Working on the road

Before we pulled up roots and started wandering, I (Jeremy) worked from home for about two years, so I was used to the general idea. Working from the road has been similar, but with a few tradeoffs. I lost my quiet basement office, for instance, but I gained a window office. Our internet connection isn't quite as reliable these days, but I have more options now if there are problems (like packing up and going to a Panera). Most of my home office came with me, except for the 3rd monitor and desk phone. I also switched my main computer to a laptop so I could take it with me easily if needed, and added a Verizon aircard for mobile connectivity when campground wireless is flaky (= most of the time).

The biggest problem now is with noise. If the kids are being noisy, I can usually just put headphones on and not worry about it. If I'm on a conference call, though, it can be a lot more stressful. Fortunately, my phone has a mute button, and I can always go hide in the truck cab if I need some quiet space.

My new desk is about 16" deep, and the space between it and the bed is about 30". The lack of space hasn't bothered me much, although I have a few more bruises on my knees from banging them on cabinet knobs, and my femurs might have shrunk a little from compression. I'm working on getting my office equipment organized, maybe hidden inside the big cabinet on the left, but here's a "before" picture:

From Salt Lake City

Thank goodness for PowerSquids -- I have 6 wall-warts plugged into two of them, plus a normal power strip. And my window view:

From Salt Lake City

All in all, it's a very nice arrangement. It takes me a few minutes to get everything set up at the beginning of a work week, but taking it all apart every week means nothing gets too dusty or tangled. Plus, if I don't like the view out my window, it's easy to change!

Update: here's the after picture. Now I just need to put a grommet in the desk top so I can run the cables straight down into the cabinet instead of leaving the door open.

From Salt Lake City