Wacky Wednesday Guest Post by Marty! "I Work In A Trailer Park"

Ok, I don't really work in a trailer park, but that is the running joke at my place of work.  This is because, in reality, all of the office-dwelling folk like me - whom would normally inhabit cubicles in most comparable companies - actually do have our "offices" in temporary trailers.  Last year, the company I have worked for since 1998 acquired this smaller company up here in Oregon.  During the course of 2010, the Oregon facility experienced explosive growth in business and so all of the offices were cannibalized and turned into more space for Engineering, Manufacturing, & Warehousing, and all of the offices were moved into trailers!  It just reeks of class.  Actually, the really funny thing is that after having been here for 5+ months now, it just seems totally normal.  Some of the highlights of trailer-dwelling office life include:

• The drain pipes from on top of the main building dump water into the parking lot in which the trailers reside, so in the winter when the sun would melt the snow on the roof of the building, the water would pool on the asphalt and then freeze overnight, creating an incredible sheet of ice I had to traverse to get into the trailer in the mornings.
• To add fun to the winter-time hazards, as snow would melt and loosen up from on top of the trailers, it would slide down in large chunks and was regularly a threat to dump right on one's head upon entry to or exit from the trailer.
• Each trailer is locked and monitored my a security alarm system at night.  First one there unlocks the door & disarms the alarm; last one out locks & arms.  Those of you who know me (and my propensity for forgetfulness) well can imagine how often this results in me being locked out of the trailer or after unlocking the door, standing there listening to the alarm sound while wishing I had remembered my card key to disarm it.
• The heat is kept at about 60 degrees overnight and 68 during the day.  Usually when I get there it is still around 60-62 so I have an hour or so to sit with my coat on while it warms up.  Even when it gets to 68, the insulation in the trailers is not great so my feet are usually numb.  I wear wool socks or double up regularly.  However, it is handy because my lunch usually stays nice and cool.
• Once in a while I will see a herd of white-tail deer out my window (on the other side of the barbed-wire fence). That is actually very cool.
• Probably the most popular thing I have done since arriving is approving the acquisition of a 'Deep Rock' style water cooler for our trailer.  I was a hero the day that thing arrived.  You would have thought I just gave everyone a huge bonus.  Everyone was so stoked that they no longer had to walk 1/4 mile each way just to get some water.  Of course, now we all walk that far even more often because we all have to go to the bathroom more frequently.
• We have taken trailer life to all new heights.  You have no doubt heard of the 'double-wide' trailer.  Well, that wasn't good enough for us.  As our latest addition to create more office space, we have actually bolted together four trailers to create a 'Quad-Wide'.  And, we did this twice.  Actually, the space inside is quite nice - carpeted, some offices, a conference room, two bathrooms, and a bunch of cubicles with new office furniture.  Oh, and bars on all the windows because apparently our property was recently highly populated with homeless gents who might want to help themselves to the various items inside the trailers were they accessible.   Pics below.

As much as I poke fun, I really enjoy the working environment here.  The willingness of everyone to just move into trailers to enable the business is indicative of the entrepreneurial spirit and drive that resulted in the growth they experienced last year.  The people here are great and have really welcomed me to the team. 

Below are some pics to go along with my descriptions of my new workplace, along with some pics (that don't do the view justice) of what my drive to work looks like these days.

Laura, Elijah, and Gavin came to have lunch with me at work a while back.  E eating his lunch in our "Board Room"

E at my desk in the trailer

Trailers (mine is on the right) with the open space behind where occasional wildlife is spotted

Driving to work

Mountain view on the drive to work.  A little cloudy on this day.

G at lunch

My daily entrance into the trailer park...except the boys usually aren't with me

Another conference room.  Note the lack of things like a ceiling or carpeting.

Our surely-soon-to-be-famous "Quad Wide" trailers. 

View outside the window in my trailer.  It looks like we are in the middle of nowhere but in reality there is a subdivision just over the hill

Mountain view leaving work

View of the facility from the road.  This is the opposite side of the building from the trailers; you can see the field of solar panels to the left of the building.

Mountain view on the drive to work.