Evolution-Part 1

Furniture and 90% of the office was moved on Saturday, December 12th. Our computers stayed behind because we didn't have service in the new space. At noon, my new office looked like this.

"Yeah, those bookshelves were in my old office so I guess just put them in my new office."

Originally, we were going to use the extra office we have as a library, of sorts. As you can imagine, we have a lot of reference material for construction, mining and demolition. It's a very narrow slice of the publishing world, but there are books printed about these topics and we get a couple every so often. As our area of work is not taught in universities, much of our knowledge comes from on-the-job experience and the rare tome or paper detailing the effects of ground vibrations on structures. Books tended to be scattered about people's offices and we thought it would be better if we had one spot for them.

But, files this idea under "best laid plans". That "library" is going to be someone's office in the next few months so the shelf units were stuck in my office until further notice, since that's where they had started in the old space. On Wednesday, December 16th, with Internet up and running, we moved completely and my computer was set up.

Things are a mess, as you would expect. I had to empty the desk so I tossed all my files and stuff into bags and boxes. The shelf units were moved away from the hole in the wall where the sliding window was to go so I could see anyone who walked in. At this point, I have sorted through the empty box to find all my files and at least get back to working, sort of.

Since mid-December, things have come along. The corner cabinet was moved into place and my photos and mementos placed on it.

That's a paper recycling cube to the right. Our cleaning service doesn't quite understand that we actually recycle here so all of our carefully sorted recyclables have been dumped into garbage bags. But, they are new and we are new and we'll get this sorted out.

The bottom of this unit now has my rocks from various projects. That might seem weird but I've been on some big jobs and I have rocks or chunks of concrete from Soldier Field and 1930's-era Sheridan Road, terra cotta from a building that once stood where Prentiss Children's Hospital is now and rebar from Michigan Avenue. These pieces were scattered about my old office. Now, they have a place to be. The piece of rebar is going to hang on the wall, but I need to get my posters and other wall things up first.

They finally got the window installed right before Christmas. At one point, I was kind of sad to lose a whole wall of potential display area, but I have to say, being able to see people coming in is huge. We don't get many people here; UPS, the mailman, building maintenance; but seeing them and my co-workers come into the building is very important. The other thing that I've discovered is how expansive it makes the office feel. I have huge windows to my east but being able to look out of the office in what amounts to another window is wonderful. I generally don't have claustrophobia but extra light is a good thing.

Two of the bookshelves, of the four I had, were commandeered by Tara. I still have one plus this corner unit. I really had no use for the other ones. I was kind of amazed at how much stuff I kept because my former boss said "It will be useful sometime." Um...no...not really. Back in October, when we started the packing process, we took 8 construction garbage bags of garbage to the dumpster. Since moving and, as we've all settled in, there have been 8 more bags of garbage out the door. In a typical week, we don't generate much. Our data is 80% digital now. Our cleaning service comes every other week. It works.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Stage One

Saturday, December 12th. That was the day the office began the process of moving. We had to come in early so we could supervise the movers, who were slated to arrive at 8 a.m., and finish packing. Here was my space for 10 years.

This was the northwest corner.

A lot of stuff wound up shoved onto the shelves. The former boss was well known, within the company, for saving everything. "Oh you'll have a need for this some day," he'd say. Never mind that new technologies made instruction books for old equipment obsolete or that the company developed newer PR materials. You couldn't toss anything unless you did it on the sly. By this date, obsolete stuff had been purged off the shelves leaving only the things we felt we wanted to save or were my items.

This is the southwest corner of the office, with my leaky windows.

The corner sill was great for displaying photos and mementos. There are two certificates of excellence and a cross-stitch above the Hawkeye "license plate". My desk was something of a mess. Even knowing I was moving didn't really improve the piles of stuff. I know the aphorism, "A messy desk is a sign of a creative mind", but I do need to be able to find things without having to move stuff to the floor.

And here's the door to the office.

Some things just aren't going to be a part of the new office. There was a photo on the wall to the right, of the rear of cows and an approaching thunderstorm. I don't remember how long I've had it. It was a Christmas gift from people I haven't talked to in years. Giving that away. Most of the stuff taped to the door is gone. There is one photo, taken at Walt Disney World, which has been framed and is in my new office. And there is the Fantasia poster. I got the materials to actually frame it and that's this weekend's project. Next week, it should, along with my certificates, the cross stitch and the license plate, be up on the walls in the new office.

