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Maxed Out: A Man on the Move
August 8, 2012 |Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Good grief! I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted. The reason for this is that I am currently in the process of moving my office. You wouldn’t think this would be too much trouble, especially considering the fact that I'm only moving from one bay to another in the same building, but the task is proving to be harder than expected.
I'm not as Young as I Used to be
This all started about 10 years ago when a friend – the CEO of a local engineering company – said that they had moved into a big building and had more space than they knew what to do with. He said I could have a room to use as an office if I wished.
Well, what with one thing and another, I actually ended up sharing an entire bay with two other guys. I just went and paced it out. The central space is about 60’ x 60’, with three offices on one side, three offices on another side, and windows on the remaining two sides.
The problem is that you sort of grow to fill the available space. Let's start with my personal office, which was jam-packed with stuff, including three computers and five computer screens (all of which I use throughout the day), four large bookcases, and my desk treadmill (in addition to my main desk), and this is just touching on a few of the more prominent items.
But then out in the main space, hidden behind some partitions, there were numerous old computers, disk drives, printers, and boxes and boxes of "stuff." And when I say "boxes and boxes," I'm understating the position – I have no idea how one person can collect so much dross in only 10 years. If you'd asked me how must stuff there was to move before I looked behind the partitions, I would have answered, "Oh, not that much." Well, I'm laughing a hollow laugh now, let me tell you.
The problem is that the folks who own the building are having a bit of a reorganization. There are three big bays on our floor. The two other guys and I were in the left-hand bay; the company who owns the building was thinly spread throughout the middle and right-hand bays (plus they have the entire ground floor). I don’t know why, but they decided to consolidate both their bays into our bay, and to move us into the middle bay.
The other guys worked on their stuff, and I was left to my own devices. The first step was to drag everything out from behind the partitions into the light of day. Well, the middle of the main room. The next step was to go through it all. I think I ended up keeping just four cardboard boxes of stuff, leaving a mountain of rubbish to throw away. This process was not helped by the fact that (a) we're on the second floor at the front of the building, (b) the rubbish skip is located at the far side back of the building, and (c) the lift broke last week (wouldn’t you know it?).
It took an entire day using a hand cart to move the stuff to the top of the stairs, carry it downstairs by hand, and then move it to the skip at the back of the building. It took another day to box everything up in my office and move it into the new bay. Now I'm sitting in my new office, surrounded by boxes, wondering how long it's going to take me to get organized again. I also ache in places I didn’t even know I had places. I'm certainly not as young as I used to be!
By the Light of my Salt Lamp
Have you seen those Himalayan Natural Crystal Salt Lamps? These are hand-carved out of salt crystals from the Himalayan mountains. The inside is hollowed out and a small 15-watt bulb is installed. When lit, the lamp provides a really pleasant warm, amber glow.
You can use it as a nightlight, or just as a nice piece of "eye candy." Someone gave me one ages ago and I keep it lit on my desk in my office. Actually, I have to keep it lit in the summer, because it's so humid here (in Huntsville, Alabama) that if you don’t, the salt absorbs enough moisture from the air that it starts to dissolve on your desk.
I didn’t know you could find these on Amazon. I only ran across it there when I was looking for a natural alternative to commercial antiperspirant deodorants (click here to see my previous column on this topic). While on Amazon, I was happy to discover that my Himalayan Natural Crystal Salt Lamp also works as an air purifier. They say that: "When lit, the lamp emits negative ions that fight against positively charged particles that cause you to feel stuffy and sluggish. The salt crystal naturally clears the air of allergens like smoke, pet dander, pollens, and other air pollutants. It dilutes odors so that you can breathe easier. People with asthma often find it helpful in reducing their symptoms. You can keep the lamp lit for as long as you like to maintain this purifying effect."
Now, I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I have to say that it made me feel happier to hear this, so even if it's only a placebo effect, that's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as the old saying goes.
So what do you think? Is this just a pretty lamp, or do you think that it really does make the air nicer to breathe?
Well, back to moving. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi. You might have to help me move, but I promise it will build character.
Until next time, have a good one!
Clive (Max) Maxfield is founder/consultant at Maxfield High-Tech Consulting. He is the author and co-author of a number of books, including Bebop to the Boolean Boogie (An Unconventional Guide to Electronics) and How Computers Do Math featuring the pedagogical and phantasmagorical virtual DIY Calculator. To contact Max, click here.