working at home

I've been avoiding campus, trying to get work done at home (not so easy this week--with MP2 sick--and my own case of this ickyness following pretty darned close behind). But, I needed to pick up some files, so I went to campus early this morning at 9, thinking I'd be able to zip right in and out. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

• First, my building is grand central station for whatever on or off-campus organization needs it. This morning that was HEP (High School Equivalency Program--I think). Navigating the short distance from the building entrance to the elevator brought to mind Moses parting the Red Sea--as in where the hell is he when you need him to carve a path through people?? Gah.
• Eventually, I make my way to the elevator, along with a guy who is clearly part of the campus maintenance/facility office and up we go. As the elevator doors begin to open on my floor, a screeeeeching sound greets us. Within seconds, I see that the fire doors (that block people's entrance INTO the elevator from the 4th floor) are closed. I look up at the maintenance guy who laughs, "don't worry--false alarm" and then kicks them back so I can leave.
• Okay. So, into the department I go for mail, and then down to my office. I grab my folders and then notice that the light on my phone is blinking. Thinking this is the woman from the grant office who called my cell yesterday for clearance to pay a bill, I sit down for what I think is going to be a quick voicemail I can delete. Six messages. Six. Wow, I'm thinking, "she must have really been freaking out over that $158 invoice!" Then, I proceed to play back five attempts to fax something to my phone from area code 208. Oy. I had almost deleted messages 4, 5, and 6 entirely unheard--certain that these would all be high-pitched fax beeps wrong awry--but something stopped me. Good thing. Call 6 was actually important museum-related business re: a loan renewal.
• So, I jot that number down to return from home on Monday and then head into our computer lab thinking I'm going to scan a post-card image really quickly. WRONG. The bike-riding-inside-our-building-spouse of retiring-faculty person (who NEVER scans anything) is occupying the one computer terminal (out of about 15) that is hooked up to the scanner. Again. Gah! So much for an easy trip to campus on a summer, weekend morning.

Back to reading archival docs...