dislocation, dislocation, dislocation
Thu Sep 12 23:06:34 EDT 2013
Three of us were moved from the spacious 7th-floor hallway to the basement today. Or PCs and phones were moved; the rest of our things (chairs, books, desk objects) were all left behind. No one got notice that this was happening today. One of the three has never been to the new location, and he was working remotely when his PC was turned off. My PC booted with an IP address belonging to the special subnet that allows access to our project's servers; the other 2 did not. (Don't know why they didn't all do the same thing.) And like last time (moving from the Alexandria office), these computer movers completely ignored the way things were connected before, so I had to disconnect and reconnect pretty much everything.
I have 2 monitors and a set of speakers plugged into a power strip so I can turn these things off with one switch. There's no reason for them to be on overnight or on weekends. The computer needs to stay on all the time so I can work remotely. (This may be required unpredictably.) After this move the computer and the speakers were plugged into the power strip, and the monitors were not. I can't see any reason for plugging the computer into the power strip. (It's not a surge protector.) At least 3 things had to go into the power strip, because there are only 4 sockets at the desk.
I didn't mention the 2nd computer under my desk (sharing my limited sockets), for someone else who always works remotely. (I think this was actually his desk, so now he doesn't have one.) And one more cord for the under-cabinet light built into the furniture. (This light is behind the monitors, so it's totally useless for lighting my work surface.)
The desks downstairs are smaller, both less wide and less deep, and have less storage space. The shallowness of the desk puts the monitors too close to my eyes, but moving the chair back isn't an option because the rows of desks are so close together in this room. Accommodating everything I had upstairs (pared way down from what I had at the old office) was a challenge. I'm using some space at a 2nd desk. We seem to have quite a few people at this point who are never going to be in the office. They still have their own PCs, and most of these have their own desks.
But really, how the hell do you move people from one "office" to another without moving their belongings? Is this how you want your admins spending their time? (It takes a lot of trips when you don't have boxes and carts....)There were storms forecast for this evening, but I was hoping they'd blow through before I'd be leaving, so I biked anyway. When I left tonight there were a lot of bikes in the cage. I think a lot of cyclists took other means home. Perhaps many of them can take METRO, as I can. I'll no longer have to bike home in a downpour, as I did on a few occasions from the old office. Then again, it's hard to know what the weather is in a basement. I really miss having a window. On the other hand, I can change my clothes in the office now before I leave. Everything in the old (Alexandria) office was on view from the outside.
There was no beer left when I got home from work tonight. I guess that's why anniemal is sober enough to watch TV. After the stormy cold front came through this afternoon my ride home was extremely humid. Annie made a point of telling me she put a six-pack in the downstairs fridge last weekend. I had 2 of those beers. She also had most of a 5-liter box of wine. And that's just out of what she put downstairs. I'm sure there was more upstairs, and that must be gone too.Thu, 12 Sep 2013 23:13:02 +0000
Subject: stray USB cable
I didn't notice until I wanted to charge my Kindle, but the USB cable that came with my work cellphone was missing. I guess the movers thought swapping a standard type-B cable for a micro type-B cable was OK. That cable was not connected to anything, so it shouldn't have been part of the computer move at all.
I went to the help desk (right down the hall, after the move) and they found one, and I think it is my cable. (It's got a Verizon tag on it.)
[This entry was originally posted as http://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/626967.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
Three of us were moved from the spacious 7th-floor hallway to the basement today. Or PCs and phones were moved; the rest of our things (chairs, books, desk objects) were all left behind. No one got notice that this was happening today. One of the three has never been to the new location, and he was working remotely when his PC was turned off. My PC booted with an IP address belonging to the special subnet that allows access to our project's servers; the other 2 did not. (Don't know why they didn't all do the same thing.) And like last time (moving from the Alexandria office), these computer movers completely ignored the way things were connected before, so I had to disconnect and reconnect pretty much everything.
I have 2 monitors and a set of speakers plugged into a power strip so I can turn these things off with one switch. There's no reason for them to be on overnight or on weekends. The computer needs to stay on all the time so I can work remotely. (This may be required unpredictably.) After this move the computer and the speakers were plugged into the power strip, and the monitors were not. I can't see any reason for plugging the computer into the power strip. (It's not a surge protector.) At least 3 things had to go into the power strip, because there are only 4 sockets at the desk.
I didn't mention the 2nd computer under my desk (sharing my limited sockets), for someone else who always works remotely. (I think this was actually his desk, so now he doesn't have one.) And one more cord for the under-cabinet light built into the furniture. (This light is behind the monitors, so it's totally useless for lighting my work surface.)
The desks downstairs are smaller, both less wide and less deep, and have less storage space. The shallowness of the desk puts the monitors too close to my eyes, but moving the chair back isn't an option because the rows of desks are so close together in this room. Accommodating everything I had upstairs (pared way down from what I had at the old office) was a challenge. I'm using some space at a 2nd desk. We seem to have quite a few people at this point who are never going to be in the office. They still have their own PCs, and most of these have their own desks.
But really, how the hell do you move people from one "office" to another without moving their belongings? Is this how you want your admins spending their time? (It takes a lot of trips when you don't have boxes and carts....)There were storms forecast for this evening, but I was hoping they'd blow through before I'd be leaving, so I biked anyway. When I left tonight there were a lot of bikes in the cage. I think a lot of cyclists took other means home. Perhaps many of them can take METRO, as I can. I'll no longer have to bike home in a downpour, as I did on a few occasions from the old office. Then again, it's hard to know what the weather is in a basement. I really miss having a window. On the other hand, I can change my clothes in the office now before I leave. Everything in the old (Alexandria) office was on view from the outside.
There was no beer left when I got home from work tonight. I guess that's why anniemal is sober enough to watch TV. After the stormy cold front came through this afternoon my ride home was extremely humid. Annie made a point of telling me she put a six-pack in the downstairs fridge last weekend. I had 2 of those beers. She also had most of a 5-liter box of wine. And that's just out of what she put downstairs. I'm sure there was more upstairs, and that must be gone too.Thu, 12 Sep 2013 23:13:02 +0000
Subject: stray USB cable
I didn't notice until I wanted to charge my Kindle, but the USB cable that came with my work cellphone was missing. I guess the movers thought swapping a standard type-B cable for a micro type-B cable was OK. That cable was not connected to anything, so it shouldn't have been part of the computer move at all.
I went to the help desk (right down the hall, after the move) and they found one, and I think it is my cable. (It's got a Verizon tag on it.)
[This entry was originally posted as http://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/626967.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]