Yesterday, along with cleaning up the tile mush that adorned my cubicle carpet, they also replaced the tile with the smaller water spot directly above my head. Nice of them. The left the mid-cubicle tile with the waterfall above it out, rightly thinking that a new one would simply self destruct if they tried to replace it anyway.
While I was apprehensive about returning to work yesterday fearing it would be hot as hell there, I had a new reason to fear returning today. Fear of falling objects can be a strong motivator.
There was a new stain on the new tile directly overhead. I greeted it with a chuckle. I can handle small stains now. It's the big ones with the cracks that worry me. A co-worker was a bit more worried. He climbed up on the desk in Ns cube to check out the status of the dripping roof only to find a bucket of water sitting on top of one of the other ceiling tiles directly over my head. I guess now we're testing the amount of water a dry pressed-paper acoustical tile can handle.
A bit more background information. When the AC in this building cycles on (as it does countless times during the day), one hears an enormous wooshing sound along with creaking banging and the sound of each ceiling tile being lifted out of its moorings. I'm not exaggerating. I fear if the ceiling tiles weren't there to protect us, we would all have very interesting hair-dos.
So right after my co-worker announces that there is a half-full bucket of water sitting precariously over my head (I prefer to think of it as half empty), the air conditioning turns on and the tiles all get sucked up into the ceiling for a minute and all I could think of was "how's that bucket of water doing now?"
But don't worry. Jose came by today to pronounce it safe. I'm feeling much better now.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
The Little Dig
By now, I'm sure most of you have heard of the tragedy in the Big Dig project in Boston. Well, this week, I had my own minni Big Dig experience right in my own cubicle. There was a time when I promised I would never write about work, but this one just had to be told.
Tuesday, it was hot here. Apparently, So hot and humid, that the air conditioning unit overheated and the compressor froze. The fan unit still pumped and proceeded to pump hot air over our cubicles direct from the building roof. Normally, this building is so cold that we wear coats all summer. In the winter, I have often gone into the bathroom to wash my hands in warm water to get back the feeling so I can keep typing. The temperature climbed steadily over the afternoon. In exasperation, I sat back in my chair leaned my head back and wiped off the sweat only to see a big brown stain on the ceiling tile above my cube. These are those two-inch thick compressed paper acoustical ceiling tiles used in most big box office buildings.
Funny, I don't remember a stain above my head. Nor the little stain in the cubicle next to mine. I watched it through the afternoon and it did seem to creep further outward through the day, but noting remarkable. So I called the office manager and she called the building super and nothing happened. They were too worried about getting the AC working again. I can understand. They have a whole workforce dressed for Siberia here working in the serengetti.
The next morning I returned to my cube, relieved to see that the stain in my cube had not grown overnight. But the little stain in the cube next door was almost the size of the 2 foot by 4 foot tile and a crack was beginning to form over the length of the tile.
Now flash back to my childhood, if you will. The phrase my father always used when we tried to defy gravity was, "a good course in physics would have told you that wouldn't work." You know, place a stack of books too close to the edge of a table... "A good course in physics..." Placing way too much trash in too small a bag and then trying to tie it up. The bag breaks and dad says, "A good course in physics..."
I really looked forward to taking physics so I could figure out how it all worked. And now, looking at the crack in the ceiling tile, I'm calculating in my head, the force of gravity on that tile acting straight down added to the weight of water spread over the surface area of the tile compared to the tensile strength of that compressed paper acoustical tile that has now been degraded by the fact that it has absorbed about 3 gallons of water. And I'm thinking, "A good course in physics would tell you, she's gonna blow."
So I called the office manager who called the building manager. An hour later (the crack is getting bigger), the maintenance guy Jose, shows up and looks at the problem.
At this point, let me note, that the ceiling tile in question is not entirely in Ns cubicle. When the stain started, it was 99% over Ns cubicle. When I came in this morning, It had grown to 50% my cubicle and 50% Ns cubicle. Which means that when she blows, she will come straight down, hit the cubicle wall which will exert a force equal and opposite of the force of gravity on the water filled tile and further break into many tiny wet little pieces forming a trajectory in both directions away from the cubicle wall.
