Surfing the web at work

[beli]

This is something that amazes me.

Interference is pretty much dead on the weekends. I raised this question why and was told by many people that its because many people read Interference from work. Hence the huge dip in postings on the weekend.

I can understand computer help desk nerds who will have periods of no outstanding jobs and have the time and permission to surf the web.

My question, apart from the poll question.

What line of work are you in that permits (or doesnt permit) web surfing at work?

 

[beli]

Me, I dont have the time to surf the web at work. And its not permitted.

I work in safety and health/risk management, at a desk answering the emergency phone, writing web pages, accounts, ordering stuff, processing claims, unjamming the shredder that the stupids try and shove too much paper through, etc

 

[U2_Muse]

I work for a bankruptcy Trustee, and I don't have permission other than for work-related searches, etc. But I do it anyway.

My boss has even walked in while I was on a message board and he didn't say anything, so I'd say it's something that is officially against the rules, but okay as long as it doesn't get out of hand.

 

[DaveC]

Mine wasn't permitted when I worked at the call center. We even had blocking programs.

We did have the time though between calls.

 

[beli]

Just thought I should add I have been on leave from work for most of this year, hence my high work day post count.

Just in case anyone was thinking

 

[Sicy]

My boss doesnt care as long as I get my work done.

 

[U2democrat]

I guess if you could call school work....in which case they get really pissed if you're doing something other than learning on the laptops....but hardly anyone ever follows the rules

 

[U2dork]

I often work at a reception desk in a museum that doesn't get very many visitors because for some reason, most of Athens doesn't realize we're here. I can't leave the desk for very long when I'm doing security checks and the computer is always on. There aren't any rules posted. Everyone else does it. What else am I gonna do for hours on end?

 

[beli]

Thats cool, U2dork, this thread is not meant as a criticism. Maybe the majority of people who post on weekdays are in your position. I guess thats what Im trying to determine.

 

[BAW]

I'm self-employed so there are no rules for me to follow. I normally have Interference running in the background as I work and go back and forth between work and the net. If its a slow day and I have nothing on my desk, I can spend hours at a time net surfing but when things are busy, I go most of the day without logging on.

 

[Bonochick]

We don't have Internet access at one of my jobs. At the other, I have a computer at my desk with very little supervision, but we are not allowed to use the Internet for personal use. No way I'm going to risk losing my job just to go online. I can wait until I get home.

 

[indra]

Yeah, I'm self-employed too, so I can surf whenever the mood strikes, which is why I'm as likely to post at 3 am as 3 pm (actually more likely to post at 3 am).

 

[martha]

I post here before school starts, sometimes at recess and lunch, and after the kids go home, but never while the students are in class. The unpermitted sites are blocked, and until Interference is blocked, I will post from school.

It's a nice release from the responsibilities of the day.

 

[anitram]

I can surf, but I really don't have that much time anyway. If I have a free moment, I go ahead with my other experiments, as I'd prefer to go home early rather than sitting on the computer for half an hour. But I have flexible hours, not 9-5.

If I do use it, it's mainly for e-mail or to read news or something. I don't post on boards or my journal.

 

[AvsGirl41]

I'm a workstudy (a glorified receptionist) in an academic department at my college.

I can use the computer for anything I want, as long as there isn't anything pressing. I'd go nuts out of sheer loneliness otherwise.

 

[nurse chrissi]

depends on the type of day I'm having - for the most part eating lunch/sitting down is a bonus so checking the internet is pretty much for super slow days (which hasn't happened yet)

 

[Techie2000]

Since my job involves fixing computers that don't work, I don't. I don't really want to spend extra time at a client's to just surf the web, rather do that from the comfort of home.

 

[U2dork]

When I did work study, I did the same thing. Nothing to do and no one to talk to. Occasionally there were envelopes to stuff, copies to make, copiers to jam and unjam, paper cuts to bandage...

 

[fah]

We have internet acccess but I'm normally too busy with work related stuff to use it for personal stuff.

