q strictly personal by Bob Hunter Home, busy home HEN FUTURIST ALVIN TOFFLER coined the phrase ‘‘electronic cottage,”’ he was obviously speaking about what he thought was a good thing. In the computer age, peo- ple’ will be able to do most kinds of work at home, so it won't be necessary any longer to hop in the car, fight your way through rush-hour traffic to an office or factory, then fight your way back home. You'll be able to roll out ot bed, pour a coffee, wander down to the study, warm boot your machine, and get right down to business Up unul the Industral Revolution, most people liv- ed and worked in the same place. The assembly line torc- ed men and women to leave the cottage and go out into the cold, polluted world All this is supposedly com- ing to an end with the advent of the home computer. And itis certainly true — there are an ever-increasing number of people in modern Western society doing their work at home, receiving and pumping Out data via a modem hooked up to their phone. I'm one of those people And for a while so was my wife. She's a cablevision systems designer and I'm a freelance wordsmith Ho boy! Let me warn you future electrons cottagers that not everybody who left the homestead to head out to the factones was totally miserable at the prospect ot not being around the house all day, every day Houses are busy places! On a pgiven day, the two phones are lable to ring a couple of dozen tunes There ate hable to be any number of people showing up on the doorstep from fehaowatys Witpesses ta the inevitable plumbers and teparninicn and the pus wha cuts the prass Porooa) weiter threads of thought are hibelimnes bvery time they re sapped vou pes back to the bepanaining of thre paragraph prac ont SPOnN Often vou never complete the thoragebit aparn cspectally Sime vert usualy horn t readdy Rrierw what rt Ss preontape tar be caprtaboat Carsta bebe s cette thee prapee ser Ne Leet Woo brip a Teme vei are Saabeyes fed ter oraveldieer aed orn | I) warship sti Prete gee wt Break-in warning A WEDNENDIAYN attention treah wey oat a TL SUMD tele Co tresterfrebad apear tere nae vbite has prepuce Neorrt Moan caect ko NIP ., sae 1 wattiiig Fo resident Ptre Cenants of tte agra: rare nat bent BOM worth fw chev Whee charerr eh orbee te vanes was forced copes Ail tesidberits Mattes aed apeaetinve rts sb Mata he | porte 1 sev aeeedd bey wan, Say gaat heaved Pood wal tots rt The dryer breaking down The dogs barking at the paperboy The mail arriving late We finally solved the pro- blem by building a cabin at the very back of the property which permits me to go into voluntary exile, far enough away trom home sweet home ‘She heaved a sigh of relief When the chance came to go back to working In a downtown Office.’ so that | don’t hear the baby foying, the television or stereo (or both) blaring, the daqulet flushing, or, worst of all, people laughing at jokes whose punchline [| didn’t quite catch I don't have a phone down to the cabin) Very important that For a time, as | sav. my wife was working at home (oo mo omy former basement study But she too was driven to distraction tn order to be Phe able Certificates of Ddcprarsat Ae siperac af Nasit the Park of rari dee 4 tree to work, she had to have someone in to take care of the baby and clean up the house. Between the house- keeper and my secretary, also working in the house, there was so Much commotion my wife found herself having to get up before dawn to get any work done. She heaved a sigh of relief when the chance came to go back to working in a down- town office. Me, I’m sull hiding out at the back of the property, behind the trees. Electronic cottage, indeed! Electronic madhouse is more hke at. | think maybe Toffler is over- looking something. An office away from home isn't neces- sarily a social eval It's maybe even a social cessity. It’s mice to come me at the end of the day aftér a hard eight hour's work, but not so mice of you've never left —_} Be Water Wise When joing boat, leave 4 flaat plan with SOMO STATING. Wwihietre: you Wil De and wrier you are expected to. fur Play it Safe. for Western © anadtans Venroatet thre tee st of brothi wer ded: Pde wate wd tiathidy conmape titi pate ot return © breve fetta peter oye atsy fnedontere st pray rrienit thrat tha loa de rrveotatbha by cor pore pated opetretis SPECIALITY VOLVO *® SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS ON REMAINING 1984 MODELS 2% 1984 DEMONSTRATION CARS NOW ON OFFER * ORDERS HAVE BEEN PLACED FOR 1985 MODELS 2% TEST DRIVE A SPECIALTY VOLVO TODAY SPECIAL MOTOR CARS 1970 LIMITED 1235 Marine Dr. North Vancouver Sales, Service, parts, Leasing 980-2464 Invest on our own erms 24% crests abved vask fea call the vdetagls Trace story ourt Coe ututy uber s cat LVeopor seat na Cote NN ta bet raas Ctr oye Thre pti that work an voit doe striate re at NNathy veoure prieotie y Worthorriae tii Phated veg atv attr dora fiatie tee tapoy dite on vertat povn ta fe rays € Bank of British Columbia Canadas Western Bank