Landscapes of clouds

How long have we been rearranging the desks on this floor? It feels like forever but it's probably only been about ten months. Since Christmas, four sets of shelving units have arrived, been set up and then departed from the space across from my desk. That's the fifth table over there (and we've not even had one of this week's arrivals yet). Maybelle and her desk are now in their fourth location of the month. Bronwyn's moved over to the position agreed with Mary last summer and is waiting for a 'phone point to be installed. It could be a long wait: Nancy's been at her 'new' desk for five years and still doesn't have one. And if I hear Mary say to somebody: "We'll just put that there for now" one more time I shall scream.

This afternoon's to do is a squabble in Nancy's team about the positioning or not of a desk. Milton passes by and takes it on himself to point out that if they had the desk in the appointed place then they'd need electricity and network points installing on the nearby wall.

Ten minutes later he escapes.

"I thought you were unnaturally quiet," he tells me in passing.