True, but if it's a business trip and they're only willing to pay for a slow cheap train rather than an expensive fast one, then so long as it's on work time I'm basically getting paid to sit and read... :-)
On the question of needing to be there, it's funny how work will always find money to burn for flights to conferences but can somehow only afford one conference phone which doesn't work properly. It's almost as if it's nothing to do with communication and all to do with making stupid people feel Very Important.
I have a feeling this may be a research council thing - with the research councils not paying for IT equipment they think the university should be supplying as a matter of course. I know budget for equipment in bids is scrutinised much more than that for conferences. It's very frustrating.
Actually, I have no idea why I of all people came up with the "time is money" argument. My behaviour as a freelancer makes it pretty clear that in practice I don't put much value on my time at all. Once I took a four-day job in Buckinghamshire where the daily bus and coach fares cost me half a day's pay every day, and the journey was several hours long there and back. On my last day I got sent home early, so not only did I not get paid for the afternoon but I had to wait two hours for the coach. The journey home that day was five hours door to door.
I think it's because I've always had the attitude "WORK! TAKE WORK! DO WORK! Don't worry about anything except GETTING WORK because it could all dry up tomorrow and then you'll be all bitter and unemployed!" Which turned out to be completely true, actually.
But yeah. You're right that business people often think they're making rational economic decisions when actually they're just feeding egos or fitting in with the dominant culture. Most businesses will invest in some kind of conference calling equipment because they think they need to have it, but then will never use it because it isn't good enough.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-05-11 08:26 pm (UTC)True, but if it's a business trip and they're only willing to pay for a slow cheap train rather than an expensive fast one, then so long as it's on work time I'm basically getting paid to sit and read... :-)
On the question of needing to be there, it's funny how work will always find money to burn for flights to conferences but can somehow only afford one conference phone which doesn't work properly. It's almost as if it's nothing to do with communication and all to do with making stupid people feel Very Important.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-11 10:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-12 08:23 am (UTC)I think it's because I've always had the attitude "WORK! TAKE WORK! DO WORK! Don't worry about anything except GETTING WORK because it could all dry up tomorrow and then you'll be all bitter and unemployed!" Which turned out to be completely true, actually.
But yeah. You're right that business people often think they're making rational economic decisions when actually they're just feeding egos or fitting in with the dominant culture. Most businesses will invest in some kind of conference calling equipment because they think they need to have it, but then will never use it because it isn't good enough.