I had such high hopes when we moved into the new office. Supposedly there would be temperature ‘zones’ in the new place – including one in my area – where we could adjust the temperature to our own comfort level, instead of having to endure whatever the main office was set to. We were all really looking forward to this, because in the old office, we were never able to settle on a comfortable temperature. Half the office was always sweltering; the other half was always huddled over space heaters tucked underneath their desks. To be fair, that was more the result of in adequate venting for the HVAC system, but still, it was really annoying. After all, one should not require a space heater in Sacramento in the middle of summer.
This whole temperature zone thing, however, just isn’t working out the way I’d hoped. No amount of fiddling with the thermostat in my area seems to make a bit of difference. Granted, it was mostly fine during the summer – my area stayed comfortably cool during the warmer months, while the front of the office had to resort to closing all the blinds and covering over all those lovely windows and views of the river because otherwise it just got too warm. But now that it is winter, and the temperature is in the mid 30’s and low 40’s, it’s starting to get a little ridiculous. I have given up entirely on wearing my cute flats to work, and have returned to wearing the ugly lace-ups with my handknit wool socks, because otherwise my feet freeze. I have been learning to type with only one hand while I sit on the other one in an attempt to warm up my fingers. I drink far too much coffee because at least it’s something hot I can wrap my poor frozen hands around.
So…I am back to the space heater tucked carefully underneath the desk, and keeping a jacket permanently in the office, for something to wrap around my shoulders, and rummaging through my yarn stash for the perfect candidate for a pair or two of fingerless gloves. So much for the much-acclaimed temperature ‘zone’. Sigh.
Tis the season for Holidailies!
And I thought I was the only one with that problem! Only I have it in reverse. My boss and I share a temperature zone; the rest of the office cubes have a separate and equal thermostat. We swelter while they … well, they have whatever they have. But my problem is my boss. If it isn’t 80 degrees in her office (where the thermostat for our zone resides) she cranks it up. So here I am, in the middle of winter, seriously considering wearing a lightweight short sleeve top and lightweight slacks. And a heavy jacket for going outside. Crazy!
As someone who suffers a similar thing in the office and the excess caffeine that results, I recommend drinking just hot water. It’s surprisingly soothing. Of course you can put a herbal tea bag in it if you must, but I prefer it just plain. Yum!