Re: "Space, the final frontier"

[Mitch Berg <mberg -at- IS -dot- COM>]

Kenneth M. Nuckols wrote:
>
> At 03:42 PM 2/10/97 -0600, LINKVI -at- MAIL -dot- STATE -dot- WI -dot- US wrote:
> >This is a query about work environments, just because I'm interested in
> >learning under what physical (environmental) conditions other tech writers
> >(or communicators, if you will) find themselves employed.  We've moved
> >recently, and now work in 8 x 8 foot modular cubes, what we refer to as
> >"pods," and we now call ourselves "pod people."

I've worked in a zillion environments - from Cray, where everyone had an
office (even though, as a contractor, I shared mine with the unit
refrigerator!) to my client's kitchen table (no room in the office) - I
even took a laptop with me on Jury Duty last summer, and produced an
entire user guide using only my lap and an end table for an office!
Currently, I'm in the nicest cube ever - they're about 9x8, with walls
that must be nearly 6' tall.  Best of all, they have an extra piece of
wall in doorway, giving in effect a 2' long "hallway" into your cube.
This makes all the difference in the world, in terms of privacy.

My favorite work environment?  Most of the last year, I worked out of my
house.  I converted an extra bedroom into an office, overlooking my back
yard.  Nice crossventilation - but if it got too warm, and the day was
nice enough, I could always pack up the laptop and the cordless phone
and set up a table on the porch...

...which I was doing when I spoke to a pal of mine at an old client,
whose cubes were being downsized (from 8x8 to 6x6, and from 5'5 walls
all around to a 4' wall facing the aisle.  Morale was tanking pretty
badly.  So it probably wasn't too cool of me to tell him that "Yeah, I
can relate - I'm out of ice for my margaritas, right now..."  I miss
that...

By the way, I've been to Ken's office before, where he said:

> From October to March it's not so bad,
> really--all the windows are covered by snowdrifts anyway...
>
> And that's the way it is for the trainer/writers out in the Minnesota prarie...

Prairie, Schmairie - you're in the suburbs of Minneapolis!  It ain't
THAT rugged out there!  ;)

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html