Studio711.com – Ben Martens

You know you’re getting old when you get excited about something as mundane as a kitchen table, but that’s where I’m at. When I moved out on my own, I got Great Grandma’s small table and four chairs. It wasn’t really an heirloom as she bought it after Great Grandpa died and she downsized to a smaller living space. But it was fun to think of her when we ate at the table.

Anyway, the table was nice (and free) but it was small. We just got in the habit of dishing up straight from the kitchen and then eating at the table. When there were four people eating there, you had no chance of getting any extra dishes on the table. Plus, the ends folded down and weren’t very sturdy so it wasn’t great for having people over to play games, etc. And when we have Tyla’s family over, we’d have to set up the folding table just to fit everyone. I’m 34 years old but I still have a college kid’s table.

Finally Tyla and I decided that we were in a position to buy a new table. We were somewhat discouraged when we tried this last year and couldn’t find anything in our price range. We saved up some extra money and then went for it again this year, but to our happy surprise, we found a crazy good deal! This new table comes with six chairs and can fit all six chairs without the extra leaf. Or we can extend the table and fit two extra chairs. It’s big enough to seat a bunch of people but it fits perfectly in our smallish kitchen eating area. (Our formal dining room is Elijah’s playroom.) The leaf is pretty cool to. It folds down inside the table so you don’t have to store it in a closet.

The table and chairs came from Don Willis Furniture in on Lake City Boulevard. It’s an odd place but they have some really nice furniture (no particle board.) They have some furniture that is unfinished and you can either have it finished in the exact color you want or finish it yourself to save some money. We’ll be checking them out again when we need more furniture.

The first time we used it was while my parents were still here. Mom had asked if she could do anything to help while I was outside grilling and I said, “Yeah! You can set the table!” That’s something we never did before! I got a ridiculous amount of joy out of seeing the main course, side dishes and condiments all sitting there on the table while we ate dinner. I’m an old man.

PS. Thanks Don for lettings us borrow your truck! Dad and I got five of the six chairs in the back seats in the cab and the rest fit easily in the bed. You saved us a $99 delivery charge!

At the beginning of February, my group at work moved into a new building. Technically it’s an old building but it was completely gutted and renovated. Instead of most people having their own office (or sharing with one other person), we now sit in big open areas. The only personal space you have is a rolling desk with your computer on it. The idea is that you can easily unplug and roll to sit next to whoever you’re working with. There are no walls between you and your teammates so you can chat more easily.

I have to say that I loved having my own office and I’m not a huge fan of the change. There are definitely some advantages especially when it comes to pair programming or just asking quick questions. But overall I find it pretty distracting and it also makes it more difficult to handle the quick personal phone calls like scheduling doctor appointments, etc.

It sounds like all of the buildings on campus are moving toward this so there’s no getting away from it. This stuff goes in phases so I’m sure in 10-20 years we’ll all be moving back into our own offices because that’s the cool new thing.