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Defining 'atrocious'

In a recent post I used the term 'atrocious' to define my new office. After consideration, I felt it necessary to expound on this a tad.

The office is located in the area of BNA airport. It is dense with business offices, a blessing for a salesperson. It has free parking (my old office I had to pay), a conference room twice the size of my old settings, an impressive entry foyer that could almost be called an indoor arboretum, and a fully functional kitchen that I look forward to using soon. It is, as offices go, quite lovely.

So why the word atrocious? I'll say it speaks more to me than the office.

It's location is strategic and highly functional. The several locations (that we telco types call POPs) are deployed based on how they will tie together a fiber network. This generally means they will be dotted around the periphery of a city.

So again...why the word atrocious?

It's strategic location, on the periphery of the city, means that many of the things I love are no longer so easily available.

With my previous office being downtown I had easy access to all of the trappings a downtown area has to offer. Food, coffee, shopping. Having discerning tastes (read that as snob), I was spoiled by the downtown setting. As mentioned above it seems my words, or specifically one word, would say more about me than my office.

I am now in a cube roughly 1/4th the size of my old one. I do plan on either taking up new space in another part of the office, or bringing in a sledgehammer....but this is on my long-term list of goals and not likely to come about soon. But I can say I miss the sectional couch I had in my old cube like it was a dead friend. We will be united.

The last item may be more subconscious than not. In my old office I had years of accrued 'personal flair' all about me. Awards, pictures of team events, funny little chotchkes pinned to the wall. My beloved couch. When anyone walked in to my area they could see a pretty neat storyline of my career. The blank slate of my new area is a little frightening.

So for now I will do what I can to imbed my fingerprint on my new office, find a few hole-in-the-wall eateries close-by that I love, and take a moment to sit in our arboretum and enjoy it.

And couch....dear friend, confidant, easer of daily pains....I am coming for you soon.

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