07 March 2007
The cost of a key
We have a minivan and a Saturn sedan. My wife drives the Saturn to work - it gets great gas milage, and we've got Blizzak all weather tires on it for the snow. It's a great little car.
When we take our son places, we use the minivan. I usually drive. But on Tuesdays, the wife has her day off and takes the little one to the library and sometimes on other errands and trips, driving the van, of course.
We only received one set of keys with the van. This wasn't a problem until a couple of months ago, when she left the keys in her coat pocket, and the next day, she left for work. I was packing our son up, getting ready to take him to day care, and couldn't find the keys. A phone call later confirmed my fear - the keys were still in her pocket, and there was no way she could get back home before the afternoon.
The next day, I took the keys to a hardware store to get a copy. The reference book they had said it was a transponder key (a small microchip in the key has to be present for the ignition to start), but it didn't look like one to me or the key guy. The chips were clearly visible on other transponder keys I had seen before. So I got a copy made. It fit in the door and operated the locks, but it wouldn't start the ignition.
So I called the dealership. A year ago, I ordered a new remote for the locks as my other one was falling apart. That was nearly $50. The transponder key? $85. I told my wife we'd just have to remember to make sure she left the keys.
Well, we forgot again today. So it looks like I'm forking out the money for a key.
When we take our son places, we use the minivan. I usually drive. But on Tuesdays, the wife has her day off and takes the little one to the library and sometimes on other errands and trips, driving the van, of course.
We only received one set of keys with the van. This wasn't a problem until a couple of months ago, when she left the keys in her coat pocket, and the next day, she left for work. I was packing our son up, getting ready to take him to day care, and couldn't find the keys. A phone call later confirmed my fear - the keys were still in her pocket, and there was no way she could get back home before the afternoon.
The next day, I took the keys to a hardware store to get a copy. The reference book they had said it was a transponder key (a small microchip in the key has to be present for the ignition to start), but it didn't look like one to me or the key guy. The chips were clearly visible on other transponder keys I had seen before. So I got a copy made. It fit in the door and operated the locks, but it wouldn't start the ignition.
So I called the dealership. A year ago, I ordered a new remote for the locks as my other one was falling apart. That was nearly $50. The transponder key? $85. I told my wife we'd just have to remember to make sure she left the keys.
Well, we forgot again today. So it looks like I'm forking out the money for a key.
Labels: flexible scheduling, lame, money
16 January 2007
Working at home, the Aussie way
Here's a brief report on working at home from Australia's "The Age":
That does seem to be true, though I'm sure it depends on the demands of the job. For me, there have been times when I just kept working. Now, the situation is that I trade two evenings - working from after dinner to 10 or 11 - for a Friday off to take care of our son. So that's less about work encroaching on home life, than exchanging some home life time for other time. If I was working a normal 8 to 5, I wouldn't get to spend an entire day with our son, and instead only seen him for a few hours each night.
(Aside: I read the professor's name above as "Professor Peacock" my first time through. Reminded me of Clue, which I played once again recently around the holidays. Wonder if she gets that often?)
"Westpac's head of diversity, Niki Kesoglou, says workers are assessed for ability to work on their own, provided with the equipment they need and helped to ensure their work environment is safe. Guidelines are given for communication with managers and progress is monitored according to meeting objectives, rather than when workers clock on and off.
Westpac benefits through greater productivity, worker retention and morale."
...
"But Barbara Pocock, the director of the Centre for Work + Life, at the University of South Australia, says there is a downside to telecommuting.
While it gives parents, particularly working mothers, the flexibility to work from home and deal with emergencies, it can encroach on family life.
Professor Pocock says there is an increasingly "porous boundary" between work and home life that is being breached."
That does seem to be true, though I'm sure it depends on the demands of the job. For me, there have been times when I just kept working. Now, the situation is that I trade two evenings - working from after dinner to 10 or 11 - for a Friday off to take care of our son. So that's less about work encroaching on home life, than exchanging some home life time for other time. If I was working a normal 8 to 5, I wouldn't get to spend an entire day with our son, and instead only seen him for a few hours each night.
(Aside: I read the professor's name above as "Professor Peacock" my first time through. Reminded me of Clue, which I played once again recently around the holidays. Wonder if she gets that often?)
Labels: Clue, flexible scheduling, working at home
