Lori has always worked a lot of extra hours at home to supplement the full work week at the office. With our move to Newfield, she will be working a couple days a week at home that she would otherwise invest at the office: same withering load of hours, different venue mix.

So, what kind of home office facilities does an IBM senior technical software engineer use at home? She’s still ironing out the wrinkles, but spare furniture is being pressed into service for the cause. An unpretentious spine-warping folding chair and an ad hoc adjustable-height desk does the trick nicely. Uncomfortable, perhaps, but board-and-bench style minimalist furniture seems appropriate for difficult and demanding work. Lori doesn’t think she would be any more productive at a mahogany and brass home-office suite; it is, no doubt, that kind of thinking that has kept her out of management. But she presses on relentlessly.