Cubes & Coops

Tough week. Several things blew up at work, one of which was my doing (although unintentional), another which could be construed as mine (a result of my not doing something I probably should have), and another just a culmination of competing interests, one of which I was required to staunchly defend. I've been working long hours, too, trying to get things done before I will slip out of the office for days at a time at an offsite conference.

I also reached out to the new head of our department to check in on the waiting list for an office, on which I am theoretically near the top. (Only been a year and a half.) I expected a short conversation in his office but he came out and sat in my cube, all "friendly" and "open," but I was not comfortable. I felt clearly at a disadvantage, knowing that those sitting around me (on the other side of the short walls) could hear every word. I didn't feel like I could stand up for myself in the same way I would have with a private audience with him. Yet something stopped me from asking if we could go into his office, as if by making too much of it I would lose some ground. It doesn't matter. He basically said I have a snowball's chance in hell with how things currently stand, but he has long-range plans for acquiring more space for us. The best part was that he acknowledged that it is more than likely I would get promoted (a promotion that seemingly always comes with an office, although he didn't elaborate on where he'd find one.)

Another downer is that the first apartment I've wanted has fallen through. No fault of mine, but it's a new coop conversion in which the existing tenants have changed their mind about buying. Nothing to be done about that (legally they get it first) but I still don't feel bad hoping their credit is terrible and they can't get a mortgage.