Why is it that the world and his gerbil seem to think that because a person works from home, they're available 24/7 for long telephone conversations about relationship problems/diets that don't work/boredom at work etc?

These people seem to be missing one vital point. Working from home means that one is working whilst in their home. Not all the time, obviously, but a lot of the time. Probably 8 hours a day and often more.

For every hour I spend jawing on the phone, that's an hour longer I have to work that day in order to finish my work load.

"But everybody has to have a break" I'm told. Sure they do. But why should I be forced to spend my break on the phone? I'd like to spend it eating my lunch, thank you very much.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind the occasional break in the day spent chatting on the phone, in fact there are times when I positively welcome it, but 15 minutes is enough. Anything more starts eating into too much of my working time, especially when more than one person calls in the course of the day.

I get paid for the number of jobs I can complete and return to my clients. The fewer finished jobs I have in a week, the less money I earn. That's not too difficult to understand, is it? No money = no bills paid = family tossed out into the gutter.

Please. When I say "I'm working", try to understand that I can't shorten my working day just because your boyfriend called you a tart, you've put on two pounds in a week, or have caught VD for the fifth time this year.

Sigh.