Hell is other people's idea of comfort
So once again I am trapped in the University's "Learning Zone", a nightmarish place of weird architecture, crampedness juxtaposed with wasted space, and the weirdest benches known to man. Seriously, they're Y-shaped, looking like a bird's foot, and can only be sat on in comfort if three people sit in the centre, back to back. But, due to a marvellous bit of timing I now have a day to write 1500 more words, and here I lurk.
Problems? 2/3rds of this place are useless for anyone with a laptop - most of the desks have no plugs, and those that do are positioned so that most plugs can't actually fit into them. So the only options are the bays of seating. The first of these was my usual haunt, with tables, chairs and accessible to plugs. However the people on the next desk suddenly declared that they had the whole bay booked, an hour after I sat down, obligating me to move. I noted as I walked past later that only one of them was actually using the six-person desk I had been sitting at. Douchebags. Next along was a bay of weird, L-shaped benches which feel like sitting on a shoe. 20 minutes after sitting down, however, I noticed that the plugs weren't working, not a problem for anyone else who has a proper battery, but for me with my paltry hour of battery life this wouldn't do. Finally the last bay that wasn't full of people already is just an open patch of floor, with a few beanbags around the edges. Ignoring the massive waste of space, I grabbed myself a bag and more importantly a useable plug. It's still not perfect, since my being nestled in among other people requires some creative use of space - my coffee mug, for example, is now nestled in the neck of my boot, and my books are now piled in a tower with the bookprop on top.
But until this damn thing gets written, it'll have to do. Rant over.
Problems? 2/3rds of this place are useless for anyone with a laptop - most of the desks have no plugs, and those that do are positioned so that most plugs can't actually fit into them. So the only options are the bays of seating. The first of these was my usual haunt, with tables, chairs and accessible to plugs. However the people on the next desk suddenly declared that they had the whole bay booked, an hour after I sat down, obligating me to move. I noted as I walked past later that only one of them was actually using the six-person desk I had been sitting at. Douchebags. Next along was a bay of weird, L-shaped benches which feel like sitting on a shoe. 20 minutes after sitting down, however, I noticed that the plugs weren't working, not a problem for anyone else who has a proper battery, but for me with my paltry hour of battery life this wouldn't do. Finally the last bay that wasn't full of people already is just an open patch of floor, with a few beanbags around the edges. Ignoring the massive waste of space, I grabbed myself a bag and more importantly a useable plug. It's still not perfect, since my being nestled in among other people requires some creative use of space - my coffee mug, for example, is now nestled in the neck of my boot, and my books are now piled in a tower with the bookprop on top.
But until this damn thing gets written, it'll have to do. Rant over.