Telecommuting a bad option for stressed parents

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Telecommuting parents have little chance to escape the messy world of parenting, a new study suggests.

By Linda Carroll

If you?re considering telecommuting to salve your stress from the constant juggling of work and family, think again.

A new study shows that ?telework? takes a toll on the very employees who might desire this option most ? those who feel especially torn between job responsibilities and family. For these people, the more hours spent working at home, the higher the risk of burnout, according to the report, published in the Journal of Business and Psychology.

That?s because when job and family are in the same place, some workers feel there is no chance for downtime ?no respite or time to relax, said Timothy Golden, an associate professor of management at the Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

?A teleworker may feel conflict more because you?re being constantly reminded of your home role: whether it?s what you need to do as a parent or household chores,? Golden said. ?And that can make exhaustion worse."

Live Poll

Does work disrupt your family life?

• 167436

  Yes, I wish I had more time with my family.

  47%

• 167437

  No, I have good work-life balance.

  45%

• 167438

  I don't have a job.

  8%

VoteTotal Votes: 1528

Golden surveyed 316 employees from a large computer company that allows workers to? telecommute and to work with a flexible time schedules.

To ferret out the level of job/family conflict, Golden asked employees to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how strongly they agreed with statements such as, ?My work keeps me from my family activities more than I would like,? ?Due to pressures at work, sometimes when I am at home I am too stressed to do the things I enjoy,? ?The time I spend on family responsibilities often interferes with my work responsibilities,? and ? Because I am often stressed from family responsibilities, I have a hard time concentrating on my work.?

Golden also surveyed the employees about their level of exhaustion. Study volunteers were asked to rate on a scale of 1-5 how strongly they agreed with statements such as, ?I feel emotionally drained by my work.?

Telecommuting was a boon to workers who felt little or no conflict between work and family. But those who were the most torn between home and work responsibilities showed increasing levels of exhaustion as hours spent teleworking rose.

Still, Golden said,? even among those who feel strong conflict, telecommuting can be a good choice if it?s done right. That means having clear boundaries, both mental and physical ? such as a door to one?s home office ? between work and family.

?Telework, if it?s done well, can be very beneficial,? he added. ?You save time commuting. You don?t have to deal with the stress of being delayed on your way to work because of traffic or weather.?You have the comfort of working where you want to. But you have to think ahead of time about what might impact you if you?re working from home.?

Source: http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/11/8757570-telecommuting-might-not-wrong-answer-for-stressed-out-parents

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Natalie Wood Investigation: Unlikely to Yield Results

The death of Natalie Wood has remained a mystery for 30 years, but some in the L.A. County D.A.'s Office are puzzled as to why the investigation was re-opened.

They say it's extremely unlikely that the D.A. is going to prosecute the late actress' then-husband, Robert Wagner, or anyone else for her tragic 1981 drowning.

Although the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. says Wagner isn't a suspect, it's pretty clear that as the last person to see Natalie Wood alive, he's a person of interest.

Be that as it may, the statute of limitations has long since expired.

Natalie Wood Interview

Under California law, even if (and it's a big if) Robert Wagner accidentally pushed Natalie Wood into the water, or failed to report her missing quickly, that's not murder.

The most he could be charged with is involuntary manslaughter, of which there's a statute of limitations of three years. In other words, he'd be in the clear 27 years ago. 

Same with regular manslaughter, which has a statute of three. Second-degree murder has a limit of six. Only first-degree murder has no statute of limitations. 

Proving that is next to impossible, as there were no witnesses other than Wagner.

So short of a bizarre confession by the veteran actor or someone else, don't expect any charges to be pressed, no matter what shady allegations are made.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/11/natalie-wood-investigation-unlikely-to-yield-results/

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Growing protest pushes back troops in Tahrir Square (San Jose Mercury News)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/164563184?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Maggie Lyon : 6 Simple Steps to Find Peace Within Yourself

We all ultimately wish for peace. The trouble is that we are taught to believe that battles need to be fought and won to earn it. But what if our steps towards peace were instead steps of studying and dismantling those battles? To do this, it is best to start with the most intimate ones we know and the ones we least want to address, the burning and entangled battles within ourselves.

