An Office with a View

A friend at www.abovethegwb.blogspot.com/ recently invited her blogging friends to share their views. No, not on politics or religion, but the views from their workspaces. I decided to accept her invitation.

I do most of my work from my home office. For the past year, it's been my only office. Well, there was the "adjunct holding pen" at the college where I taught. It was a sad place, a long room with white cinder block walls and gray linoleum on the floor. The one window was frosted glass, so no one could see in or out. The walls were lined with work-desks, one right next to the other. No privacy whatsoever.

Wouldn't have been a problem, except for Pompous Jamaican and Bald, Ill-Clad Sociologist. They really enjoyed the sound of their own voices. Pompous Jamaican moved from New Jersey and was amazed to learn that he'd accepted a job 2 hours from his house. When he wasn't teaching at my college, he drove 2 hours in the opposite direction to teach at another college. Apparently, they don't have maps in New Jersey. He took it as a personal affront that no one was offering him a full-time job - even though he did not have a doctorate degree, wasn't working on a doctorate, and had no intention of ever earning a doctorate. Bald Sociologist liked to talk about Marx and capitalist conspiracies ("Why should I be forced to buy car insurance?"). Glad to leave the adjunct holding pen behind.

Anyway, my home office. As regular readers know, I recently rearranged my home office to accommodate a new internet provider. Here's my new primary view:

That's right, it's a big beige wall. It's not ideal for several reasons. First, it's a big beige wall. Second, the sun rises over that building and beams straight into my eyes.

So, I'm thinking of shifting the desk so I can look at this instead:

Yes, it's a parking lot, but it's pretty green as parking lots go. And, there's lots of blue sky. The benefits of living at the top of a hill. I can also see the shopping center way off in the distance, which gives me a feeling of space, even though I'm in a sterile apartment complex.

When I turn to look over my right shoulder, the view improves significantly:

It might not look like much now, but the sunsets are absolutely beautiful through that window. After living in black, white and shades of gray in the post-industrial wasteland for 6 years, this is pretty darn good.