby clothes (or else it would be a thirty minutes laundry break).

Dorothy: I believe one aspect of telecommuting that people do not get is that you have to have the same amount of verbal contact with colleagues. I am sure I would call them up just to hang around on the phone with them on my morning tea break, just as do in real life. As a matter of fact, I spent most of the day on the phone and have not felt the least bit isolated.

By: Dorothy W.

Dorothy W. — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:08:21 +0000

I think a mix of office time and home working time is perfect (and sometimes I get that balance with teaching) — I need people around now and then to keep me sane, but I like the independence of being at home. I hope your boss grants your wish!

By: litlove

litlove — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 20:54:40 +0000

Mandarine- you are such a delight! If only my husband was satisfied with a 10 minute laundry break when he works from home! But I do agree that working from home is wonderful, and to be undertaken whenever possible, with or without laundry.