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[case_insensitive]

OK, I'm a weirdo, I know.  I do love to work. I especially love doing research, for example. I enjoy focusing on it when we are between semesters, especially.  I'm neck deep in a new project at the moment, in fact. It'll take some months to complete the data collection and analysis. This project involves a lot of time on the computer.

However, I've been told that we are getting new carpet in the building in December and everything in our offices must be boxed up and moved out and our computers will all be boxed up and stored for the duration of the break.

Hello? We are a research institution.  We do research.  Research doesn't stop because the students have gone home for Christmas.  Even when the staff are off, many of us are working part of the time.

The whole break...?  And, when the break ends, I'll be left with a newly carpeted office and everything in boxes to unpack and reorganize. All this, six days before the most major conference deadline of the year.

*sigh*

Just leave me alone and let me work. 

*sniff*

[larryc]

Cheer up. I am shipping you fifty pounds of student essays to grade over break. No need to thank me.

[onion]

OK, I'm a weirdo, I know.  I do love to work. I especially love doing research, for example. I enjoy focusing on it when we are between semesters, especially.  I'm neck deep in a new project at the moment, in fact. It'll take some months to complete the data collection and analysis. This project involves a lot of time on the computer.

However, I've been told that we are getting new carpet in the building in December and everything in our offices must be boxed up and moved out and our computers will all be boxed up and stored for the duration of the break.

Hello? We are a research institution.  We do research.  Research doesn't stop because the students have gone home for Christmas.  Even when the staff are off, many of us are working part of the time.

The whole break...?  And, when the break ends, I'll be left with a newly carpeted office and everything in boxes to unpack and reorganize. All this, six days before the most major conference deadline of the year.

*sigh*

Just leave me alone and let me work. 

*sniff*

Our building gets closed for every break that is longer than 3 days.  That means the heat gets turned off and they disable the ID card reader so no on can even get through the door.  We have to get special permission from the Provost if we want to work over Winter Break.  Apparently, Provost denies most requests as it's "expensive" to let faculty work in the building. 

[case_insensitive]

Cheer up. I am shipping you fifty pounds of student essays to grade over break. No need to thank me.

*pppbbttthht!*

[case_insensitive]

I don't expect the heat to be on - I have a space heater for that.  I do expect to have access to my office and computer (ok, a couple of days to get the carpet in, I understand, but the whole break?).  They aren't doing the whole building, even. Just this one floor.

[sonny_b]

Don't you have a laptop?

[voxprincipalis]

See, here's the thing -- most of the staff (and I mean the Physical Plant people and the Printing people and the ID-card people and etc.) couldn't care less about your school being a research institution or a teaching institution or whatever. From the faculty member's point of view, this might seem weird (what! how could you not care that we're the top research institution in East Southern Nowheresville?) but to them, it's just the place they show up to every morning at 8:30.

So of course they're going to arrange their work schedules to suit their convenience, and if that means it's going to take them a month to install new carpet, then so it is, and if you're going to be inconvenienced in the meantime, well then, tough patooties. The people who make those decisions are absolutely unconcerned with what you as a faculty member need to do. I could give you 20 or 30 more examples that are as egregious and then some.

Never underestimate the power of Physical Plant. They can bring the entire University grinding to a halt in seconds.

VP

[case_insensitive]

yes, sonny, i have a laptop but it's my personal one, it's old and it doesn't have all the capabilities I need, much less the software.

See, here's the thing -- most of the staff (and I mean the Physical Plant people and the Printing people and the ID-card people and etc.) couldn't care less about your school being a research institution or a teaching institution or whatever. From the faculty member's point of view, this might seem weird (what! how could you not care that we're the top research institution in East Southern Nowheresville?) but to them, it's just the place they show up to every morning at 8:30.

So of course they're going to arrange their work schedules to suit their convenience, and if that means it's going to take them a month to install new carpet, then so it is, and if you're going to be inconvenienced in the meantime, well then, tough patooties. The people who make those decisions are absolutely unconcerned with what you as a faculty member need to do. I could give you 20 or 30 more examples that are as egregious and then some.

Never underestimate the power of Physical Plant. They can bring the entire University grinding to a halt in seconds.

VP

My patooties, I'll have you know, are very tough.  ;o)

VP, as always, is spot on.

[crjuprofsteve]

I love to work, too...I happily spend 60+ hours a week at it (I'm serious, both about the "happily" and the "60+  hours").  My partner is also an academic, in my department no less, so we happily collaborate on things at home, as well. 

I'm especially happy about our offices, at school (our home offices are nice too, but this is to make case jealous - sorry).  We are in a former apartment building on the edge of campus.  This confers several advantages:  Our offices are huge, and much larger than those in newly remodeled buildings; people leave us alone and we have control of our own thermostats - yay!; parking is closer to us; the partner and I share an office suite to ourselves (read that: a former apartment unit); I'm sure there are other advantages, as well.

The down side:  According to artists' portrayals of the long-range plan for the campus, we'll be moving soon.  Oh well.  For now:  (Academic) party at my place!

 

[case_insensitive]

I love to work, too...I happily spend 60+ hours a week at it (I'm serious, both about the "happily" and the "60+  hours").  My partner is also an academic, in my department no less, so we happily collaborate on things at home, as well. 

I'm especially happy about our offices, at school (our home offices are nice too, but this is to make case jealous - sorry).  We are in a former apartment building on the edge of campus.  This confers several advantages:  Our offices are huge, and much larger than those in newly remodeled buildings; people leave us alone and we have control of our own thermostats - yay!; parking is closer to us; the partner and I share an office suite to ourselves (read that: a former apartment unit); I'm sure there are other advantages, as well.

The down side:  According to artists' portrayals of the long-range plan for the campus, we'll be moving soon.  Oh well.  For now:  (Academic) party at my place!

You have thermostats?  Our building doesn't have a single thermostat.  Physical Plant controls all.

[untenured]

We have a thermostat for our floor.

The thing is in MY OFFICE.

ON THE CEILING.

Needless to say, my office is frigid in the summer and baking in the winter.

Untenured

P.S. case_insensitive, I feel your pain.

[liquidambar]

I'm told that during the break, our entire e-mail system shuts down.  All messages are stored on the server and not distributed until after New Year's.  Eeek!  This will be less than 2 weeks before important grant deadlines, too.

[svenc]

Case, can you get permission to take the computer home with you over the break?  Or can you sneak it out without anyone noticing?

[case_insensitive]

Case, can you get permission to take the computer home with you over the break?  Or can you sneak it out without anyone noticing?

I don't know, but I'm going to ask. We have so much network security here, I don't know if they can even make it work (i.e. get me logged on to my part of the computer) away from the network.  I have cable internet at home, of course, but who knows if they'll let me take the computer home or if it'll even work.

[gayle]

All I can say, is that bites.