For 10 years, I've called this room my office. For 10 years, I've walked in here every day, walked around the corner of the desk and sat down to work. I started packing up the last of the things I really didn't need, taking down all my wall items. I wasn't sad. It felt like it was time to move on.

We did not have internet at the new office. I would need to be in this space until that was hooked up. So, once I had removed everything from the desk, my computer was moved to a card table.

This is my grandmother's card table. It comes with 4 chairs which are horribly hard to unfold and fold up so they stay in my basement until I'm really desperate for seating. It worked fine for the few days I needed to still be in this space. The only issue we had was cords.

This mess was difficult to sort. This is why I love my Mac. One power cord. One cord to the keyboard and one cord to the mouse. I have a cord for my external hard drive and a cord to download my digital camera. And there is one USB slot left to plug in my cell phone if I want to charge it or download photos off it. There is still a mess of cords in my new office. Thank goodness for zip ties.

Once the movers were done loading things up, my office looked like this.

I loaded up the Jeep and headed north to the new space. One load fit nicely in this corner.

Yes. My Fantasia poster is going to look fabulous on this wall. Next step is painting the frame.

One thing I won't miss.

Doesn't look like much on the sill but those are ants. We've had a horrible ant problem for years. I think they have found their way into the walls and, when they do that, can be extremely hard to eradicate. I know from experience, but seem to have the home ant problems under control, thanks to Terro.

I had water seep in one year after some particularly heavy rain storms. The carpet was soggy under the window. The building owner had to do some excavation by my office and caulk the windows. The water warped the cheap laminate on the sill so it bowed up. Ants would get under this in the spring. All I'd have to do is rattle the top and they'd come streaming out the junction between the window and the wall. Call the building owner and they'd come over and...spray. That's it. The ants would move from my office to Tara's, which was next to me. We finally decided we'd just put out Terro ourselves because the building seemed to not care. And the cleaning company would not dust the window sill, so if ants came out of the sill and died, well, they stayed there. Needless to say, I will not miss this battle at all.

Beverage:  Irish Breakfast Tea

Deb

"It's so you, Deb."

Between the post below and today, there was a visit to the new office. The walls are up and the painting is done. We walked in and knew this was going to be a place we can work comfortably in for years.

There is a huge amount of space here. We're going to put a large conference table by the post. That couldn't be moved. We're going to get a large TV to hang on the wall. The office schedule and some of the other programs we use will be on this TV. Everyone will be able to see where people and equipment are. We joked that we'll be happily ensconced in the office come NCAA men's basketball time so we can watch the Wednesday-Friday daytime games out here. Um...right. The far wall will have our equipment lists and there is room for our fax (yes, some clients use only fax), copier and printer AND boxes of supplies for all of those machines. There will be room to move around someone who is at the copier, if you have to use the printer, a luxury we don't have now.

This is the accent wall to the left when you walk in.

Eventually, we'll stencil the company logo and name on the wall. That's a task for when it's winter and we're not pulling out hair out trying to get work done.

We have a large store room at the west end of the suite.

That's Gene checking out the small stand sink we have in the corner. The floor is sealed concrete. We did not need or want, tile in this area because, and we're so excited about this feature,

we have a drive up ramp. We'll be able to back our cars in to load and unload without having to traipse through the office or lug things up or down stairs or through 3 doors. All of our equipment and supplies will be in this room. It looks huge but we are thinking it will fill up fairly quickly, once everything gets moved in. Our equipment goes into the ground so having a sink where we can wash off pieces is wonderful. We don't need much.

Gene, Matt and Tara have windows that overlook the store room. We all got to pick our office colors. This is Gene's.

"Cucumber for the win!" he said. Once it got up on the walls, he's thinking, with the west windows, it may be too bright.

Matt went with a dark ivory.

You can see how the office looks into the storage area. Matt's office doesn't have windows or a skylight so having this window into the storage area with it's large floor to ceiling windows will provide him with some natural light.

And then there's Tara's office.

That's...blue. She originally wanted a royal blue, which would be a shade darker than this. It's the color of the Buffalo Sabers, her favorite hockey team. But, when she looked at the unpainted drywall and her paint color, she felt the royal blue would be too dark. I love this color, but not on all four walls. She hasn't seen this yet.

We have a storage room and another office which were painted in the color Matt chose; nice and neutral. We will need to hire another person next year. If they want a different color than Matt's color, we'll deal with it then.

We have a small kitchenette.

We're getting a "dorm fridge" to go in the space. We don't cook meals here beyond what we can microwave, and there will be enough room for a coffee maker for Matt and Tara. The rest of us don't drink coffee. What paper goods we use; paper plates, napkins, utensils, will fit in the cupboards.

