This is all worrying.  My job is pretty safe until the summer and will know more after the state confronts its large budget crisis.  If the state heaps on additional cuts to the higher education budget I might be at risk.  With the Democrats firmly in control at Olympia and already talking about a tax increase there is a good chance that I’ll be fine.  The discussion of tax increases leaves me quite conflicted.  I am philosophically against such increases as very bad policy — but I have a lot to gain in the short term from tax increases.  Hopefully, I am not so selfish and self-absorbed as to compromise my evaluation of the wisdom of these tax increases…

Six months ago as a part of the renovation of 4545, I (and my furniture) was moved to the basement — where I had my own office. Being in the basement didn’t bother me because I wasn’t anywhere near a window on the third floor and I had my own office that I could keep as dark and warm as I wanted. I got a lot done because very few people were around to bother me.

Then a few months ago I was moved up to the fourth floor to a cubicle. I lost all of my furniture, including my desk that was claimed by someone else that was moving the same day (but to an office) and my table that was sent to Sandpoint. I’ve put up with the noise, the air flow, the crazy lights, and the non-optimal setup, because I knew I was going to get moved again around the end of 2008.

The “final” word came down that we were going to be moved back to (a different part of) the basement and have our own offices, except for Darlene who was getting put in a super-cube. The area isn’t bad — I’m getting my boss’s old office. But instead of real furniture they are giving us pieces of cubicle furniture that Safeco “donated” (really ditched + tax deduction):

I’ve put up with a lot of crap, but this is entirely unacceptable. The furniture doesn’t fit well, it forces me to work with my back to the door (which drives me insane), doesn’t give me the legroom I want, and it is far worse than what I have in my cube! All I need is a large table — just like the one I was forced to give up. Some drawer space and a meeting table or couch would be nice — but not necessary. I’m getting tired of being in an overlooked group that gets bumped around and given garbage.

I am not accepting this.

Office: The official word has comedown today and I won’t be banished to the Tower to work in a cubefarm. I will be bounced to the 4th floor of 4545 to work in a cubicle (sigh….) for 4 months or so and then be returned to basement (though in a less desirable location). Of course with more and more people jumping ship, there may be even more space opening up at the tower — and plans (even officially announced ones) can always change.

Exchange: So the doom known as Exchange will be a part of my reality now. UW Technology Services (Scott’s Domain) will be rush migrated to Exchange before we have to renew the Oracle Calendar licenses on 10/1. They were originally planning to migrate us in mid September, but Nebula Support is currently overwhelmed dealing with the Coreflood trojan/worm. Since we are under huge financial pressure (66% budget shortfall), you would think that saving money would be a top priority, which is one reason why I find this decision so perplexing. Exchange is going to cost far more than Oracle Calendar + Deskmail — all so that we can have our calendar and email in the same program! WTF? Who thought this would be beneficial for our productivity?

Coreflood: This trojan/worm has brutalized Windows Desktops across campus — and Nebula was no exception. Nebula is currently rebuilding over a thousand workstations that were infected — and that doesn’t include the non-nebula Windows workstations that were infected. My confidence in the Windows security infrastructure has dropped to a new low — which makes Exchange even less attractive…