I work from home four days per week, and I am in the office on Wednesdays. Two weeks ago, I was on the phone with a caller or processing a report, and the power hiccupped. For a minute or so, the power was off completely, then the backup generator came on. I then rebooted my computer per supervisor instructions, and tried to continue working. Nope. Again, the power was interrupted. This time, when I tried rebooting....I got the BSOD. My hard drive had been fried, and now the PC needs to be re-imaged. I had in the interim taken a call using pen and paper to note information, so I moved to a different workstation to complete my original report and to enter the data from the interim call. My supervisor then came by (this was about 2:30 PM, when I had just relocated) to ask if I wanted to stay in the office or go home and enter e reports for the remainder of my shift. I elected to just stay since I was already there, and she said it was fine with her.

I was out last Wednesday, and when I went back into the office the day before yesterday....you guessed it. The computer at my workstation still had the BSOD. A ticket had been called in on it, for a technician to come re-image it, but no one came to do the work. I was informed by Automation staff that most likely no one had come out to work on it "because no one sits there when you are working from home." Bah. Garbage. (Automation called about the ticket still being open, but I'm not holding my breath; the last time this happened, I moved from workstation to workstation for four to six weeks before my PC was finally working again.) So I had to go find another supervisor and ask where I should sit for work. I also had to get access to my e mail and information about how to log in to our intra-office instant messenger program. since my log in had been wiped out and I couldn't recall how to do it. I had to complete some training that required e mail access. I was running back and forth all day (because I was sitting in the back of the office instead of in my usual place in the front). Even going to the bathroom took twice as long as usual.

Just to add to the fun, the workstation I ended up at would nearly have been condemned by the board of health. There were papersand looseleaf binders stacked in a leaning tower to my right on the desk (I didn't dare touch anything, or the whole mess would have cascaded onto the floor in a heap), and there were more papers, newspapers and magazines with torn out pages on the floor under my feet. The shelf above the desk and to my left could have easily held some of the clutter -- but it was mostly empty. There was a large cardboard carton to my right on the floor; I don't know what was in it because I didn't care to look. I kept having to dodge it with my wheelchair every time I had to leave the desk. My own workspace is not entirely clutter free, I admit...but at least the floor under the desk is clear, and there is not a threat of an avalanche of papers. By comparison, my workstation is absolutely pristine.

It is amazing how accustomed one can get to one's own workspace. I had trouble concentrating all day because I felt uprooted. I keep certain information pinned to the walls of my workstation, so that I can simply look up and immediately see the information while I am working, without having to disrupt a phone call or data entry process. Needless to say, that information was not at the borrowed workstation either, and I did not have time to move everything from my desk to the borrowed space. I took my headset, a pen, and a pad of post-it notes, since I do direct entry of information while I'm on the phone. Instead of work related documents on the walls of the new space, I was treated to pictures of Vivien Leigh as Miss Scarlett O'Hara...

I went to bed at 8 PM Wednesday night, and was asleep before 8:30 PM. It was even more of a relief than usual to work from home yesterday.