What are yours? Conversely, how are you stepping toward inner peace?

My most significant battle over the years has been with my body. Because of my history with allergies, eating disorder, acne, parasitic infection, and all the repercussions from the infection, it has at times been impossible not to think of my body as having turned against me. It has indeed been stranglingly hard not to see my body as an enemy. As a result, a huge part of my work on my meditation cushion, my yoga mat, in my journal and my therapist's office, has been in uncovering peace, or a profound sense of ease and friendship within this physical body.

Here's my path to inner peace and one that I hope resonates with you:

1. Commit to truly awakening peace and to no longer being in combat with yourself. Set peace as a deep intention, not only reserved for more tranquil moments over the weekend or on holiday when it always feels easier to give yourself a break. Better to use these moments to draw on this very minute, especially if you're going through a rough patch, or basically at any chance you get.

2. Create a safe space where you can bear witness to your struggles every day. Instead of trying to ignore or numb yourself from your internal struggles, give yourself a place to get to know the struggles better, without judging them, simply through observation. Meditation cushions or yoga mats are great, but so too are a favorite bench in the park or your favorite chair. So long as you feel comfortable and secure. Keeping pen and paper close by is always handy, as expressing whatever comes up will also help encourage the calm from really understanding what is going on.

3. Be still with the peace that arises from your bravery and your willingness to look. Appreciate how peace miraculously comes -- and I promise it does -- when you are courageous and take the time to acknowledge your personal war. Trusting in and staying still long enough to allow for resounding calm to arise is the key. These moments are difficult. Taking a good honest look at your intimate fight is never easy, but wow does it help to clear the mind and funnily enough, ignite the peace you're in search of.

4. Carry this peace out into your daily life, where it is so easy to get tripped up. This is a tough one. As best you can, maintain that connection with peace even as you step into the hectic demands and turmoil of the day. Instead of dropping out of your peaceful zone and getting caught up all over again with your battle, gently remind yourself of where you just were, and how lovingly you just made room for both the battle and the peace that came from such a warm and friendly gesture.

5. Spread peace beyond your relationship with you, into your relationship with others. The beauty here is that when you tap and awaken your own peace, you quite naturally begin to radiate and offer up serenity to those with whom you interact. Your peace touches others, and has a wonderfully contagious effect.

6. Live from and for peace in the world, and continually go back to step 1. Always remember, peace is undeniably powerful, far more so than even the most epic of battles. Isn't it astounding that from your very own restful heart, world peace is attainable?

Pema Chodron says, "If we want to make peace, with ourselves and with the world at large, we have to look closely at the source of all of our wars." Hopefully the steps above will encourage you not only to look closely at your wars, but also to recognize them as opportunities ripe in unearthing the oft-disguised peace inside. We just have to be willing to not fight the fight and to not pick our battles. We just have to be willing to pick peace instead.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maggie-lyon/finding-inner-peace_b_1099583.html

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Lunatic Preparing to Bomb Government Buildings Arrested [Bombs]

Police have arrested a man who was allegedly in the process of building pipe bombs which he intended to use to kill elected officials, government workers, and returning military personnel. Don't worry, everybody, the world is still full of assholes. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Z2yBhQaXHfI/lunatic-preparing-to-bomb-government-buildings-arrested

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Brazil official: Oil leak bigger than thought (AP)

RIO DE JANEIRO ? The Rio de Janeiro state environment minister says an offshore oil spill is bigger than oil company Chevron is stating.

But Environment Minister Carlos Minc isn't saying how much oil he thinks has been dumped in the Atlantic ocean 230 miles (370 kilometers) northeast of Rio de Janeiro.

The leak started a week ago at a well owned by Chevron. The company says that between 400 and 650 barrels leaked.

Brazil's National Petroleum Agency says it thinks 1,000 barrels leaked ? and that it's not clear if the leak has stopped.

Minc tells Globo TV that he thinks the spill is "much bigger" than those estimates.

