by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2008/02/15 09:16 -05:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2008/02/15/7710418.aspx
It was just a few months ago (in In my opinion, the only thing worse than an office move is a largely gratuitous one and Clarification on my concerns with gratuitous moves) that I expressed my displeasure at moves done for let's say less noble reasons. You may have read about it back then (though there were 100 posts that month so perhaps you might have missed it).
Anyway, I also mentioned at one point that with our CSS contingent moved out and that there were seven window offices right near me that were now available, so I suppose it was inevitable that I would be tapped.
As those who know me can probably imagine, when I was sent the congratulatory email from the admin, it was not a simple thing.
I had conditions. :-)
I was in India. And the moving date was also set up for when I was still going to be in India.
Oops!
So I did push back a bit on the early move date.
Plus I was going to be coming back (date uncertain at the time) yet I had to be at the end of the (then upcoming) UTC meeting, so the move had to be after the UTC with enough days after that I was able to get some work done.
At the meeting (at Apple) I discovered at 1 Infinity Loop that the new Limonata cans are so cool that even kickass Adobe software engineers like Eric Muller pale in comparison:
Plus 1% more lemon juice. I wish my company cared enough about me to stock Limonata in the cafeterias. Hell, it's not like it costs Apple anything (they charge for it there). Sigh....
Okay, back to the office move thing.
So we had successfully negotiated the move dates. But I had more conditions!
I asked whether there would be a straight shot from the door to where I could park the scooter, so that I could stop parking it in the hall.
She said she wasn't sure.
I got a little stubborn.
Essentially I pointed out the fact that in that case, I wasn't sure that I wanted to move.
Pause before the next email arrived.
I might have almost talked myself out of the move by this point.
Something similar almost happened with my original job offer, in fact.
But admins are made of sterner stuff.
She looked at the office in person and answered back that it looked fine for the scooter. And since I would be in town on the move day I could pick the right layout to guarantee that.
So the move was set up for after 5pm on the 11th of February.
Just after the admin set this up the announcement that she was leaving the group went out. I won't claim they are related, just like I don't blame myself when my 5th grade teacher Ms. Simon retired the year after she was my teacher despite our regular manipulation of her via the scheme I invented entitled "Operation Happy Scan" that proved to be so popular with getting us out of certain kinds of work. It was when I first learned that adults who are not one's parents can also be subject to manipulation.....
In any case, let's just say that the admin leaving after this whole mess of setting up my move was a coincidence. :-)
Of course packing is a huge horking pain in the ass, but then again so is asking for help....
Though I did get help from Russ to move an extra desk into the new office (the movers have problems with putting two corner pieces into a single).
And then I moved the computers and a few fragile items myself. I hav never trusted the movers and never had cause to regret my lack of trust.
The next day I unpacked most of the boxes and left early.
And the day after that I was so wiped out that I only went in for a few hours and then took the rest of the day off sick. The whole MS thing making me go home sick from MS....
I had a few meetings to go to, one of them with a Principal Group Program Manager who seemed concerned that I was so tired and then surprised that they would do a move right now. Which once again makes me suspect that the whole gratuitous move is a rumor on its way to reality soon. :-(
Anyway, I am now moved in, and here is the office:
Oh and here is the other side of the room with the important things like the bookshelf and the candy:
The refrigerator in that first picture is stocked with a full case of Limonata and the microwave and toaster are plugged in (as are the three computers on the switcher). And the Miro is there too, though not yet on the wall (but then neither are the posters -- that move rumor is freaking me out too much for some of that at the moment!).
I worked from home yesterday, I had no meetings and I was answering questions by email all day the only three people I had to talk to by phone (Chris and Brian and Nico) never even noticed that my office phone was forwarded.
If Mike hadn't wanted to steal some lollipops just after lunch, I doubt anyone would have noticed I wasn't in. :-)
So open for business again, and by the time the weekend is over I'll be fully recovered and ready to be back at work full days.
As you can perhaps see from the picture, the window has a scenic view of a bunch of trees. You can see 156th Ave NE if you squint hard enough through them but all things considered, the trees are probably a better choice.
Damn, but moving is a pain in the ass....
This post brought top you by ڢ (U+06a2, aka ARABIC LETTER FEH WITH DOT MOVED BELOW)
John Cowan on 15 Feb 2008 11:02 AM:
OTOH, you are *in* an office.
I worked in an office for a while, then in an office with an office-mate. Then high-wall cubes. Then low-wall cubes.
Pretty soon I'll probably be working in a hammock slung from the drop ceiling.
Michael S. Kaplan on 15 Feb 2008 11:06 AM:
Heh heh heh...
Trivia question -- what book has the most copies on the shelf and how many copies is it? :-)
Mihai, you are disqualified from answering since you know the story....
Arun Philip on 15 Feb 2008 11:39 AM:
What *are* those boxes to the right of the bookshelf?
Most commonly occurring book appears to be the rightmost one on the middle shelf - the one with the white binding with red surround, red text. Appears to be 5 copies of it.
I'm not risking my eyesight trying to read the text!
Michael S. Kaplan on 15 Feb 2008 12:06 PM:
The boxes? Those are the "not yet unpacked after the move" boxes that I will get to eventually, some day....
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