 

[neutral]

I'm self employed and my work right now is building a site, so work generally means being at the computer, online, and with an Interference tab open.

I do have trouble sometimes disciplining myself and not getting too much "play time" when I have a deadline. I'm just so used to having IT nazis watching my every move and having a seizure if someone checks their hotmail so the freedom is....a challenge at times.

 

[Popmartijn]

I can understand computer help desk nerds who will have periods of no outstanding jobs and have the time and permission to surf the web.

*is not a real help desk nerd though*

But it was pretty quiet at the last project I did, so I was on Interference a lot. Still, work always comes first, so when I'm busy, there'll be no Interference.
Or Testje.

C ya!

Marty

 

[Tomer]

im not

 

[LoveTown]

I used to surf interference at my old job all the time. I wasn't supposed to but my boss wouldn't flip if people took a quick mental break to surf the net a bit. Where I am at now I don't even have a computer in the office so I only get my blue crack at home

 

[Mrs. Edge]

I raise funds for an internationally acclaimed ballet school, and spend a LOT of time at my desk. Sometimes I will be too busy to be online, but most of the time I check in and out throughout the day. Somedays I spend a ridiculous amount of time on here (and other forums). It's not that I don't have work to do, it's just I can't help myself!

They don't have strict rules here, but I'm sure if they knew how much surfing we were doing, they'd be amazed. On the other hand, we all get our work done. I was 15% over my goal this year, so I am in their good books.

I have only been in trouble for my habit once before, at anoter job. The IT guy did a "spot check" (hmmm, I wonder if it was really random) and LOGGED every single site I was on, how long I was on it, how many clicks etc.!!!! One day my boss called me in and told me to take a seat (you then know it's bad news)..and she presented me with the log which started the second I checked my email in the am to the end of the day. I nearly DIED. I blamed it on personal relationship troubles, and she told me that because I was getting my work done well, she wouldn't take action against me, but I did have my net access cut off.

You'd think I would have learned a lesson and changed my ways at my other jobs....but no.....I am just as bad, or worse than before!

 

[Doozer61]

Sometimes I will be too busy to be online, but most of the time I check in and out throughout the day. Somedays I spend a ridiculous amount of time on here (and other forums). It's not that I don't have work to do, it's just I can't help myself!

I can totally agree with that statement. It's totally addicting somedays more than others.

I work for the local health department and do outreach to 4th graders about indoor environmental hazards. And I also do health education to tenants about lead poisoning. But the minute i get back into the office, i go right for my email and the blue crack. The two women that sit near me have asked what is that blue screen site!

I am not sure how tolerated it is, but since i do my work, nothing is said. And it is abused throughout the whole department. And we do have firewalls to keep us out of porn and gambling sites, not that I have checked....

 

[MissMaCo]

I'm not. Being a teacher, I can't just tell my students : "wait a minutes guys, I have to reply in Interference... please, try to understand this text while I'm gone !"

 

[Justified]

I surf the web at work but do not log on to interference mainly because it is blocked however I hardly have any time during my workday to log on and fool around. When I do log on to play it is it to update my blog.

 

[arw]

I'm generally too busy to log on to Interference but there have been days that I don't take a lunch and know I will be working at least an hour overtime. So there are some days that I'll log on for 5 or 10 minutes just for a break but I never post from work. My boss knows how hard we all work and how much extra time without pay we work (salary not hourly ) so I doubt she'd care if she came over to my desk and saw me taking a 5 minute break to check out the latest U2 news

At my job before this one I never had work to do and no one cared. No one gave me work when I begged to help out. It was a weird place and I never was trained in even after being there for 9 months. So I spent most of my days posting around here because it was better than staring at the walls of my little cubicle.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

My boss doesnt care as long as I get my work done.

Same here.

 

[celia]

I cant even access the internet at the job im at right now! We only have work e-mail! I hate it I really miss checking here on a daily basis especially since its close to all the new U2 news...