This is Mike's office.

Once he saw this color on all the walls, he wasn't very happy with it. I don't think it's a bad color, but I think it's a bit overpowering for all four walls. However, I did point out that we're seeing the naked walls. Gene and Mike may be happy with their colors once they get stuff up on the walls, same with Tara's color.

The walls in the men's and women's bathrooms are this dark tan.

Tara and I are going to add wall paper borders and other items to give each bathroom a distinct character. The first one we will do, the women's bathroom, obviously, is going to be beach accents. The bathrooms are huge because they have to be compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. And, we found out that village code requires that bathrooms be delineated by sex if there is more than one. We have all agreed that if one bathroom is being used and the other is free, we're using it.

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for. This is looking southeast.

The hole in the south wall is for the sliding glass window. That's Hawkeye gold on the east wall. Here's a better photo of the east wall.

I love, love, love that yellow. The two side walls are an ivory. And here is the west wall.

The dark gray is perfect. Right now, the focal piece on this wall is going to be my "Fantasia" poster. I have to get an actual frame for it. I'm going to paint the frame red. I think I will also put framed items from this magical Hawkeye football season in this corner, in black and gold frames. I have some awards and a counted cross-stitch piece currently on the wall behind me, but those will go at the west end of south wall, along with some of the photos I have on the window ledge in my current office. I need to get a plant stand to put in the left corner of the window and, if they take all my bookshelves for use in our "library", then I'll get another one to house the few things I have on shelves. That would go to the east side of the sliding window.

This is the best part, however.

This is the sliding window. Under this will be an 18 inch shelf for incoming and outgoing mail. Plus, I can see if anyone comes into the office. The view when you look through here? Remember this?

Oh yeah. I can hardly wait to figure out how to stencil this on the wall.

Yes, I would agree this office is so me. It's much bigger than my current office. It's got so much more light. And the paint scheme reflects exactly who I am. We are starting our move this coming week. The door should be keyed on Monday. Hello color. Hello excitement.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Here We Go

It's two weeks until the office starts its move north. Part of the move is to pack unessential items. On October 24, three of us went to the office and began that process. We got pizza and pop and spent 6 hours stuffing things in boxes.

But we also pitched. According to our legal department, we are to save things for 14 years. So, with that in mind, we looked at all the things we have saved. My former boss would keep all sorts of things. Mike is much more ruthless. "We'll never use this." "There isn't any reason to save this." "We'll never look at this stuff again." We filled 10 garbage bags of junk.

One of the things we have is a steel filing cabinet with shallow drawers. We put roll tapes from on-site monitoring jobs in the cabinet. Also, you'll find micro cassettes of inspections. And you'll find drawers of 3.5 inch diskettes.

You have to buy special machines to read these diskettes. In fact, new computers don't have CD slots. Everything is downloaded. But, we have to keep some of these because they fall within the 14 year time frame, even though we'd have to send these to some place to have the data on them extracted.

We found these.

This is Windows 5. I think I remember when this was sent from corporate. Remember having to change discs in order to install programs? We had 2 sets of these.

Perhaps there is a place which could recycle discs but we couldn't find them. We had a stack of electronic equipment. I dumped my old printer into the mix. We found a place to take electronics for recycling. Bundles and bundles of packing peanuts went to UPS. It was pretty funny. Mike had the back of his SUV full of bags of peanuts. He also stuffed his car with cardboard. We get a lot of that due to shipping equipment. We also sent 5 boxes of miscellaneous parts and excess packing materials to our shop. The office seemed sort of empty after getting rid of all that material.

Yet, we've filled the space with packed boxes. We had a storage unit and that's been closed with all those boxes coming to the office. December 5th is the date for the moving company to come. We'll be in this space for December 7th, but the next day, all the computers move north.

Back when we were planning this, December 5th seemed so far away. Our offices at the new place have drywall and electrical. We all picked colors. Of course, I'm the weird one in that I want 3 colors in my office. Everyone else picked one. How dull. As they say in the musical business, "It's show time."

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Words

Every year since 1980, I have purchased the "365 Word-a-day Calendar". Some words, when I rip off the new day, I know. Some I'll never add to my vocabulary and some have found their way into my lingo. Some words have special meaning. I saved them. I found three when I was cleaning in the basement in preparation for a new washer.

Thankfully, I wrote on the page what happened so, when I cleaned years in the future, I could remember exactly why I saved that word from that date.

