I just dont get it....

A quiet night in the Jack household. Teenager is locked away in her bedroom as usual, texting, calling, being called and tapping away on MSN. Is it just me, or do I get the impression that when I walk into the room, she shuts everything down real quick? Perhaps it has become her sanctuary. I am torn on whether or not to do some investigation work (I have "sniffing" tools that can even log keyboard strokes, all part of being a former network engineer) on who she talks to, in a paternal protective way, or whether to leave her to her own mistakes. I think prevention is better than cure, and as long as she doesn't find out, and I am covert enough, then surely this is merely prudent policing? I know the human rights bleeding hearts would see this as an invasion of a young adults privacy, but this would probably only be until she's a bit older and wiser? Again, comments are welcomed, in fact invited.

So we watched TV together after I had done my obligatory couple of hours study. 30 minutes of which was a bit of guitar practice - the first for two and a half weeks (sorry Strings - the OU stuff is just a bit harder than anticipated!). I must resolve to do at least 30 minutes per day on the guitar, 30 minutes on the treadmill (a real one, not the work kind!) and somehow fit the hour recommended by the OU in, as well as taking time with DC, Teenager and Baby, whilst keeping the garden in control, doing my shre of the housework and the evening meals. Yeah, we need a change in the rotational period of the Earth to give us a 35 hour day.

Anyway, Friends was excellent, as usual. However people criticise the Yanks, they do very good sitcoms. Where we have fallen into pisspoor slapstick, or flogging the life out of programmes that stopped being funny 5 years ago (Only Fools and Horses, Ab Fab), the Yanks have somehow managed to develop the characters in Friends (and Frasier/Will & Grace/Spin City) into people we feel we know personally. Another feat is the way get the sitcom to work on different levels, which allows Baby to laugh as well as DC and Me. Tonight Teenager, DC and baby were all nearly in tears at Phoebe's wedding with Mike. Completely fictional, but perhaps that is a purely female trait. Immediately DC has followed this up with her obligatory misery hour, Eastenders (repeat on BBC3), followed by ER (on E4+1.....yep we have cable). Maybe it's my age, or the fact that I am an avid news sponge, but there seems enough misery for real in the world, without absorbing fictional misery as well. DC doesn't read the papers, or follow the news so perhaps this is why she has the capacity for misery programmes. Don't get me wrong - I don't just want happy programmes or films - in fact I fully extol good contemporary TV drama (Our Friends in the North, State of Play, Holding On, anything by Alan Bleasdale), or thought provoking films (Saving Private Ryan, The Truman Show, Pulp Fiction - which is the best film ever made!, American Beauty, Jackie Brown, Brassed Off) but these aren't generally year long , every day things. Whatever, it gives me time to disappear and write this, so perhaps there is some purpose.

Tomorrow I am working from home, which means I'll start at around 7, have a pub lunch, finish at around 5, then have 9 holes at the local course. I might be critical of The Company, but the flexible working policy is a great initiative, especially during the summer. In my view most companies could allow this for at least half their staff, saving accomodation costs, increasing productivity and saving the employees travel costs and consequently helping the environment and deceasing the strain on our roads. Can you imagine the panic in the Treasury and with the oil companies if half the working population of Britain started to work from home via Broadband? All that lost fuel revenue, not too mention the lack of revenue from speeding fines and parking tickets. I bet it wouldn't be long before there was a "byte" tax to make up the shortfall, and no doubt some government scientist would produce some fictional report on the environmental and health dangers of High Speed Internet access. The technology for home working is cheap and increasingly readily available with Broadband, so why the take up isn't greater is lost on me. Perhaps they (New Labour and The Companies) don't trust us enough to deliver our work, but surely with sensible management and defined targets, with availability guaranteed during requisite hours, this shouldn't be too hard? Ny own experience, and that of my fellow prisoners.....sorry workers is that our productivity increases when working from home, and we probably work longer hours as well because we don't have the travelling. Home life is better as well because I can fragment the day, take DC for lunch, drop the kids at school,or collect them, be in for the gas man or the plumber, or the geezer who's going to do my garden. A much better work/life balance. We want more!!

Later, Grocerjack