BTW, I live in a cheap, charming bungalow in the PNW and telecommute to Menlo park. I used to live on a farm and telecommute to the Czech republic.
1 Like
I kinda miss being virtual. Way back when, the sysadmins kept getting moved out for the engineers and we got reorged such that we were all over Puget Sound anyway. The company was pushing for telecommute especially for the IT folk as they just didnât have the desk space and my manager eventually said yep, you donât have a desk on site anymore, go work at home. They even paid for the comcrap connection. Which was nice, and it wasnât like we all sat together at the office anyway so we were all used to Lync or whatever it was called then to communicate.
Then the server admin stuff got contracted out. I got to do the exact same job but different name on the paycheck, when it was pushed for to to have some kind of desk space the answer was NO and even the guys who worked from the new company site were told that vpn from there was not allowed and they had to work from home even though things started going back to you have to come into the office for the actual employees.
Fast forward 7 years to reorgs in the new company and they want us all in new âpodsâ. I just escaped moving to Pittsburgh by becoming directly billable but the new manager at the customer site seems to think we need to be at the office even on Fridays when I am pretty much the only one from the group on site. Never mind we all ping each other in Lync and desktop share with it, etc, even though the other guy is a row or two over anyway. I could just as easily do my job from my basement desk and not waste 2 to 3 hours of my day in commute hell as well as the fuel cost, etc, etc.
1 Like
Mind you, Iâm not really saying the roads are at fault for this, butâ
One relevant takeaway:
âThe French family structure is more dislocated than elsewhere in Europe, and prevailing social attitudes hold that once older people are closed behind their apartment doors or in nursing homes, they are someone elseâs problem,â said StĂ©phane Mantion, an official with the French Red Cross. âThese thousands of elderly victims didnât die from a heat wave as such, but from the isolation and insufficient assistance they lived with day in and out, and which almost any crisis situation could render fatal.â
3 Likes
I completely agree. I manage a team but largely telecommute and have for years. This is after spending about a decade going around 2 1/2 hours in a car round trip every day. My wife and I stay within the neighborhood, largely, or ride bikes. We only use the car for longer trips and wish we didnât even have it.
I like the green lanes in the South West, especially the ones that are on old peat bogs, so the ground undulates when a tractor comes past, and occasionally ancient cow mummies pop up in the ditches.
1 Like
Shitty fire department access. Parking space only under ânewâ constructions (making parking space available only for inhabitants of ânewâ houses - not old ones in the neighborhood). Little sunlight. Narrow streets which are a horror here in europe (not too safe when itâs dark too). But no - all those people are like âwe donât want cars in our future; cities for people -yay!; healthy living - biking only!â. It makes me sick⊠Why donât you smell your own natural gases - you know, to make you more âgreenâ and âfuturisticâ 
Hereâs a link for you: http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s10e02-smug-alert
2 Likes
I used to have a great Northern view from my apartment even though it was downtown. Then a building went up in the parking lot next door.
And my rent still went up.
1 Like
They do somehow manage to have fire trucks in European cities. http://narrowstreetssf.com/fire-trucks/
It certainly is a very efficient way to build, but efficient systems can be very fragile. Less cars = less mobility= less chance of survival if there is EVER a reason to leave. Any breakdown in the system(sewage, food supply, civil unrest) already creates a critically unsafe environment in most compact cities. It also creates a more controllable population. Just look at prisons for an extreme example. High density, no cars, . An additional 30% increase in population/city block is not a good idea. The reason these types of city plans are an increasing reality is due almost entirely to a plan devised by the Super Duper Wealthy Control Freaks who are afraid of people having the freedom and ability to move freely around the country/world. So they make cities âbikeableâ,and âwalkableâ and sell it to people in the most friendly, feel goody, most trendy way possible. Itâs called U.N. AGENDA 21 and its is a reality. I beg you to go to www.democratesagainstagenda21.com for the documentation. 99% of people advocating these types of projects are good intentioned, but they cannot see that it is pushed on local governments, through grants by a U.N. org call ICLEI. Its about increasing control for those Control Freaks at the tippy top. They are afraid of the common people, so they sell them on the idea that cars are bad. It is carried out by politicians for city cash ( federal and state grants, sales of these newly, acquired by eminent domain, properties), and perpetuated by the good intentioned bicyclist/city lover.
This is a great idea. However, outside of those brilliant Smart Cars that can park ass-end to the curb, the ante on parking will be raised to a level found in Rome, Italy. And, over there, you wouldnât believe the sheer amount of fender-touch-bender accidents. Lots of cracked fenders and side-panels due to narrow streets and super-challenging parallel parking situations. Go figure. Chances are that auto insurance will make out like bandits. Oy vey!
1 Like
Europe doesnât face the same earthquake threat as SF. When the facade of a building falls into the street it doesnât matter a whole lot how narrow the truck isâŠit matters how wide the street is.
2 Likes
Hello trolley, welcome to Boing Boing. I hope you stay around to actually participate in the community in good faith.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
