2600

[hirez]

The Ballard Suite in Nev Chamberlain's country bunker overlooks the empty swimming pool, appropriately enough. I'm here being told at some length about social engineering, stitching up managers and how to walk through unix boxes without leaving a trace. However, most of the time I'm staring out of the window at the Norman (I think - I'd best go check tomorrow in daylight) church and wishing I'd bought my 2600 and Hacktic t-shirts, just to strike some black-hatted terror into the rest of the people here.

It's hard to believe that it's been eleven years since I pottered about a field in northern Holland and discovered that most of the things I knew were Wrong, that there was a splendid techno remix of 'The Cutter', most of the people I associated with were close-minded fools and that there was a lot more to this internet business than had previously met the eye. It's been an interesting voyage into the heart of something I'm still not entirely happy with ever since.

I think I'd still like to reach a state of peace with the concept of weeks, though. It feels dreadfully wrong to have to measure one's life in weekends and spend so much time recovering from them or looking forward to the bloody things. A complete waste, in fact. 'Hump' days? No ta.

Comments

[meryc.livejournal.com]

Ill be geting to do corces soon - may be even as soon as next week. :-)

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

There's something about "A man who enjoys his job doesn't do a day's toil". But I suspect that whoever said that wasn't the sort of person who gets the Wednesday-after-the-weekend-before pharmaceutical-induced midweek doldrums.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

I always used to get them on Tuesdays.

I think it's crucial that one finds a job that can't be arsed up by a manager. They take the shine off everything.

Three good managers in twenty years (modulo a couple off for bad behaviour) is a pretty poor average. They should jolly well pull their socks up.

[lee-chaos.livejournal.com]

I can assure you that the shapelessness of one's day has it's own tribulations. I'm also aware that saying that may invoke some envy, but it's probably best to suck it and see. Whilst I mostly like the lopsidedness of my work (bugger all before noon, often not home til 1am, random unplanned spells of no work with the foreboding sense you should be doing... something) I'm not so deluded to think I could never be assimilated into a 9-5.30-hour-for-lunch-2-days-off-that-are-the-same-each-week again. From this distance it occasionally looks quite appealing, but not at the expense of what I have instead.

But then I was always one to open the box rather than take the money...

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Hey, It's Allowed.

I think, a lot of the time, that people need some kind of externally-provided structure to their lives. Walking away from that is scary and hard, but once you've succeeded I guess it's impossible to go back.

I suppose it's vaguely like thinking about an anarchist state. People will insist that someone has to be In Charge and don't seem to be able to conceptualise an alternative.

In the remote eventuality that I end up with a private income, I would be more than pleased to conduct research into the mindsets involved. Perhaps I could get some kind of grant...

[lee-chaos.livejournal.com]

The wierd thing is now I *have* escaped The Routine, I feel like I *could* go back, and that said routine has a certain gravity, like a big part of you will always try to fill the slack time during 9am & 5pm and resent working after 6pm.

Perhaps I haven't escaped it at all...?

Yes, research.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Um. Maybe not, then.

I spent a while (less than a year, though the influence is larger) working whenever I felt like it. I recall pub-closing 'til breakfast being my favourite timetable, though I needed less sleep in them days.

If I'm honest, I don't much care when I do work - often I'm inspired at silly-AM and need to get whatever's in my head onto disc, webbage or paper. Or I just get stuck in to something @ work because it's quiet when all the people have gone home.

Unfortunately, I need to fit into other people's timetables, but that's pretty much a function of having A Life (of a sort) that involves people not driven by the same daemons.

I still hanker after doing the things that are right for just me, and hang what anyone else thinks I should be doing...

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

If they're still going in fours, the next one can't be far off. I wonder...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=heu+hip+hal

I think it *is* dreadfully wrong. I blame the industrial revolution. Regular, well-managed, systematic work just isn't natural. Unless you're lucky or determined enough to force your work to be something you continue to like doing, of course.

Speaking of weekends, what are you up to ?

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Quite so.

Weekend? Not sure yet.

[aeia.livejournal.com]

Me neither.. was just about to do a post. Hair chopping on Sat but no plans for Sunday.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Will this be the fabled Different Haircut?

Sunday. Hm. I sense a need for a Conspire.

[aeia.livejournal.com]

Yes, see latest post.

Sunday.. something involving lunch somewhere maybe..

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Ooo! Plan!

[hirez.livejournal.com]

http://www.hex2005.org/

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

Rah! Coming along this time ?

[reddragdiva]

I deal with this in the way most people showing up nine to five do, i.e. by making my work and home internetting blend as a seamless whole. I really don't know what people did at work all day before the internet.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Before widespread internet use, we'd gone into space. Afterwards, we bought and sold tat in a global car-boot sale. The Thatcherite dream of us all being subjects of The Market has come true, just not in a way that was intended.

[reddragdiva]

There is no society. There are only individual eBay logins.