Re: [pf] SUVs and conformity

At 09:16 7/02/00 -0800, Molly wrote:
>I think the answer STILL is telecommuting. My husband's job could be
>done from home 4 of 5 days per week, with a day of meetings and
>consultation at the office. He would LOVE it and he would get more done
>than he does in small cubicles ...             But like
>most employers, his company doesn't trust employees to do their jobs if
>they're not physically in the office. THIS seems to me the best solution
>of all, for those who could do jobs at home (programmers, some
>engineers, architects, some fundraisers, graphic designers, secretaries,
>some researchers, journalists, etc.).
>
**  _I_ agree, but it wouldn't suit the more social kind of person. There's
a certain something about working as part of a team, or at least seeing the
same guys in the coffee- or lunch-room each day, that provides some
satisfaction, maybe security. Your husband going in on at least half-a-day
a week could go this. My first full-time job (electronic engineer, Canadian
Westinghouse, 1961) left me quite satisfied as I walked home at the end of
most days. (Didn't know /what/ to do with all that money they gave me,
though!)


>  ... what Consumer Reports likes, and what's appealing to the eye.
> We would never in a million years buy a new car ... if
>you don't buy new, you avoid a lot of the hype, the feel-good buying,
>and the unnecessary extras. You focus more on the basics -- cost and
>function.
>
**  When Bera and I returned from our two years volunteering in Ghana
('68-'70), we were in total agreement that all we needed was "four wheels
and an engine". We bought an old cream Ford Econoline minivan (2 front
seats only), and I cut rectangular holes in the side panels for
(rubber-grommitted) windows. Bera painted an apple tree on the sides: in
full leaf and fruit on the left side, bare black branches on the right.
That first 5 years of marriage was a great time, for us.

** But re: "SUVs and conformity"; I guess we've never been conformists,
we've made our own way through life.
{Footnote: just this morning (early) I told a jogger who stopped to ask me
whether I knew I was breaking the summer fire-ban (I said yes, but my
pruning-trash fire wasn't putting any property at risk since there was
still dew on the grass and it had recently been drizzling; and she
threatened to 'report me'), that I would make my own choice as to whether
to obey the law, and was quite willing to deal with any consequences.}

David.
(David MacClement) davd@ihug.co.nz 
www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/3142/Pg1-AD11.html
 or better: http://www.emucities.com.au/member/davd/
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