From Refugee to Nomad

I finally got a decent cubicle at work after two moves due to scents and the traffic patterns that spread scents.  

Then the company that looks after the building decided it was time to re-carpet the room I work in.  They started with the hallway outside, and after 3 to 4 days of putting up with the encroaching fumes from off-gassing, and with the knowledge that it would get far worse when they laid the carpet, I requested alternate accommodations.

Thus began my status as a refugee.  I worked in a cubicle in a different unit, on a different floor.  I was not allowed to use their printer for official documents, but had to print to my old printer on the network, and have someone from my old area bring my print jobs (decisions on eligibility for benefits) to me, wait around for me to sign them, and take them back to the "completed files" table.  Oh yes, they also took my completed files back, and brought me new ones to work on.  And supplies.  And other assorted stuff.  I joked about not being able to get used to "not having a staff anymore" when my sojourn would eventually be over.  In fact though, it drove me nuts to have to depend on other people, especially if they started criticizing the content of my decisions.  But I digress.

  There was a delay in the carpet-laying.  My time in the refugee camp was getting more and more uncomfortable as new tenants had moved in who were either unaware or decidedly disrespectful of the scent-free policy.  So I asked if there might be somewhere to move, even temporarily.  After one failed attempt last week, this week they found a workstation that was temporarily tenant-less.  One of my co-workers was going on a 2-week vacation for Christmas.  And I was planning on staying if I could. So today I packed up my few belongings and made a couple of trips to get "settled" in my temporary digs, in the farthest corner of the other room (our unit takes up two rooms) away from the new carpet, bordered on three sides by co-workers, and on one side by a large window.  I even have access to a printer, and if I hold my mouth just right I can print things...  

I am living out of a box, a bag, and a couple of inboxes, but I do have my chair, my plants, my essential office supplies, and a photo of my girls to keep me company. I can get my own files, print my own letters, and take them to the right place ... by myself.  Yet I am keenly aware that the place I'm staying in is not my own.


So now I am a nomad.  I have no clue where I will sit come January 4, 2011.  

I will probably know on December 30 or 31, 2010.  

Until then, I'm content to sit where I'm sitting, enjoy the quiet in my far corner by the windows, and do the next right thing for my clients.


I look at it as an opportunity to practice living "one day at a time" and to not allow myself to get attached to things too much.  And someday, I'll enjoy the move when I will finally be able to return to my old cubicle or get placed in a permanent one elsewhere.  On that day, I will be so tempted to put up a sign I saw once :  "Cubicle sweet cubicle."