This was the last day Carole lived in Wheaton. Since this date, she's lived in Connecticut before moving to her current, and final, home in Virginia. We didn't have any kind of religious ceremony, but I do remember crying while sitting on the front steps watching her drive away knowing that this was a necessary part of raising a child. You give them wings and trust they paid attention to some of your instructions on how to use them.

Here are two more which also elicited tears. This word seemed particularly poignant on this date.

Penney was a gray cat we adopted in 1992, I believe. Kidney disease made her waste away and I finally couldn't stand watching her try to walk to the bathroom to get a drink of water. Pam drove me to the emergency vet my vet recommended and I said, "Goodbye". Even though it's one of the kindest things you can do when a beloved pet is suffering, it's still a heartbreak. That day, the world went haywire.

Finally, there is this word.

2007 didn't start out very positive.

Anne was my English pen-pal. We had known each other 35 years at this point. We were the best of friends and confidants. We went through first crushes, high school, college, engagements and marriages. My ex-husband and I flew to England in 1982, while I was pregnant, to attend Anne's wedding. We had children within a month of each other. She had twin girls. We went back in 1996 so our children could meet. She was with me when my marriage crumbled and when Carole and I were on our own. We went through the raising of children and their lives.

Then liver cancer struck. She was diagnosed in 2004 but seemed to have it beaten to the point that, in April of 2005, I met Anne, her husband, Graham, and son, James, at Walt Disney World for a week of fun. She looked so healthy. We had a fantastic time.

But the cancer returned in early 2006. She never told me how bad it was. Her Christmas letter was filled with news about the family. We always talked at New Year's. She would call me at the stroke of midnight and hold up the phone to the TV so I could hear Big Ben ringing in the new year from England. She did the same thing as 2006 turned to 2007. She never told me she had been in bed since 5 that evening and had to be helped up to call me at midnight. She wrote a short, one-page letter, "from the couch in the living room, by the fire" as they called the gas furnace, in early January. I never heard from her again.

One of her daughters called me the above evening to tell me she had passed in her sleep. Her husband, Graham, had contacted me at the end of January, after receiving my reply to her early January letter. He realized she had not told me, in an effort to spare me worrying, how sick she was and that hospice had been arranged. They were just waiting. I have to admit that every phone call from January 28th onward brought dread. In a way, it was kind of a relief knowing she was not suffering and not trying to keep the British "stiff upper lip" anymore. Graham said he never told her that I knew what was going on.

I looked at these words as I paged through a stack of papers, invitations, mementos which were on a shelf. At the time, it was important to save these. Now, I have reached the point where I can let them go and be, simply, words of the day. I don't save words that have a special event occurring on that date anymore. I unconsciously decided they were just words. I miss Carole. I miss Penney. I miss Anne. Time has moved on but the memories stay with me in my heart where they belong.

Beverage:  Dunkin' Donuts tea

Deb

On Vacation-A New Addition

One of the delightful things about going to visit Carole is seeing how long it takes Faux to remember me. I think it was 2 hours this time. I got a tour of the house and then we sat down to play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit and, well hello there.

He wanted on the table because that's where the action was, but allowed an ear scratch and gave me a kind of "I know you" look.

He's so happy at Larry's house. This cat, mellow and reasonably calm as a breed, (He's a Maine Coon.) has traveled from Illinois to Washington state; moved 3 times in the Seattle area and then moved across country to Connecticut. From there, he moved to Virginia and has moved 3 times since coming to Virginia. Back in November, when Larry and Carole were going to Walt Disney World, Carole brought Faux to Larry's house. Larry's dad was going to look after him. As she was going to be moving in with Larry once her lease was up in April and would be spending most weekends here, she left him here, rather than drive to and from Richmond, where she lived, with a cat in the car. Faux seems to know this is a mostly forever home Unless they decide to buy a house elsewhere, this is where he lives.

Larry loves this cat. He doesn't like him or merely tolerate him because he's Carole's cat. He genuinely loves Faux. Larry grew up with cats so that helps, but Faux is a lovable cat. Larry spent the winter and spring getting to know Faux. He also trained him.

Faux loves to go outside. They watch him because Larry lives out in the country and they have foxes and opossums and raccoons and deer and neighbor's dogs. But Faux is also trusted to not roam much and he doesn't really. Larry trained Faux to go into the house immediately, when Larry stamps his feet and says, "Faux! House!" It was quite interesting to watch. Sometimes Faux will do it when Carole stamps her feet. Other times, he'll just look at her. I didn't try it. When Larry stamps, Faux moves. So, having a place to live where he won't be moved in another year has helped make Faux mellower.

