On the move….again

In what is becoming a yearly tradition, yesterday I moved offices. (On the hottest, most humid day of the summer too, of course.) I bid adieu to my “home building” since 2003, the good old CMC (Center for Mathematics and Computing), and moved into temporary digs in the library for my sabbatical year.

I learned some new things about my new home right away. First: apparently I’m on a “quiet floor”.

 

Guess I should cancel my office-warming party, then.

 

Second: my office door locks easily. Really easily. As in, I’d only been in my office for 5 minutes when I locked myself out. Lesson learned: always, always carry your keys with you.

Third: there is no women’s restroom on my floor. I’m going to be getting killer stair workouts in this year!

Fourth: I have two windows in my office. One is on my door and looks out onto the library stacks. The other looks into my neighbor’s office. (So yes, I’m in another “fishbowl” office.) Luckily that second window has blinds, but they are on my neighbor’s side. This should be interesting. The lack of outside window/light makes me sad, but I’m primarily working at home so I’ll suck it up.

But hey, at least I have room for a reading nook!

Fifth: I apparently don’t have many books.

All of my books fit on this small bookshelf and a small shelf above my desk.

And finally: What at first looked like an insane amount of bulky furniture actually fits pretty well in the space.

This weird oval table was the hardest thing to place. I think I’ve mostly gotten it right, but it looks like it needs more stuff on it.

Note the lack of standing desk. Our visitor is borrowing it this year. It will be weird to sit and work!

I do love libraries, so I’m pretty excited to have an office in the library for the year. And being outside my normal building means that I’m not likely to be drawn into any department stuff on the days I am on campus — except perhaps when I have to attend to my testbed network, which is still in the CMC.

The weird part for me, though, is knowing that I’m not ever likely to move back into the CMC. There is no office for me to return to — all of our offices are occupied, and there’s no remaining office space in the building. In 5-ish years we’ll be moving into the new science complex, where there is space for all of us. But in the interim, I’ll need to go somewhere else, and it’s not clear at this point where that “somewhere else” is. It’s definitely not an ideal situation — being outside the building means I’ll miss out on “hallway conversations” and informal mentoring opportunities with our many junior faculty, among other things. On the other hand, it will force me to try harder to be in the loop, which will get me out of my comfort zone, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

I have to be on campus a few days this week, so I’ll have a chance to get used to the new space. I’m looking forward to the adventure and to the possibilities.

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