SQL can handle a near unlimited number of entrys in a row depending on disk
space mostly, and can search millions of records in milliseconds, and easly
imports from txt files or whatever, why not use that ?
Emlyn asks about telecommuting:
> OK, now you've piqued my interest. This is the really interesting face of
> telecommuting; where you live a long way away. How do you find it? Got
any
> interesting observations on the differences between it and normal office
> work? What are the pros and cons as you see them? I'm particularly
> interested in less obvious problems that come up, and how you deal with
> them.
Finding such work seems to require being someone the company really wants,
but refusing to move. In my case I had been involved with the creation
of the software the company was based on. They had made me an offer
six months earlier conditional on my moving, but I turned them down.
Finally they came back and said okay, you can stay in Santa Barbara,
we still want you.
Other telecommuters worked for an East Coast company which had a
technology we wanted; we bought the company but had to agree that the
workers could live where they wanted. A New Jersey company tried to
hire me away a couple of years ago; they were a startup and wanted to
get into the same field, so I could have been a big help, and they were
willing to let me work remotely.
In each case, then, you have to have something the company wants and
can't easily get otherwise, and then you have to stand your ground.
There are obvious advantages to being able to live in a nice area and
work from home, which I won't dwell on. There are serious disadvantages
as well. For one, my career is somewhat stalled. I can't be a manager;
I don't have as much input into product ideas. Companies rely on
informal meetings in hallways and offices, where new concepts originate
and ideas are bounced off people. A consensus builds before a formal
proposal can be made. I'm largely cut of from this process.
It's also a lonely way to work. This doesn't bother me much but I
don't think most people would like it. It helps that I have a family,
but many days go by when I see no one but my wife and kids. I've always
made friends where I work, but this is not possible now.
We have weekly meetings, with about 5 remote employees teleconferenced
into the room with an equal number of on-site employees. The people in
the conference room have a much easier time participating in discussions
than those on the phone, and probably take 3/4 of the talk time.
Talking into a dead phone, it's impossible to tell how people are
reacting, and the regular social conventions for interruptions and such
don't work well with the voice-activated phone electronics.
Despite these problems I find the situation to be very suitable for me.
I do enjoy the work, and it's a field I've been interested in for years.
I have more control over how I manage my time. And Santa Barbara is a
beautiful place to live, which is worth a lot.
Hal
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 02 2000 - 17:37:41 MDT