About the new office

So, we've been in the new place for two weeks, and I have to admit that I am settling in better than I expect. Telephones, fax and internet are working (took me three days to sort out all the complications), and we have been able to find nearly everything that we looked for. I won't mention the things that have gone missing since we moved in, that's just normal every-day incompetence.

Let me slip in a quick Public Service Announcement for those who might be planning an office in the near future. You might consider patterns of usage and how certain expensively-rented rooms stand empty for most of the day, and conclude that you can combine the meeting/conference space with the kitchen. Wrong. Doing so will mean either that you are unable to get a drink for hours on end, or that the conferees are continually disturbed by people sneaking in to put apple cores etc in the garbage bin. You may combine whatever else you wish, and good luck to you, but the office kitchen must be an enclosed room of its own.

It still annoys me that there are no stores in the immediate vicinity, and that the butcher and baker down the hill are closed at midday when one might wish them to be open, but even this is less of an irritation than I expected it to be. The farmers' market is in upheaval: a new market building is being erected closer to the street, and neighbouring apartment blocks torn down. Many traders have closed down or moved away, and it is hard to see that those who remain will be able to attract enough customers to stay in business.

I'm even coming to see advantages to the new place. FIrst of these, somewhat tongue-in-cheek: the uphill walk, in particular the last steeply-inclined five minutes, are going to get me fit (at least much fitter) doubleplusquickly. I'm a bit apprehensive about that stretch in winter though, since it's a "path" not a "street" and so will not be swept clear of snow or ice; have to wait and see how that plays out. It would be silly to have to take the bus to work (avoiding that stretch of hill), but it would be far sillier to slip and knock my teeth out.

Secondly, it is very nice (at least now, in summer) to have a garden with a large table and benches for holding outdoor meetings. There are at least two cats in the neighbourhood, both of them have discovered that our doors are usually open.