JY> I think all of us have a home office.  Mine is on 
 JY> the cluttered side and
 JY> I have a heck of a time trying to find a pen that works.
My house is on the cluttered side, and I can never find a pen that writes in 
there, but the office is separated from the rest of the house by a door that 
is closed when I'm not working.  The office is businesslike, organised, with 
a good supply of pens.
 JY> Query - what are people using for planners?  It's already February! I
 JY> still haven't picked up one from a stationery store 
 JY> and I'm not thrilled
 JY> with the one I have on my PC.  Ideas?  A computer one would be good.
 JY> Any recommendations?  running os/2, describe word processor (Not
 JY> Wordperfect or microsoft stuff).
I use a combination - notepad for daily notes, and the computer for time 
tables and reminders.  We have the client base in Maximizer, and I make use 
of its "hottip" function to remind me of upcoming dates.  It canbe set years 
in advance.  for "things to be done tody" I have an ordinary, low tech yellow 
pad.  for recording contacts with customers - what they wanted, what they 
said, I have a thick school note book on which I jot the information in 
shorthand while the conversation is going on.  Afterwards I put a summary in 
the client's file in maximizer.  That way I have a record of every contact 
however brief with every client, which is invaluable a few months later when 
the clients claim they're due something and you have no clear recollection of 
what the conversation covered.  I use MSworks, microsoft Word, and multimate 
as word processing programmes, depending on what I need.  Each has strengths 
and weaknesses.  I had to break down and learn to use a mouse (ick pttoooii 
spit spit spit) because of compatibility.  We use MYOB for accounting (I  
*don't*  recommend it) which is a Mac programme that is not responsive at all 
to key strokes.  In order to produce newsletters and advertising from Corel, 
and use the MYOB, and have a fax modem, all on the same machine, we had to 
install Windows and a mouse.  I did prefer the dos version of Maximizer, but 
had to learn to use the windows version for compatibility - I can import to 
and from Word and Maximizer and the fax, which is really handy when I need to 
send letters to hundreds of customers at once and don't want to produce the 
bush-league "dear customer" letter.  It takes me no more time to personalise 
300 letters by importing between Word and Maximizer than it takes to write 
one letter.
 JY> Put a copy of the Delrina Fax pro on, but it is choking with a stupid
 JY> problem with the modem port....grrr.  Will need to 
 JY> take it in and get a
 JY> pro to fix (likely a simple solution).  I've tried changing the ports,
 JY> but it's like a default is stuck on port 2.
We had terrible trouble with Delrina, to the point where we bought a stand 
alone fax machine and installed Winfax version 3.  Version 4 was nicer and 
had more features, but it kept locking up the whole computer.  
 JY> How are you folks handling the balancing act with family/job/home
 JY> office?
My home office is my job.  It's my sole means of income.  There's no 
balancing act - I've cut out the hour or two hours a day of commuting, is 
all.  I work from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, with an hour for lunch, a 10 
minute break in the morning and a 10 minute break in the afternoon.  Family, 
friends, and neighbours know that when I'm in the office I'm at work.  When I 
finish work I lock the office door.  it takes a while to train everybody, but 
they have all learned (and it's certainly better than seeing me unemployed, 
which is what I would be if I couldn't work at home).  Because the office is 
businesslike and has no household items in it, there's a clear distinction 
for everyone between home and office.  No office work leaks into the house 
and no household leaks into the office.  The distinction is very important 
psychologically for them as well as yourself.  If you don't take it 
seriously, no one else will.
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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