He says the government expects to soon release satellite images showing the extent of the spill.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111118/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_brazil_oil_spill

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HP PhotoSmart 5510 e-All-in-One

The HP PhotoSmart 5510 e-All-in-One ($99.99 direct) is a multifunction printer (MFP) geared squarely at home use?its meager paper capacity and lack of business-centered features make it a poor choice for even light-duty home-office work. As a home printer, though, it?s fast and has good output quality, particularly for photos. It even has a touch screen?albeit a small one, but you seldom see them at all at its price.

The 5510 is compact, measuring 5.7 by 17.2 by 12.8 inches (nearly as small as the Epson Stylus NX430 Small-in-One) and weighing 11.1 pounds. It can print, copy, and scan; print from and scan to a memory card (slots are limited to SD/MultiMediaCard and Memory Stick Duo).

The PhotoSmart 5510?s paper tray holds a mere 60 sheets, which may be fine for modest home use, but precludes its use for even light-duty home-office work. It lacks an automatic duplexer (for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper) or any other paper-handling options.

The 5510 supports HP?s ePrint: You can e-mail files as attachments to a unique address that HP assigns to the printer, and it will print out the e-mail and files. Unlike most of HP?s e-All-in-Ones, though, this MFP doesn?t support HP?s Web apps. ?The 5510 is compatible with Apple?s AirPrint, allowing users to print directly to it from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch as long as it?s on the same WiFi network as the printer.

The PhotoSmart 5510 offers USB and WiFi (but not Ethernet) connectivity. I tested it connected via a USB cable to a PC running Windows Vista.

Print Speed?

Though it couldn?t match the Editors? Choice Brother MFC-J430W?s ?($100 street, 4 stars) effective speed of 4.3 pages per minute (ppm), the 5510?s 3.7 ppm speed when tested on our business applications suite (timed using QualityLogic's hardware and software, www.qualitylogic.com) is fast for a $99 MFP. I timed the Kodak HERO 3.1 ($99.99 direct, 4 stars) at 3.1 ppm, while the Editors? Choice Kodak ESP C310 All In One Printer ($99.99 direct, 4 stars) was clocked at 2.7 ppm and the Epson Stylus NX430 Small-in-One at 1.7 ppm

The Photosmart 5510 took an average of 1 minute 2 seconds to print out a 4-by-6 photo, a typical score for a budget inkjet.

Output Quality

Output quality is one of the 5510?s strengths, particularly for photos, with text a little below par for an inkjet and graphics typical of inkjet MFPs. Text is fine for schoolwork and general business use, but not for tasks requiring very small fonts.

Graphics quality was par for an inkjet MFP, with banding (a regular pattern of faint lines of discoloration in some images with solid backgrounds) the main issue. In a couple of illustrations, the banding was serious enough to be distracting. Graphics were suitable for schoolwork or for general business use, including PowerPoint handouts, although you might think twice before giving them to a prospective client you?re seeking to impress.

Photo quality was overall very good, with most images better than what you?d expect from drugstore prints. Colors seemed realistic looking, with good saturation. A monochrome image showed a modest tint, but that was the only issue of note.

Other Issues

HP?s claimed running costs for the 5510 are 4.1 cents per monochrome page and 14.9 cents per color page

The HP Photosmart 5510 e-All-in-One is a solid choice for a $100 MFP, providing good speed and respectable output quality, with photos its forte. Its most notable feature is the touch screen, rare on a budget MFP. Its meager 60-sheet consigns it to very light use, which may be just as well as its claimed cost per page?particularly for color printing?is relatively high.

The Kodak HERO 3.1 and Editors? Choice Kodak ESP C310 offer lower claimed running costs and have higher paper capacity, though they?re slower than the Photosmart. And if you?re looking for a more business-centered budget MFP, the Editors? Choice Brother MFC-J430w adds goodies such as fax capabilities and a 20-page automatic document feeder (ADF), and it?s faster than the 5510, though it doesn?t print as pretty photos.

More Multi-function Printer Reviews:

??? HP PhotoSmart 5510 e-All-in-One
??? Canon imageClass MF5960dn
??? Canon imageClass MF5950dw
??? Epson Stylus NX430 Small-in-One
??? Brother MFC-J430w
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/udNvUjB2VXQ/0,2817,2396560,00.asp

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