Doing the Laptop Drive of Shame

netbuzz writes "If you bring your work computer home with any regularity, chances are good that you've done the Laptop Drive of Shame. (Oh, c'mon, admit it.) It's happening more than ever ... and costing more than ever, too, what with the price of gas and all." I'll spoil it for you — they mean leaving your laptop at home. Yay, Monday news cycle.

Comments

Got Fired Over This

[sesshomaru]

Ok, not entirely over this but it was likely a big part of the reason. See I had this horrible job where they gave me a laptop specifically so I could work for them, for free, in my own time. Of course, they wanted me to take it home every night.

.

Well, during the "probationary period" I forgot it at home twice and had to do my hour commute home and my hour commute back. After that, I started leaving it at work. I think I talked about getting VPN set up so I could just log in from home rather than lugging the laptop around. Of course, I didn't last much longer at that particular job (Thank God), so it was kind of academic anyway.

I'm an absent minded guy so I figure out various tricks when I need to remember things and not lose things. However, it takes a while for me to set that kind of thing up.

Do what I do.

[RandoX]

Decline the laptop, and the Blackberry, and the pager, and the company cellphone... If it's that important, call me at home and I'll drive in. It never has been, though.

My coworker (with the Blackberry) regularly gets called for trivial things. Like: Where's that log printout? Hmm? You put it on my desk, you say?

Re:Good GOD!!!

[ozmanjusri]

It would be good if it were possible to mod articles. Something like:

• -1 Slashvertisement
• -1 Dupe
• -1 What-on-Earth-was-Taco-thinking-Has-he-not-had-enough-coffee-yet?

We already have;

• binspam
• dupe
• notthebest
• offtopic
• slownewsday
• stale
• stupid

http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl

yet somehow this made it all the way across the spectrum to red, and from there to the front page. I've suspected for a long time that the Firehose was being gamed, this makes it almost certain.

Parking pass drive of shame

[Rene S. Hollan]

Where I work, we have the option of monthly parking passes which are simply smart cards. The daily rate otherwise is $15.

If you are a monthly parker, and forget your smart card, however, you are STILL charged the full $15 daily parking rate, even though you paid for monthly parking.

I used to think this was simple extortion, until I realized that monthly parking is handled electronically, but daily parking is handled by a human and therefore actually costs more to implement. (why I can't just swipe a debit or credit card, as I can at many downtown unattended lots, I don't know).

Still, I'd think a montlhy parker who has forgotten his smart card should be refunded a good chunk of paying the daily rate upon presentation of a daily parking receipt and his active smart card.

Of course, don't get me started on automated car washes that don't warn in advance that (a) their debit card reader is down, and (b) their cash reader only takes exact change -- I was once stuck for 15 minutes in a car wash line with people honking behind me because the stupid reader with broken debit card handling wouldn't even take a $10 bill (and keep the damn change for a $7 wash). Automatec cash readers should ALWAYS allow an option to pay more for convenience if they can't provide change. Those that give receipts could easily indicate the overpayment so subsequent refund could be arranged.

The world is populated by morons. Some design stuff.