Rattling Desk

I have a great office. It is my own, and I only share it with the copy and fax machines. I love that it is my own space. It has, however, become difficult to work in peace over the last several months. It all started at the end of last summer when the University started doing some major construction on the library, which is about 30 yards away. The parking lot between our two buildings became a construction site as they broke up the concrete to put in larger piping for this library expansion. Just a few months, I thought. Plus, they are just trying to improve the campus and we should complain. It's do-able, although our building has no air conditioning so opening the windows in the summer is a must. We all made it work, and looked forward to September when this construction would end. Two months later (November), it got too cold to lay concrete and the snow began to really pile up, so they quit for the winter. Finally peace!! Not so much. It was at that point that they began replacing the windows in our entire building. Remember that I live in Wyoming and November, December, and January can be brutally cold. So we cranked up the heaters, and tried to bear it. They didn't actually get to the windows in our office until January. Big open holes in our walls in January!!! We didn't freeze to death, but the noise was difficult to work through. We actually found ourselves having to yell at students, just to be heard. The windows have been replaced in our office and the offices above and below us. Whew...no more desk rattling or yelling at students. Wrong!!! Within a few days of the window replacement, they began remodeling one of the basement wings of our building. Lucky for the Graduate School, it is directly below us. So I sit today, as I have every day for the last nine months trying to work, while my desk is shaking and my computer screen rattles. I just found out this morning that the projected time frame for the basement repairs is seven months!! We will get to endure all of this through September...and that is if all the construction is completed on time. Ugh!!! I just hope that it gets quieter in the future, or I may be crazy come September!!