Jeff,

I have to agree with you, at least partially. If I catch you christmas shopping, gambling, downloading 30gb onto your iPod, I'm gonna can you. But answering forum posts? Some of us use forums like this one as research tools to do our jobs. If others wait until the weekend to reply and I have a problem now, I'm going to look for other sources of information.

Regarding personal emails, there are circumstances and there are circumstances. Personal emails are less distracting to others than personal phone calls. Does that mean I should be handling personal emails all day? Absolutely not. On the other hand, I have a loved one who is disabled. The primary contact with the outside world is the internet, and email with me. I will choose to respond to those emails because they can amount to bigger issues than christmas shopping.

Beyond that, I have been on call, 2 weeks out of 4, since 1994. I have yet to be compensated for any 3 am calls I took, or for the broadband access I pay for on the laptop I paid for so that I can connect from home to provide faster service...rather that getting dressed and driving in...I can frequently be on the way to a solution before I can physically arrive. So I have to come down with the camp that measures what you accomplish, not what happens in the 40 hours that are visible. Otherwise I believe I am due a great deal of back pay for all those years on call. On call is literally not in my job description, nor any of the other members of my group. It is simply an expectation. Granted, in an at-will state, it amounts to the same thing, but if I were a contractor, every minute past 40 hours is billable at a higher rate.