Moving - Part 1

Last Wednesday was moving day at work, or at least for some of the offices. The new annex was, at last, officially ready for occupancy. I'd looked at the schedule of moves the previous week and found my name lacking. When I asked, I was told I was scheduled to be moved the latter part of this week. But I mentioned that I might attempt to move some items on my own. So Wednesday, I made about four or five trips carrying books and boxes.

The move is complicated by the fact that the annex has pre-installed modular furniture throughout. So everything, from paperclips to bookends has to be removed from the old office and installed in the new setting. But none of the furniture goes. Which means you have to find a place for EVERYTHING in the new office. From the 17-inch monitor to the box of rubber bands.

About a month ago, in one of my rare moments of foresight, I began a de-acquisition process. Which meant I either dumped it or passed it on to someone else. And the timing was perfect, because by Wednesday, the process was almost complete.

Thursday morning, I got a call wanting to know if I could move within the next hour. My first thought was sheer panic, but then I thought, "Why not!" In about 45 minutes, the movers appeared at the door, loaded, lifted and carried, and the office was quickly emptied. By the time I arrived at my new location, they were already there: de-loading, de-lifting and de-carrying.

It began to dawn on me that the move was the easy part. The hard part was deciding where to put EVERYTHING. After an hour or so of unfurling, uncoiling and detangling cables, power cords and wires, I was firmly convinced, the movers had accidently given me four or five boxes of the stuff from other people. Black wires snaked across the carpet. Gray and white power cords littered the cabinets. Strange cables with no discernible function puddled in my chair. And for some reason, I had three sets of speakers. By mid-afternoon, I had the computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers installed and connected to the network. When I left at around 6, my head was abuzz with images of piles of stuff.

Friday AM, my brain was working again, and I was able to get most things into place by around ten. So I was able to sit and actually work. But then I began to notice that the office was downright chilly. I spent thirty minutes trying to determine which thermostats controlled which offices but to no avail.

PAX!