Let There Be Light

I've been working in the same building for the last 7 years. It's an old building - once the police station, and a TB sanitorium, and who knows what else. But now it holds community probation, various county offices, our HIV program, metro bus folks, civil rights, the auditor, and some human resources offices. Kind of a mish-mash of people. But compared to the other county sky rise office buildings, our's has character.

The county is facing a 90 million shortfall this year, and another 90 million projected for next year. They announced the closure of several public health clinics and the layoff of 255 people this week. Possibly 400 by next July. Luckily my job is federal grant funded, so it isn't affecting me directly. But things are pretty dire for the rest of the county. Last I heard over 40 sheriffs will be laid off. Given there weren't enough to start with, the impact of this alone is hard to fathom.

However, the county invested in one thing this week... after 7 years they FINALLY replaced the flourescent bulb in the women's bathroom. Frankly, it's always been dark, so I just figured that's how it was supposed to be - I didn't even realize there was a bulb to replace. Among other revelations, I had no IDEA how putrid yellow the bathroom stalls and floor tiles are. Nor how much easier it is to stay awake during the day with light in the bathroom. I was trying to imagine the installation today - I was wondering if in the early 70's these faint yellow floor tiles (you know, the 1x1 inch type, solid color, covering the floor and 6 inches of the walls where they meet up with the brown and orange striped wallpaper) were really cutting edge in design, or if they were just what was on sale at the time.

Rumor is we'll be moving to the building which opened last year - otherwise known as the cube farm. No one has doors, the cube walls are low, and no one has more than 5x7 feet of space. But on the up side, the tiles are not puke yellow and the bulbs all work.