HR's new HQ

Summer break hung over my head like impending doom. When I left my job last summer there were only two weeks before school would be back in session for the fall. Those were a difficult two weeks working from home with tons of interruptions to get the scads of work done that I delayed until after my departure.

But I wasn't nearly as busy then as I am now.

I purposefully planned work around Christmas break while the kids would be home and they were gone over spring break-so no problems. I feared my sanity the most with the kids being out of school for the summer. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. With my "office" area and dining room being used as a basketball court for two very active kids and my ability to concentrate iffy at best, I knew I would have to do something to remain working from home. But what? The only rooms that you can close off on our main level are a bathroom and closet. Upstairs it was bedrooms and a bathroom. I'm not keen on working out of the bathroom, so our bedroom would have to do.

Now, what to work from? Being the frugal yet tasteful guy I am my first thought was to buy a desk that could become my little girl's. So we went shopping and I was shocked at how pitiful furniture is constructed these days.....which led us to an upscale furniture store in town and I realized we would be forking out over $300 for a decent desk. A decent white, with scalloped legs, little girl's desk. The price didn't bother me, but knowing that I would be buying myself a decent desk one day I thought why not just put that toward my own desk?

So then we landed on a very nice $1200 desk for me. It was perfect. The plan is to move back downstairs at the end of the summer and then over the course of the school year reconfigure our large entry room into an office and relocate there. So I would just be buying the desk in advance. My wife didn't like that.

So, late last night....two days into summer break and past due for office relocation....I had a thought. A very frugal thought. You see I found this large 2" thick x 22" wide x 7' long solid board when cleaning out our basement. It has a well worn top surface and edges and is stamped with a "10" on one side and a few square nails in it. I have no idea what it is or where it came from, but it appears nearly as old as our house-150 years. I also have an old wood crate in the barn and a salvaged chair from the truckstop. Add my bedside nightstand and throw a little stain on the crate and voila'...instant desk set.

I moved the computer and printer, router and modem and everything else I would need upstairs Saturday morning. Emptied the nightstand and it became my file and paper drawer. I have a couple of old cigar boxes from gramps that hold pens and paperclips in the top drawer. I've added a desktop pen holder that I've had since highschool and a strange bronze globe I picked up in college.

I'm thinking it's not too bad. It is definitely quieter, much, much quieter; I should be able to blog much better now too. While I doubt I'll bring clients up to my office, I do have a window I can look out of down on the world below...mostly into the stately old maple trees in our front yard. Our dog, Oscar, also seems to have relocated his favorite sleeping place to our bed next to me. If it gets too warm up here, as it does on the second level of this old house, I figure I can work in my underwear! I understand most men do their best thinking in the bathroom; I figure I'll give the bedroom a try....I figure I already do my best work here. Sorry, gotta remember to keep this G-rated.

Of course, as I type this the two little urchins have been playing around my feet and on the bed.