Something About My Hub

Two months ago, I moved into my new prefab office. I was placed in Hub DB04, together with 5 other privileged post grad students. I use the word privileged here because we share the hub with our very own Dean and administrator who each has their own offices in the big room. Next to DB04 is DB02. That's where Yoda and Obi Wan are placed.

Despite being under close scrutiny of two jedi masters, I loved my new hub because 1.  I scored a nice window seat at the corner of the room and 2.  There are two printers in this hub which makes printing jobs very convenient. For several weeks, everything seemed perfect.

One day, one of my senior colleagues, Mr X, saw me at the cafe. We hadn’t seen each other for quite a while so we started talking. When he discovered that I was placed in DB04 he said “Wow. Together with J? How did you end up being in that hub?” I felt confused when he admired my good fortune, feeling a little smug but at the same time suspicious that it was too good to last.

“I don’t know. J decided on the placing. She was the one who put me there,” I said.

He raised one eyebrow, “Well, good on you Alice.”

A few days later, things started to change. More and more people began to occupy the other hubs and when this happened the frequency of visitors increased too. DB04 became the centre of attention cos that's where the admin office is. Heaps of students came to see the administrator regarding all sorts of matters such as  facilities, claims, building access, etc. Before long, I couldn’t focus on my thesis anymore.  The noise wasn’t so bad but I am easily distracted so the slightest interruption can disturb my train of thought.

Motivated by this issue, I decided to move to DB06, the hub next door. DB06 looks exactly like DB04, minus the two small offices for the Dean and administrator. It's also a bit further from Yoda and Obi Wan's hub so they can't peek to see what I'm doing. Hehe.

This time around, I scored a window spot at the right corner of the room. This suits me perfectly cos I love a window seat, be it on a plane or in an office. Every day, I come to work happy, eager to write thousands and thousands of words on the spreadsheet. I normally come in around 9.00 in the morning and leave by 12.25 to pick up Alden from school. I don't get a lot of work done in the span of 3 hours so when hubby comes home around 3.30pm, I'd continue my work at the office till 8 or 9 pm.

My research assistant normally comes with me in the morning

I love coming in after  4 or 5 cos the hub will be totally vacant by then. It's not that I don't like having people around. I just like having the freedom to do whatever the hell I please when I'm working. While writing my thesis, I can talk to myself out-loud, sit with crossed-legs, munch on a bag of chips noisily, surf social networking sites without guilt and scratch that terrible itch on my back without being discrete. That's what I call office bliss.

I am most productive between 4.30 to 7.00. When I say productive, I don't mean a flawless 10 pages of academic awesomeness. It means that within this period, I am able to produce something coherent and readable. 

My problem starts at 7.45 pm. Why? Because it gets dark by then and this changes the whole ambience of the room. My hub has a lot of tinted windows and when it gets dark these windows look like mirrors. It's so creepy. Have you seen a scene in a scary movie where  a timid heroine sees a reflection of a ghost in the window? That's what freaks me out.

The lighting sensor in this hub isn't helping either. The motion sensor light will only turn lights on when the room is occupied. When I'm moving around, the sensor recognizes thatsomeone's in the room. When I'm sitting quietly or when I'm just typing on my computer, the lights go off cos there's no movement. What happens then? I have to stand up and jump around like an idiot to get the light back on.

It's going to be Halloween soon and these past few days they've been showing sneak peeks of the scariest movies on TV. The last sneak preview I saw was The Grudge. Damnit! I should've changed the channel when I had the chance to. Now that I think of that, a creepy figment of my imagination is starting to get a hold of me. Just imagine tinted windows - reflection - the Akkkkkk sound- Ju-On - Scream 4. CREEPY! Thank God I have my rosary with me.

It's now 8.45 pm. I think I'll stop right here before the lights go off again. Happy Deepavali everyone.