Are you cubed skank?

[Deeps]

Hello,

I work as a computer guy in a large company and have as of recent been insanely bored with all that is my station in this huge machine.

Just wondering if I have any friends out there who feel the pain of excessive individual work, slow corporate momentum, reality show conversation being the only occasional buzz, carpal tunnel, mediocre carpeting ohhhh and benefits and paid vacation.

Wondering who out there is in a cubicle style setting and what they do when they feel like this....or if they feel like this at all.

Deeps

PS I am registering for courses to get a 2nd degree in Psych today so that one day I have a job that makes a difference and pays the bills.

[CyberHippie]

Yes I'm definitely cubed. It's a very corporate atmosphere here and I find it incredibly stifeling.

What do I do about it? Message boards, msn, solitare, stare out my window at Toronto Island, and turn my mind off and sleep for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week...

[bradm]

I work in a cubicle, and actually like my work a lot. I'm a programmer, and my work is in that grey/boundary area between art and technology: I have to be creative (to come up with solutions to problems), but my creativity is bound by the limits of the technology I have to work with. And since I'm a details junkie, that's right up my alley.

Further, I'm in a research/innovation group, as opposed to a product group, so the pressure due to deadlines and competition isn't nearly as great.

It also pays well, and gives me good 'net access.

Aloha,

Brad

[Guest Low Roller]

I escaped last September. I then moved to Paris for a couple of months, and then finally settled down by the sea in England. In those four months I have been to Manhattan, Paris, Tours, London, Montreal, Brighton, and Brussels. I lost about 15 lbs of fat accumulated by eating unhealthy lunches combined with no regular exercise and a toxin-filled lifestyle. I am able to wake-up with a smile on my face and maintain it all day as I mingle with the good people I meet.

But I like the money so I'm going back into the box.

[rubberdinghy]

I was cubed for 3 years...hated the last 2...They only way I could handle it was to get the hell outta there...Now I am the king of the open road!!!

[Ms.Huxtable]

I hear you Deeps. I'm not confined to a cubicle but my office is windowless and I can still hear every damn word my loud mouth colleagues say. (Just moments ago I could hear one of them clipping their finger nails!!)

I hate having to hold the hands of incompetant people and wish I could come to work and do my own job not everyone elses. I often think of leaving for something less stressful and more rewarding, but the perks of this job (everything but the work) are too good to give up right now. (Free suites in Toronto, summer Friday afternoons off, free parking, cheap gym memberships, able to carpool with Bouche, quarterly bonuses, my own office and internet surfing ability.....)

What keeps me going? I go the gym at lunch to get away from the desk and enjoy some stress relief, I check out the Skanc and ensure that every weekend includes something to look forward to. Having Bouche around to hug at the end of a long stressful day does wonders for my psyche as well.

[CookieMonster]

PS I am registering for courses to get a 2nd degree in Psych today so that one day I have a job that makes a difference and pays the bills.

Don't do it unless you plan on going further than just a bachelors degree - trust me on this one! I have a psych degree, and I work in a cube. As an accountant. Go figure. ::

[MarcO]

No cubicle, but I sit in a windowless office that is always about 40 deg C with a woman who hums all day.

Is there any wonder I have 4000+ posts on here?!?!? thank you, everyone, for letting me keep a glimmer of sanity.

[Gr8FuL]

Aww man deeps you have the cubed up blues!!No worries man, i do the exact sam thing, i do server support and tech for bell sympatico internet in Ontario and Quebec! Its brutal but Like cyber Hippie says, Message boards,forums,Msn,Solitair,Staring Blankly out windows orat the ceiling, basically turing off ur mind for the time ur at work!! I find especially now, instead of just eatin lunch, myself and some like minded co workers, play FRIZ in the parkin lots at lunch, and man it makes a huge difference, the day goes by quicker, you get less stressed and agitated, it works wonders! Its not just Frizbee, it could be any activity, go for a walk, run,Rollerblade, Bike, Hackeysack, whatveer ya like on ur break or lunch, It'll help for sure!!

Cheers

Josh

[Booche]

In response to CookieMonster's signature.

Marge: That's because you were drunk!

Homer: And how. ...

(Cubicle guy here, but I have 13 different sites to maintain so I get to go for 40 dollar cab rides now and then. The workers around me are nutty as fu©k too, but I laugh at them rather than pay attention to the insignificant details regarding their outbursts.)

[Kaidy Mae]

I can't say I'm shocked that so many of us here are drowning in a sea of beige boredom. Bleh! Must offices look so hideous?