The other things is that he got a brother. Meet Tobey.

Tobey lived with friends of Larry and Carole and was the youngest cat in a 2 cat household. When the older cat went over the Rainbow Bridge, the friends decided to replace the cat with a dog. This dog would not leave Tobey alone. It barked at him constantly. Tobey had to stay on the top of his cat tree because, if he would jump down to go use the litter box, the dog would attack him to try to play. Tobey was increasingly depressed and it was clear either the dog or the cat had to go. They opted to try to find a new home for Tobey. Carole took him.

There were concerns. Tobey is just a couple years old and Faux is nearly 8. Faux has been an only cat for all but the first 9 months of his life. Introductions needed to be done slowly.

Carole said they "met" accidentally about a week after Tobey had moved in. There was the usual hissing and growling, but that lasted just a few days. They are buddies now. The above is where you can usually find them; Faux on one side of the hallway and Tobey on the other or in the middle. They chase each other at 11:30 p.m., which seems to be a universal time for cats to tear around the house madly. They play tag and I heard the familiar "thunk" of someone hitting the floor as the other tackled. Tobey is about the same size and weight as Faux so they are evenly matched.

Tobey knows that Faux is "top cat", but Larry and Carole have gone out of their way to make Tobey feel welcome. He's still a bit skittish and was scared of me for the first couple of days. Then, one day, I had to walk from the guest bedroom, which is to the right in this photo, to the guest bathroom, which is the doorway on the left and I had to step over Tobey. He tensed up and I thought he was going to run, but he didn't. After that, he seemed to sense that I wasn't going to make him move unless he truly was in the way. Lie in the middle of the hallway? No problem. I didn't want to walk there anyway.

On the last day of my stay, which was a day to just relax at the house, Tobey came into the living room and lay down. He seems to know this is his forever home, that he's not going to be moving anywhere else. As I sat in a chair reading, he rolled over.

This is trust. My girls won't do this and they have lived with me for nearly 5 years now. He let me scratch his belly for a bit. He's not real keen on being picked up, something Carole is working on with him. He loves to jump up into her lap when she's on her computer and lie down. He will drape himself over the arm of her recliner when she's watching TV. And having a brother has made Faux that much more mellow. He clearly enjoys sharing his home and life with another cat.

Yes, I did come back with some new smells which probably played a part in some misbehavior on the part of my cats last week, but I got my kitteh fix. And I want to mention that they agreed to take Tobey because they wanted to give him a good home, not because he matched the carpeting.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Probably going to need help.

So, long about October, maybe sooner, but October for sure, my friend Jessie is moving. She's getting rid of her mattress and box springs. They are about 4 years old.

As my mattress and box springs are, well, older than hers, when she asked if I knew anyone who would take them, I said I would. Buying new falls somewhere above repaving the driveway and below cleaning the basement in importance.

The problem is going to be transporting these from her apartment to my house.

First of all, I will need to move the old to the street and slap garbage stickers on them. I'll have to call the refuse company and see how many stickers you should put on a mattress and box springs. Then, I'll need to clean the floor thoroughly where the old sat. After that, I can go get the mattress and box springs, bring them in and set them up.

All along this, I'm going to need help in moving out, transporting and moving in. A mattress can sort of fold up, like a taco. The box springs, however...

I have considered just renting a U-Haul truck and hoping some of Jessie's friends are available to help move the pieces. If I have to do it solo, it's going to take a long time to get both pieces into the house. If I have to do it solo, you might want to show up with a camcorder to get some comical film footage.

So, if you are inclined to assist in the great mattress move, please let me know. Maybe I can afford pizza and beer for your time.

Beverage: Water

Deb

Size is relative

Carole's been visiting as she moves from Seattle to Connecticut. Of course, that means Faux is back in the home where he grew up. It's been rather "interesting" as we mediate hissing and growling between 3 grown cats of the same age. They figured out territories quite fast. By Tuesday, when the door to the bedroom where Faux was being isolated, blew open while we were gone, they had decided where each would go to avoid the other.

It just so happened that Wednesday night, this opportunity presented itself. Pilchard's head is smaller than Faux's. She's also a bit smaller in body size although she's a couple pounds heavier than him.
If Carole had to leave him, I could make this work. They have not gone at each other with claws or teeth bared. Faux is a bit confused because the room where he lived is not as it was when he left and the house certainly doesn't smell of the cats he remembers. But we are very pleased with how well the visit went.

Beverage: Dr. Pepper

Deb