"I remember it all began innocently enough on Tuesday. I was sitting in my office,
                                 listening to the monotonous staccatto of rain on my desk top, and reading my
                                 name on my office door - "REGNAD KCIN" - Firesign Theatre, Nick Danger -Third Eye
   
Okay, I'm a wage slave - I live in a cubical, I don't have a window with a view, I have to keep my voice down. But at home, I'm ruler of all I survey - a man's home is his castle, and what's the sense in having a castle unless you can have an office there? With your name on the door?

Of course, the fact that it's my office does not mean that it's sacrosanct. Silas plays XBOX in there, which means that I'm liable to find all sorts of things growing underneath the desk. It's full of dog hair, of course (everything in our house is full of dog hair) and, whenever Ethel decides that she doesn't know where to put something, and it's too big to fit in my underwear drawer, then it goes into my office (this includes old furniture and people that she doesn't like).

But, when I work from home, this is where I sit. I go into this room, I close the door, I sweep aside the dog hair and stray people until I can find my desk underneath it all, and then I fire up my computer, link into my VPN, and I get work done. All alone, blissful productivity - "my own vine and my own fig tree, and none shall make me afraid".

I have speakers hooked up to my laptop, including a subwoofer, so I can listen to music the way that it is supposed to be heard. I've got a big honkin' 22 inch monitor, an ergonomic keyboard and a wireless mouse. I have a speakerphone that I can use without concern over disturbing my co-workers.  

I usually work at home on Thursdays; in addition, there are all those times when it makes sense for me to log in to get something done, or it may be that I get a sudden inspiration while I'm at home and I have to go try it out.

I can remember wondering if I would have the discipline to telecommute; several years of telecommuting two days a week at Fidelity taught me that it doesn't TAKE discipline to telecommute. There are fewer distractions, and I'm more comfortable at home than I am in my cube - it's the "easier, softer way" to get things done.

And I get to have an office, with my name on the door : )