It has recently come to my attention, via a marked lack of sensation in my bodily extremities, that my office is very cold. After very careful sleuthing and deduction, I have determined that this is due to the outside temperature being 45 degrees, while the air conditioning inside my office is on at full tilt. I have been working at this institution since February of 2000, and each year the same scenario occurs: Every year in mid-April, the heat in all office buildings on campus ceases to function. I am told that this is due to the heat being controlled by some nebulous Big Switch, which may or may not be located on campus, in the state of Ohio, or within the confines of the Western Hemisphere. It is my understanding that the Big Switch is flipped each ides of April, thereby disallowing anyone on campus the privilege of heated workspace and/or domicile. At the same time, said Big Switch activates campus-wide central air to kick on with a vengeance. I have further been informed that the reason for this is as follows: It starts to get warmer in April. Therefore, we don't need indoor heat anymore. This justification for some reason comes as no consolation to me as I sit here in my office wearing bedroom slippers, a sweatshirt over my work clothes, and wrapped with a fleece blanket from the waist down.
posted by Kate at 4:53 PM link/comments
