Mar. 13th, 2009 03:44 pm
Fresh start
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muckefuckI work underground, like a gnome. Fortunately, this is one of the rare buildings in Cook County which is built into the slope of a (man-made--it's all lakefill out here) hill, so if I lean far into the room, I get a glimpse of the great outdoors, but the one external wall in my workspace proper is directly under a ramp and completely banked with earth. A couple years back, seepage began causing the plaster to "bloom" and crumble. I eventually complained to our task-adverse raconteur of a building engineer and was predictably told that nothing could really be done.
Fast forward to two weeks ago. A pair of physical plant guys show up out of the blue, scrutinise the wall, and tell me that they'll be back to patch it. There is a set of shelving against this wall upon which we keep a lot of materials for processing, but that's not the half of it; it also adjoins both my desk and that of my student employee, which--me being the clutterrat I am--were covered in books, papers, and sundry detritus.
You wouldn't recognise them now. There's enough space elsewhere in the department that I could've simply shifted everything, but I saw this as a rare opportunity to regain the upper hand. From the moment I learned what was to come, I began clearing away whatever I could pass on. (It's amazing how a year or two in stasis minimises almost any problem. Why did I set this aside when it's more than good enough for government work?) Of course, ten days isn't enough time to dispense with the accumulation of years, so come 4 p.m. last night I regretfully had to offload everything onto book trucks and wheel it out of the way.
When I came in this morning, the crumbly spots were replaced with patches of white plaster several times their size. All day, people have been asking me if the workmen will return to paint over them and I've been responding that I haven't the faintest idea. I'm more concerned about the historic opportunity to reconfigure the space. My desk has been in the same spot for so long that when I went hunting behind it for an outlet, I turned up a personnel document from 1993. This could be the chance I've been looking for to put another ten feet or so between me and the Evil One next door!
So far, the only casualty of all the disruption has been my plans for tonight.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monshu and I were originally supposed to attend a gallery opening, but as I dragged myself from bed this morning, I reluctantly acknowledged that a few canapé weren't enough to make itchy clothes and a trip downtown more enticing than dinner at home in my pyjamas and slippers. monshu even tried to tip the scales with Café Ibérico but the thought of having to scream over all those drunken yuppies filled me with inertia.
Fast forward to two weeks ago. A pair of physical plant guys show up out of the blue, scrutinise the wall, and tell me that they'll be back to patch it. There is a set of shelving against this wall upon which we keep a lot of materials for processing, but that's not the half of it; it also adjoins both my desk and that of my student employee, which--me being the clutterrat I am--were covered in books, papers, and sundry detritus.
You wouldn't recognise them now. There's enough space elsewhere in the department that I could've simply shifted everything, but I saw this as a rare opportunity to regain the upper hand. From the moment I learned what was to come, I began clearing away whatever I could pass on. (It's amazing how a year or two in stasis minimises almost any problem. Why did I set this aside when it's more than good enough for government work?) Of course, ten days isn't enough time to dispense with the accumulation of years, so come 4 p.m. last night I regretfully had to offload everything onto book trucks and wheel it out of the way.
When I came in this morning, the crumbly spots were replaced with patches of white plaster several times their size. All day, people have been asking me if the workmen will return to paint over them and I've been responding that I haven't the faintest idea. I'm more concerned about the historic opportunity to reconfigure the space. My desk has been in the same spot for so long that when I went hunting behind it for an outlet, I turned up a personnel document from 1993. This could be the chance I've been looking for to put another ten feet or so between me and the Evil One next door!
So far, the only casualty of all the disruption has been my plans for tonight.
monshu and I were originally supposed to attend a gallery opening, but as I dragged myself from bed this morning, I reluctantly acknowledged that a few canapé weren't enough to make itchy clothes and a trip downtown more enticing than dinner at home in my pyjamas and slippers. monshu even tried to tip the scales with Café Ibérico but the thought of having to scream over all those drunken yuppies filled me with inertia.Tags: