Random thoughts 1: Just Sayin'

[Valka D'Ur]

It's probably some guy who sells beauty products trying to drive his websites higher in search engine rankings by creating fake content on a fake forum.

But maybe I'm not giving the posters enough credit here and that's just how people in the skin care community communicate

It's all about search engine hits, as I've been led to understand.

I was actually paid to post on one of these advertising forums, some years back. I'm part of Amazon Mechanical Turk, and one day I found a couple of hits that sounded easy enough - make an account on a forum, look at some pictures of jewelry, and write two posts about it. So I made the account, looked at the pictures, and wrote a couple of posts saying how attractive the jewelry looked (rings and necklaces and bracelets). For that I was paid 70 cents, which I eventually put toward buying a book on the U.S. Amazon site (Canadians are paid in Amazon.com credits, not real money).

Thanks for all the replies guys. Looks like I'll have to find some other solution. Or maybe I'll just make a discreet hole out to the hallway and use that to vent the exhaust and hope no one notices.

Other than the solutions already offered (getting a fan that works is the most sensible one), you could try stripping naked and when people complain, just tell them that as soon as the AC is adjusted so you're comfortable, you'll put your clothes back on.

 

[warpus]

I am pretty sure that is going to get him fired, arrested, and put on a list.

 

[Snerk]

A list of awesome.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Or he might get the air conditioner.

 

[Takhisis]

I am pretty sure that is going to get him fired, arrested, and put on a list.

I dunno, I'd just call his wife.

 

[Commodore]

you could try stripping naked and when people complain, just tell them that as soon as the AC is adjusted so you're comfortable, you'll put your clothes back on.

That just might be crazy enough to work...

I am pretty sure that is going to get him fired, arrested, and put on a list.

"What's the charge officer?"

"Too much sexy."

 

[Zkribbler]

I have a fan. It doesn't work. My office is hovering around 80 and 85 F (or 26 to 29 C for you non-Americans out there) depending on the time of day. I looked into evaporative air coolers, but apparently you need a very dry climate (average humidity of less than 40%) for them to be effective and the air in our building is usually somewhere around 50% humidity on average.

There has to be a solution in all this somewhere. I know we can figure this out guys.
.

Change offices.
Telecommute.
Does OSHA have a max for office temperature? If so, report them.
Do you have a union you can take this problem to? Why not?
Evaporative air coolers are move effective if you load them with ice and ice water. Stop off at a convenience store on your way to work and at lunch and buy a bag of ice.
Are nearby offices suffering the same problem? Organize a group to go to an executive above this problem level. Phrase the problem as one that effects productivity. The reason that you go to a really high ranking executive is so that his job will be to tell a subordinate to fix the problem. Don't go to your boss; he will hate you forever.
Are you hours flexible? If so, go in at 03:00, leave at 11:00.

 

[Commodore]

Change offices.

Possible, but office space is kinda running low at the moment since the company is expanding. Hell, we've even started renting out space in a neighboring building to make more room for the labs and all the new employees we are bringing in.

Telecommute.

Not an option. My job on the security team requires a physical presence at the site so I can respond to any issues the guards can't handle on their own and greet any VIPs that may show up and ensure they have the proper access to the facility. All the work I do is also classified, so I couldn't access anything I needed remotely even if my job didn't require a physical presence.

Does OSHA have a max for office temperature? If so, report them.

It's fine during normal business hours because the AC in the entire building is running and it does a pretty good job of keeping things cool. However, we are a 24-hour facility and that requires a 24-hour security presence (defined as at least one guard and at least one member of the security team. I took the night shift because of my family situation and the building AC is shut off by the time I show up to work. I can still manually turn on the AC unit servicing my office, but with the AC still off in the rest of the building, the unit for my office simply isn't powerful enough on it's own.

Do you have a union you can take this problem to? Why not?

No union. No support for one either so it won't be happening anytime soon. Most of the employees here are taken care of well enough that they simply don't see a need for one. I mean, it's all researchers and engineers mostly so they already get pretty good pay and benefits.

Are nearby offices suffering the same problem?

Just the labs. But that's due to all the machinery they have running their experiments all the time. And the fact that the labs are located towards the interior of the building, which is where the security team's office is as well.

 

[warpus]

Checking OSHA is a good idea. Just because you don't work during regular business hours doesn't mean that they get to ignore whatever regulations exist in terms of the allowable temperature in your working environment. So you might as well look it up and see if you could use that angle to force a change in your working conditions.

If you go forward with Valka's earlier suggestion, I can already see the headlines:

Local area man shows up to work naked, drills hole through office wall. Police have the building surrounded

 

[Samez]

Not the best solution but one of the easiest:
Regularly wet your forearms and let them dry slowly - it's one of the few larger skin parts which are usually not covered in a public environment and can be used to a) cool down your body while washing with cold water b) can be used for evaporation cooling after the washing
IIRC it is also used in Ayurveda but they add essential oils to the washing water

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Checking OSHA is a good idea. Just because you don't work during regular business hours doesn't mean that they get to ignore whatever regulations exist in terms of the allowable temperature in your working environment. So you might as well look it up and see if you could use that angle to force a change in your working conditions.

If you go forward with Valka's earlier suggestion, I can already see the headlines:

Local area man shows up to work naked, drills hole through office wall. Police have the building surrounded

I never suggested that he show up to work naked. I suggested that he strip after he gets there.

Of course my first suggestion of a fan is probably the most practical. There are lots of different kinds of fans, and maybe two might be necessary.

Mind you, I'm saying this when it's sweltering here and I can't just go around in my normal casual clothes because there's been a maintenance guy here all morning, fixing the bathtub plumbing for the suite directly above my suite. I don't own a fan myself, since I've always been afraid the cats might get too curious, stick a paw in to see what that whirring thing is, and end up dead.

 

[Michkov]

I don't own a fan myself, since I've always been afraid the cats might get too curious, stick a paw in to see what that whirring thing is, and end up dead.

You can buy fans with a cage around the blades, most of the meshes are fine enough that a standard sized cat cant get through

 

[Hrothbern]

Cooling down in hot office

Best strategy depends a bit on whether you sit (perhaps watching monitors) or walk around.

Your body will produce from her basic metabolism about 80 Watt. If you are a big, muscular person it will be higher
If the surrounding temperature is the same as your normal body temperature, you need to sweat about 2.9 liter per day to keep constant temperature IF you evaporate all that sweat.
This comes down to approx 2 gram sweat per minute.

Standard max sweat per hour of a human is roughly 1.5 liter per hour. Tropical people up to 3-4 liter per hour.
So our body is capable to do the job for most circumstances.

But you have to arrange that your sweat evaporates !
So you need moving air on the wet or wetted spots.

The example of wetting your forearms is fine
But if you sit behind a reception desk as guard
You can also use your bare feet and put a bowl with water beneath your desk and put your feet shortly in and then longer out with a airfan nearby till dry again.
If you have done your round you put fresh ice in it.
Not that the ice has a big caloric effect compared to the sweating, but it feels great.

The great American author Hemmingway wrote a lot of his books during the night standing in and out water with bare feet to keep awake and for relief

 

[Valka D'Ur]

You can buy fans with a cage around the blades, most of the meshes are fine enough that a standard sized cat cant get through

I'm not talking about a whole cat, just inquisitive paws and forearms.

 

[Glassfan]

My families have had pets forever - dogs, cats, rabbits, todlers, etc. I've never experienced any issue with fans.

Just say'n.

 

[Takhisis]

I never suggested that he show up to work naked. I suggested that he strip after he gets there.

My suggestion for his boss to call his wife still stands in this case.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

And what is his wife supposed to do about it?

 

[Takhisis]

*an evil smile creeps slowly across Takhisis' features*

 

[Samson]

I don't own a fan myself, since I've always been afraid the cats might get too curious, stick a paw in to see what that whirring thing is, and end up dead.

Have you considered the new dyson bladeless fans? I am sure they are not cheap though.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

They look interesting, but are waaaay out of my budget.

What I've been making do with tonight is a folded envelope, that runs on manual power.

I do have a ceiling fan, but it's located just off the kitchen. I learned years ago that running the fan means my cat's drinking water will evaporate. So I don't use it.