If I calculate correctly, estimating the amount of water in the tile and the distance between the ceiling and the top of the cubicle wall, I can estimate that the wet shards will travel to within inches of my shoulder. So I scurry around moving N's papers to the other side of his cube (he's in India) and moving my belongings to the other side of my cube. A co-worker moves Ns workstation out of the line of fire.
Within minutes, Jose pronounces that those tiles can take a lot of water. "EEts fine. He says. I'll go get another tile. The water has stopped leaking." Then he explains why on a hot sunny day, we have suddenly developed a leak in the ceiling. It seems that when the AC turned off yesterday, they ran some garden hoses up to the roof to cool it off. Why do garden hoses full of water cause leaks when the spring rains we have suffered here in Boston, cause no problem at all? Well, it seems that in running around the roof to hose off the compressor, the workers might have poked a couple of holes in the roof. Why anyone would build a building with a flat roof in NE is beyond me anyway. But that's another post.
Jose leaves my cube to "go get another tile." Within 5 minutes (note that I have already settled back down to work and I'm wrapping my mind around routing and translation of voice traffic over the Internet) when CRASH. Said tile does what anyone who has taken a good course in physics would guess. It comes down, full of water, hits the cubicle wall, breaks into further shards and changes trajectory towards the middle of my cube and the middle of Ns cube. At the same time that parts of the tile hit the top edge of the cubicle wall, other parts hit the now empty suspended metal standard-issue cubicle shelf in N's cube, reverberating through my head.
Now granted, this is no 3,000 lb cement tile, like in the big dig. But given the distance I jumped from my chair, it might as well have been.
One would think, that when a compressed paper acoustical ceiling tile comes crashing down on a cubicle wall, the remaining space would be empty. One would be wrong. Because, you see, Jose had seen the leak early that morning. Knowing there was still water draining into our ceiling, he had placed a couple of other acoustical tiles up into the opening to help absorb the water. "These tiles can take a lot of water, you know."
So now, I can spend the afternoon looking forward to another layer of soggy acoustical tile crashing down, hitting the cubicle wall and bouncing in little soggy bits all over my.
I think I'll go home.
Tuesday, it was hot here. Apparently, So hot and humid, that the air conditioning unit overheated and the compressor froze. The fan unit still pumped and proceeded to pump hot air over our cubicles direct from the building roof. Normally, this building is so cold that we wear coats all summer. In the winter, I have often gone into the bathroom to wash my hands in warm water to get back the feeling so I can keep typing. The temperature climbed steadily over the afternoon. In exasperation, I sat back in my chair leaned my head back and wiped off the sweat only to see a big brown stain on the ceiling tile above my cube. These are those two-inch thick compressed paper acoustical ceiling tiles used in most big box office buildings.
Funny, I don't remember a stain above my head. Nor the little stain in the cubicle next to mine. I watched it through the afternoon and it did seem to creep further outward through the day, but noting remarkable. So I called the office manager and she called the building super and nothing happened. They were too worried about getting the AC working again. I can understand. They have a whole workforce dressed for Siberia here working in the serengetti.
The next morning I returned to my cube, relieved to see that the stain in my cube had not grown overnight. But the little stain in the cube next door was almost the size of the 2 foot by 4 foot tile and a crack was beginning to form over the length of the tile.
Now flash back to my childhood, if you will. The phrase my father always used when we tried to defy gravity was, "a good course in physics would have told you that wouldn't work." You know, place a stack of books too close to the edge of a table... "A good course in physics..." Placing way too much trash in too small a bag and then trying to tie it up. The bag breaks and dad says, "A good course in physics..."
I really looked forward to taking physics so I could figure out how it all worked. And now, looking at the crack in the ceiling tile, I'm calculating in my head, the force of gravity on that tile acting straight down added to the weight of water spread over the surface area of the tile compared to the tensile strength of that compressed paper acoustical tile that has now been degraded by the fact that it has absorbed about 3 gallons of water. And I'm thinking, "A good course in physics would tell you, she's gonna blow."
So I called the office manager who called the building manager. An hour later (the crack is getting bigger), the maintenance guy Jose, shows up and looks at the problem.
