Office space

Oh, yay. I love this. This is awesome.

After reading Abbey's posts, I want to tell a little story to demonstrate how much dissertation research can vary.

The flourescent lighting is really starting to get to me. My cubicle is in the middle of a large central room, and there are no windows. (I've been told that I'm solar powered, so this is a problem.) So I go to the administrative assistant in the office to ask about getting a desk lamp. She says she'll look into it. The next day, a building manager comes to look at the lighting. Talks about installing additional lights above the 3 research fellows (the grad students). Then he brings in another guy. They stand talking loudly about the installation of the new lights. One of the other research fellows makes a joke about me being The Complainer. He's laughing when he says it, but I can tell he thinks I'm high maintenance. He doesn't have a problem with the lights. Then today the building guy comes in the office, playing with the electrical circuit. The lights keep flickering on and off. People are unhappy.

All I wanted was a desk lamp.

Next up: noise cancelling head phones. My cubicle doesn't have a door I can close, and I hear everyone's conversations in the department. Kind of like being in the grad student study room at the Diner, except the conversations usually aren't very interesting. So I'll get those little headphones that block out the world. Human interaction is overrated.

(Seriously, though. I'm totally lame for complaining about anything at all. DC is awesome. Brookings is awesome. I can't believe they're paying me to do my own work. Seriously.)