I'm very lucky in that I have some really cool co-workers around me (and a pretty decent pay cheque). Our office is very open concept with huge windows, kitchen, etc. (we even have 2 showers so we don't have to rinse at the gym). I have a great carpool and my work is challenging enough to enjoy, but not enough to stress me out. I also have the benefit of having every Friday off all summer long. That's one sweet perk!

However, I work for an organization that I do not believe in. This, I think, is what gets all of us "cubed skanks" down. My employers are unethical in how they serve their customers (who just happen to be you, the taxpayers). The organization is one thing, the CEO is another. There are few things more disappointing than working for someone you don't respect.

Alas, what can we do? I tell my wonderful co-workers how they help get me through the day, I go for walks (and the occasional liquid lunch), I hear from you all around here, I plan for the next show and I surf the net...still trying to get a glimpse of that place where the grass is always greener.

Deeps-good luck with the schooling! I'm plugging away right now so I can one day study naturopathic medicine. I wish I could stay in school forever. Time to get some lottery tickets.

[Jaimoe]

I'd say that I'm glassed-in and virtually sound-proof... when needed. I work in a television control room ( master control suite ).

[Tooly]

i dont have a cubicle but i might as well, its a hellish officee job, guess its not that bad, im a little over a month in, such a change from other jobs ive had, roofing, building houses, working the door at pjc, if you consider getting paid in dogshit a job, but it had its perks too, such a drastic change, ,got my own desk phone line and net access, not working with my hands except to type, its a drag most days, but every now and then i enjoy it, ,like today for example i woke up super pissed off, and ive discovered that i work ALOT faster when im mad.

sometimes i wish we did rock the cubes in this office so i didnt have to put up with the drab conversations and hearing everyone else all day, having them shoot me sillystupid comments every now n then. woe is me lol

[bug]

Today is my last day in a cubicle EVER!

I find it the worst in the summer, or on nice spring days like today, when all you want to be is outside. I guess having no windows almost makes it better, since you can't see what you're missing out there.

Here are the ways I've kept myself sane for the last 4 years of BORING cubicle work:

- read just about every online newspaper

- keep very up to date on celebrity gossip/reality shows/weather so I'll have something to chat about with the receptionist

- go hang out in the bathroom

- write up my "real" resume, where my skills include hand-holding, mind-reading, being a scapegoat

- drink beer/wine (I work with a bunch of lushes and we have a beer keg!)

Too bad all the fun times have to end...

[Ms.Huxtable]

Congratulations Bug! If it were my last day I'd be preparing my speech to my boss about how much I hate him and what misery he caused for me over the past few years. But I don't think that's in my cards for another couple of years.

I have a feeling I'll be one of those people that loose it at work one day and don't come back. I struggle to keep my cool here on a daily basis.

Boy this thread has been like therapy today! Thanks!

[Kaidy Mae]

Today is my last day in a cubicle EVER!

Lucky bugger!

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

As long as you're not asking what ever happened to your stapler, you're probably doing alright.

Or maybe you do need to lose just one more stapler, just to put the universe back into balance.

[Kaidy Mae]

"... they've moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were married, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire... "

"And they were married"??? One of my favourite movie lines ever. LOL

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Thank you! I was afraid people might have thought I was making no sense whatsoever! I will have to presume that everybody here who has had to work in a cubicle will have made a point of watching that movie.

[secondtube]

for those of ya working in an IT field, be THANKFUL you have a job....

i still have a couple DOZEN friends that graduated with me in 2003, AND STILL DONT HAVE A JOB!!

i went back, many did not....and are still looking.

[Guest Low Roller]

Congrats Bug! Run! Run free!

[Lazlo]

I drive a forklift half my shift and the other half I sleep, smoke dope and annoy you fu©kers.

[Douglas]

sounds exactly like the summer job I had at DuPont when I was at college...except for the "annoy you fu©ker" part (we only had a deck of cards...no internet)

[StoneMtn]

My job is not in a cubicle, but I do work in an office. I used to despise most days of the week when I worked in downtown Vancouver, and the view from my office was through the windows of another glass-tower lawfirm.

It turns out it wasn't the job I despised at all. I now do the same work with down-to-earth people and I do it in a tiny resort mountain town. We also rarely work past 5 or 6 pm, and never on weekends.

Now, I love my work...

So, no real comments on how to cope with your current position, but if you get the chance to do the same work in the Muskoka Lakes region or Banff or Whistler, I think your problem will be solved.

[CyberHippie]

I will have to presume that everybody here who has had to work in a cubicle will have made a point of watching that movie.

Seen it?! Hell I live it!! I *am* the real Peter!

Every day you see me, is actually the worst day of my life...