At this point, let me note, that the ceiling tile in question is not entirely in Ns cubicle. When the stain started, it was 99% over Ns cubicle. When I came in this morning, It had grown to 50% my cubicle and 50% Ns cubicle. Which means that when she blows, she will come straight down, hit the cubicle wall which will exert a force equal and opposite of the force of gravity on the water filled tile and further break into many tiny wet little pieces forming a trajectory in both directions away from the cubicle wall.
If I calculate correctly, estimating the amount of water in the tile and the distance between the ceiling and the top of the cubicle wall, I can estimate that the wet shards will travel to within inches of my shoulder. So I scurry around moving N's papers to the other side of his cube (he's in India) and moving my belongings to the other side of my cube. A co-worker moves Ns workstation out of the line of fire.
Within minutes, Jose pronounces that those tiles can take a lot of water. "EEts fine. He says. I'll go get another tile. The water has stopped leaking." Then he explains why on a hot sunny day, we have suddenly developed a leak in the ceiling. It seems that when the AC turned off yesterday, they ran some garden hoses up to the roof to cool it off. Why do garden hoses full of water cause leaks when the spring rains we have suffered here in Boston, cause no problem at all? Well, it seems that in running around the roof to hose off the compressor, the workers might have poked a couple of holes in the roof. Why anyone would build a building with a flat roof in NE is beyond me anyway. But that's another post.
Jose leaves my cube to "go get another tile." Within 5 minutes (note that I have already settled back down to work and I'm wrapping my mind around routing and translation of voice traffic over the Internet) when CRASH. Said tile does what anyone who has taken a good course in physics would guess. It comes down, full of water, hits the cubicle wall, breaks into further shards and changes trajectory towards the middle of my cube and the middle of Ns cube. At the same time that parts of the tile hit the top edge of the cubicle wall, other parts hit the now empty suspended metal standard-issue cubicle shelf in N's cube, reverberating through my head.
Now granted, this is no 3,000 lb cement tile, like in the big dig. But given the distance I jumped from my chair, it might as well have been.
One would think, that when a compressed paper acoustical ceiling tile comes crashing down on a cubicle wall, the remaining space would be empty. One would be wrong. Because, you see, Jose had seen the leak early that morning. Knowing there was still water draining into our ceiling, he had placed a couple of other acoustical tiles up into the opening to help absorb the water. "These tiles can take a lot of water, you know."
So now, I can spend the afternoon looking forward to another layer of soggy acoustical tile crashing down, hitting the cubicle wall and bouncing in little soggy bits all over my.
I think I'll go home.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Extraordinary Machine
Dear Lastborn,
I see the struggle of the youngest child in you. I know that you will spend many years thinking everyone else is smarter, stronger, and faster than you. I know how frustrating it can be when people don’t see the extraordinary machine that you are. Eventually, you will come to believe what the chaperones in sheep’s clothes say. I certainly hope that doesn’t last long for you.
I’m looking forward to the day you figure it out; the day you see that they are not faster, stronger or smarter than you, just older.
I am the baby of the family
It happens so
Everybody cares and wears the sheep’s clothes
While they chaperone
Curious you’re looking down your nose at me
While you appease
Courteous to try and help, but
let me set your mind at ease.
Chorus:
If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can’t help it the road just rolls out behind me.
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I’ll make the most of it
I’m an extraordinary machine.
Do I so worry you
You to hurry to my side
That’s very kind
But it’s to no avail
And I don’t want that
I promise that everything will be just fine
Chorus
Fiona Apple, From Extraordinary Machine
I see the struggle of the youngest child in you. I know that you will spend many years thinking everyone else is smarter, stronger, and faster than you. I know how frustrating it can be when people don’t see the extraordinary machine that you are. Eventually, you will come to believe what the chaperones in sheep’s clothes say. I certainly hope that doesn’t last long for you.
I’m looking forward to the day you figure it out; the day you see that they are not faster, stronger or smarter than you, just older.
I am the baby of the family
It happens so
Everybody cares and wears the sheep’s clothes
While they chaperone
Curious you’re looking down your nose at me
While you appease
Courteous to try and help, but
let me set your mind at ease.
Chorus:
If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can’t help it the road just rolls out behind me.
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I’ll make the most of it
I’m an extraordinary machine.
