They've been doing construction on or near the building where I work now for a number of months. For the most part it's been a nuisance, with a lot of noise and the occasional shakes and vibrations. The brown noise back in the spring/summer was particularly lovely. All along we've known that we were going to be more directly affected, since the plans show a hallway plowing right through our office space. Initially we were told that we would be able to move to some offices higher in the building before the demolition started, but the athletic department welshed on us, so just before Christmas we had a massive reshuffling to try and get out of the way of the jackhammers and drills. The plan, or so we thought, was for the crew to get as much as they could done over the break so that there would be minimal disruption. There would still be construction noise, but we were assured that we would have a dust-free environment and a reasonable environment to work in.
We came back Tuesday after the break, and found that not only was it ungodly loud (jackhammers, remember?), but everything was covered in a fine white powder. So much for the dust-free environment. In addition to the dust and noise, it was also warm and stuffy. Still, most of us seemed to be able to tolerate it okay. I escaped for a few hours to work remotely, and had tentative plans to do a mix of remote and on-site work for the duration. Since I was gone, I missed the billowing smoke that triggered the fire alarm that afternoon.
Wednesday was the day that finally drove everyone out of the office. I arrived to find the hallway shrouded in a haze of white, and dust pouring down through the air intake vents in the ceiling. Turns out it's not actually possible to create that dust-free environment. To make matters worse, we found out a little later on that the dust problem was only beginning, and that when the drywall hanging starts it would be even worse. We all agreed that we could put up with noise, but the idea of inhaling pounds of sheetrock was not cool.
So, for the next two weeks (give or take) you're as likely to find me and my colleagues at home as on campus. Fortunately, the nature of our work makes it fairly easy to work at a distance. I have to say, though, that there was something vaguely upsetting about everyone packing up their computers and heading their separate ways. It can be nice to work from home, but there are definitely added headaches in operating mostly by email and IMing.
Oh, and as for the construction crew, architects and athletic department (especially the athletic department)? You all suck.
Posted by Jason at January 5, 2007 05:56 PM