Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Dedicated Computer for Treasurer?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Feb 8, 2022, at 7:45 AM, <harmony [at] fuse.net> <harmony [at] fuse.net> 
> wrote:
> 
>  My husband is (and has been for many, many years) the
> Treasurer for our primary ownership organization as well as the main
> subcommittee involved directly in the management of this preserve. He uses
> his own computer so he has complete control over all settings, software, and
> upgrades (which doesn't happen very often!). It would be a nightmare if he
> had to maintain two computers or have space to put a second computer.

I totally agree. Keeping two of my own computers up to speed (desktop and 
portable) is a nightmare. Our reasoning for having a common computer in the 
common house is so everyone has access to a computer, everyone has an emergency 
back up, and everyone can work on the community files there. But maintaining 
shared files is also very time consuming. It adds a whole layer of coordination 
and communication so few people actually did it. When computers had more 
limited memory, people didn’t want to store large files on their own computers 
so those were in the office. But we now have 3 websites where files are stored 
and these are available to everyone.

My one extravagance is a fast computer and updated professional grade software. 
(Except I do buy a lot of books.) So if I were to use another computer, I would 
be very unhappy because my expectations are higher than many people’s. Others 
have mentioned this before, that they expected that resources in the common 
house would always be top notch, above what people had at home, but that hasn’t 
been true, particularly with technology. 

So I essentially subsidize the community by using my own computer but other 
people also do that by using their cars to run errands, purchasing extra spices 
for the common house when they cook, loaning their van for transporting goods 
to the thrift shop, etc. Everyone contributes. One person takes our glass to be 
recycled in Virginia because DC stopped recycling glass. This is not only more 
economically sustainable but it avoids drawing lines between “mine and yours”. 
Think about what would happen if every time you made a sign, posted a note, or 
cleaned a wall if you kept a record of each thing that was for the community 
and which for yourself. It would require you to think in terms of a paid 
employee of a business that is clearly “other” and you are one of the cogs in 
the wheel. Sometimes I do feel like a cog in the wheel, but it's my wheel. It 
exists for my benefit as well as everyone else’s.

If the community purchased a computer for someone to keep the books on, there 
is an additional question — if the person doesn’t have a computer, they quite 
probably are not well-qualified to use it. The community loses the advantage of 
having members with skills that are developed and updated elsewhere. Pooling 
resources requires that you have something to pool. Some have time and others 
have technologies.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org