Do I so worry you
You to hurry to my side
That’s very kind
But it’s to no avail
And I don’t want that
I promise that everything will be just fine
Chorus
Fiona Apple, From Extraordinary Machine
Glad to know I'm not phlegmatic
And wondering if I even spelled that right. I also wonder how this test would come out if someone else answered the questions for me.
thanks remcat
| Sanguine Choleric 50 Sanguine, 14 Melancholy, 50 Choleric, 21 Phlegmatic |
| Hail to you who is Sanguine Choleric! The enthusiastic inspiration to act! The gift of humor when we're heavy hearted. The firm control when others ar losing theirs. The grip of leadership to head us to the positive. The confidence & energy to bring an idea to fruition. The creativity and charm and make things happen. The willingness to take a chance in a doubtful situation. The enthusiasm and energy to start over and over again. The urge to "take arms against a sea of troubles by opposing them." So, hmm, are you by any chance outgoing, optimistic & outspoken? Talk much? Yeah, you are awesome. Your two personality types balance the extremes of work and play. You are adept at directing others and making them enjoy their work. Will you be my new boss? How cool is it that you are goal oriented and fun loving (what a cool goal!). Okay, so let's look at these two temperments seperately: Here is what is totally awesome about Sanguines: You are enthusiastic, excitable, the life of the party, talkative, a story teller, cheerful, sincere, wide eyed & innocent, curious, emotional, demonstrative, and fun. You are adaptable, you live in the present, and you have a good sense of humor. In your workplace, you think up new activities,volunteer for jobs, start in a flashy way, inspire others to join, charm others to work, look great on the surface, have boundless energy, and you are creative and colorful. As a friend you make friends easily, love people, turn disaster into humor, thrive on compliments, seem exciting, are envied by others, don't hold grudges, apologize quickly, prevent dull moments & like spontaneous activities. Let's add to that the Choleric strengths: You are a born leader, strong willed, active, dynamic, decisive, not easily discouraged, unemotional, independent, self-sufficent, confident, with a compulsive need for change & to correct wrongs, and you can run anything. At work you are goal oriented, you see the whole picture, seek practical solutions, quickly move into action, delegate, organize well, insist on production, stimulate activity and thrive on opposition. As a friend, you have less need for friends than other temperments. You'll work for group activity, lead, organize, and you excell in emergencies. You are usually right. And on that note though, let's look at your weaknesses. Yes, let's: Cholerics have standard and well known weaknesses: First of all you don't think there is anything wrong with you. You think you are always right, so you can't be wrong. You'll probably think the following aren't even weaknesses. You are impatient, impetuous, inflexible, unsympathetic, bossy, quick tempered, dominating, and too busy. You can't relax, you won't let others relax, you like to argue, you won't give up when you are losing, you won't admit you are wrong, and basically you come on too strong. In the workplace, you have little tolerance for mistakes, you don't compliment others instead you are rude and tactless, you make rash decisions by glossing over details (unless you have a melancholly edge to you), you are manipulative & demanding. As a friend you tend to use people, dominate, decide for others, know everything, think you can do everything better than everyone else, be unapologetic, and be too independent. Add to that your Sanguine excesses: You are a compulsive talker who exaggerates, elaborates, dwells on trivia, gets lost in tangents, and can't remember names. You scare others off, has too much energy for some, you have a loud voice, a loud laugh, and you seem phony to some. You are egotistical, naive, easily angered, immature, frenetic, restless, and disorganized. At work you are forgetful, don't follow through, undisciplined, your priorities are out of order, you would rather talk than work, you decide by feelings, easily distracted, and your confidence fades fast. As a friend you hate to be alone, need to be center stage, want credit, want to be liked and wants to be popular. You dominate conversations, interrupts and don't listen, you answer for others, repeat stories, make excuses and your are fickle. Okay, so try your best not to be an impatient bossy person who doesn't know what they're talking about, interrupting others & monopolizing conversations. You have the capacity to be great and awesome, and usually you are. People love to get involved in your plans. You are adventure, you are interesting, you make everything HAPPEN! Without you everyone just sits around and plans what to do, but never does it. Learn how to accept the even-keeled input of melancholy's and sanguines and you can go anywhere. Curious about the 4 temperment types? |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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| Link: The Personality Plus Profiler Test written by mahdroo on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Which European city
Charmaine, Shall we go together?
| You Belong in Dublin |
 Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town. |
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