Where you work

[ny biker]

When I worked in marketing in the '90s, I always had my own office with a window.

In my first software development job, I shared an office with another person. He was a nice guy.

Then I took a job at Discovery Communications. They had a long desk running the length of the entire wall, with dividers a few inches high to delineate each person's workspace. The guy next to me went out partying every night and reeked like cigarettes and liquor every morning. When he went to Chipotle for lunch, he farted at his desk all afternoon.

I was laid off from that job (along with almost all the other developers) after a few months. I interviewed for a new job and got the offer, but it would have required me to be one of many people working in a windowlessroom. I really really did not want that job, because of the lack of windows.

Fortunately I was soon offered a different job, which is where I still work. It's a big cube farm, but at least we have windows. There's no privacy -- most people go out in the hallway if they need to make a personal phone call. Many of us eat lunch at our desks. My current cube neighbor tends to eat food that smells nasty, and sometimes the air is so filled with a hot spice that it makes my eyes burn. Several of our coworkers come to her desk for lunch. Even when my neighbor is out of the office, these coworkers still sometimes have lunch at her desk. It drives me nuts.

Fortunately we have flexible hours, so my boss lets me work from home most mornings in order to avoid the lunch stink.

A couple of summers ago, several of my coworkers thought it would be a good idea to bring their young children to work with them on a regular basis. It was an incredible distraction, for the parent as well as everyone working around them. Fortunately the project manager put a stop to it.

Oh, don't get me started on the kitchen and bathroom mess. These people are slobs. They spill coffee all over the counter and then just walk away as if their mother was going to come and clean up after them.

I like the work I do, but I hate the cube farm. Whoever invented the concept should be forced to spend eternity in one.

[bmccasland]

In a 10 x 10 cube, center of a former factory building - autos, then WWII bomb plant. There are sky lights, currently hidden by a still high false ceiling. But it's a cube farm like no other I've ever seen, the building is 1/8th mile long. My cube is pretty close to the center of the building - but thanks to a previous occupant, I have a lovely kite afixed to the ceiling over my cube.

Sun, what is sun?

[Pax]

Mimi - what's that big thing on the wall to your left?

[Biciclista]

Mimi - what's that big thing on the wall to your left?

you mean the rack with all the lights? That powers about 4 dozen microphones in the wind tunnel.

[spokewench]

Oh, I guess I will have to bring my camera to work; I work in a really overcrowded papered and box filled office (share with my crazy boss), but the view from my wonderful winder is awesome (snow covered mountain peaks!) The only bad thing is that the window sash goes right across the window so unless I stand up or sit up real tall, I can't really see the view too well.

I promise I'll send a pic when I find my camera.

[Dannielle]

I work from home, too. Here's pictures of the way things used to be (I've painted and done some rearranging since then). http://www.flickr.com/photos/princes...060660/detail/

[Pax]

you mean the rack with all the lights? That powers about 4 dozen microphones in the wind tunnel.

Cool! I'm not very computer-y so I was trying to figure out if it was a funny looking server or something.

[Crankin]

Most of my work is done at my client's homes. My actual office is in an old mill building; no windows. No one shuts their door here because of this, unless it's super confidential. We don't even have our own computers; human service agencies are cheap. I do all of my paperwork at home and email it to myself at work to save on the server. Oh, and I share my office with a slob who smells. I usually only am there at the same time as her one day a week. The office itself is OK, but I am only here 1-2 days a wk.

[indysteel]

Sharing a public bathroom with other coworkers is interesting. Thankfully, it's kept very clean, but you do get to see some interesting bathroom habits. I work with someone--I haven't figured out who it is--who uses half a roll of toilet paper to line the toilet seat every time she goes to the bathroom. She then throws the other half of the roll away when she's done. Nevermind that there are seat covers that one can use and I don't understand why she throws the unused roll of toilet paper away. Weird and wasteful, no?

[jessmarimba]

I can see Red Rocks from my office window

The building across the parking lot used to be a gym and we would make fun of the people in there all day. Not because they were working out, or any good reason, just because their whole building is a wall of windows and it was the most entertaining thing outside. We had made-up names and lives for everyone and knew all of the regulars gym habits - "Oh, Murano's here, how long will she be here today? 17 minutes! 21 minutes! etc." "I bet she skips elliptical today so I guess 15 minutes!"

It's vacant now. But I've vowed never to have a gym membership at a fishbowl gym

[TsPoet]

Here's my office, complete with the very nice view. We are moving to the new and improved building in 2 weeks - where I will have 1/4 of a glassed in office with a view of the wall of the other side of the building. WooHoo- progress!
Not looking forward to it. Except, bike parking is improved and it's 1 mile closer to home. Bad news is, I'll have to ride in 100% on roads and no longer have the beautiful bike trail along the river (which this current office overlooks).

(and yes, I have a soda addiction, I'm working on it - only allowed 2 that size/week and 1 12 oz the other days)