senoritafish | Windows

Not the Microsoft kind.

Almost three years ago we moved into this office where we have windows. Our previous office , while in a nice location near the harbor and downtown Long Beach, was in a basement under restaurant. The space we were in had been built with the intention of storage - we had no windows, and every once in a while someone in the restaurant upstairs would throw too much mop water on the floor and we would get leaked on. When I first started there, the stove/oven exhaust was situated too close to the ventilation intake for our offices; every time they started up the grill we would get smoke smells. The loading dock where they kept their dumpsters was too close to our back door so sometimes there would be garbage smells as well.

While I miss the water and being right next door to the Aquarium of the Pacific, it is nice to have windows and not have to walk to another part of the office to tell if it's raining. However, whoever designed the cubicle spaces put five foot cubicle partitions right in front of the floor to ceiling windows. Granted, they had bookshelves, cupboards and desk space attached to them, but you'd think they could have figured out how to put them together without blocking the light. Yes, you could see out, but you had to stand up to do it. It really wasn't that big of a deal to me, as I am a cube away from it, but people whose offices were next to them were a little cheesed off. Personally, I'm just grateful I can look up from my computer screen and see tree branches.

I came in this morning and couldn't turn on my computer because finally, after three years, our office manager found something extra to have the work done and lower partitions installed. The electricity in the paneling had been turned off for a bit while they did it. Lots of banging and pounding (especially from T., who decided he had to reconfigure his entire cube), but very nice; even I notice a difference. And the bonus is since the people near it are gaining a view, I gain an extra bookshelf above my computer, space that was wasted before (they lose one from having the panel lowered).

Fairly small things, but anything helps to improve morale around here.

Yay, a new shelf! What should I put on it? Books? Toys? My little Dragonball shrine? All my Finding Nemo fish from McDonald's? So many possibilities....