Returning to work (no more WFH)

^ excellent

Relevant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnhKaCjCIqM&ab_channel=Radiohead

In the last 18 mo had been in once to pick stuff up and two open days (both very very quiet lol) then this week bam back in front of 70-odd students, real-life colleagues, no masks. All very weird and overwhelming. Recognising names and faces is going to be a challenge. Modulating my volume seems to require a lot of conscious thought (loud for the room, quiet for the person in front of you). Commuting is shit (on public transport atm but may switch to cycling). I'm shattered and only done 2 days this week.

i can’t go to my office but i want to work from central london all day wednesday, where do i go for a one off? preferably somewhere more covid safe then a coffee shop

Do you need to do calls? British Library might be an option if not - I don't remember how hard it is to get a reader pass but they definitely have wi-fi and I imagine there'd be a decent level of decorum...

https://www.bl.uk/help/how-to-get-a-reader-pass#

If you need to do calls there must be some commercial rent a desk for a day service?

Do you need to do calls? British Library might be an option if not - I don't remember how hard it is to get a reader pass but they definitely have wi-fi and I imagine there'd be a decent level of decorum...

yeah looking recommendations on the latter, will need to take calls for sure

I've spent days working there and it's a nice place but I always struggled with focus. Mentioned it to a friend who explained why. As a protection against fire they lower the oxygen levels in the air so no wonder I got tired.

I'm going to suggest that's a bit fanciful, without doing any looking into it. I mean - how, for a start. And HSE are ok with it?

Done the google, though quickly, and can confirm reduced oxygen levels at long term storage facilities

https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/pac/British-Library-low-oxygen-case-study.pdf

From a post about another library

MYTH: The library’s fire-extinguishing system removes the air from the book stacks in the event of a conflagration, dooming any librarians inside to a slow death by asphyxiation.

MOSTLY FALSE: According to Jones, this legend has a kernel of truth:
Instead of water sprinklers that would harm the rare books
collections, he said, a combination of halon and Inergen gases would
be pumped into the stacks to stop the combustion process, and thus the
spread of fire.

“They do lower the percentage of oxygen, but not enough to kill any
librarians,” Jones said.

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2010/02/04/myths-abound-about-beinecke/

So true for the long term storage areas, but not for the open to public areas afaik. Carry on.

To be fair, if it's on fire, you're far less likely to feel sleepy

Foyer / public areas in the Barbican are fairly wide open & spacious

Isn't that in the stacks where the books are stored rather than in the reading rooms? I think @BringMeMyFix would know.

Yes, stacks. I've been to the main repository at Boston Spa: all low oxygen, low temperature, massive computerised retrieval robot-ladder things. There are humans loading and unloading crates though. TBH, I think they'd still have more oxygen in that massive space than in a stuffy over-crowded reading room in the UCL building where I work. In the BeforeTimes, students were living in the library 24/7 in the run-up to exams, and I don't mind telling you, they fucking stank.

For anyone who was interested but couldn't be arsed to look it up, normal* air is 21% oxygen, British Library is 15%, and it sounds like it's done by adding extra nitrogen.

** Not sure whether Euston Road counts as normal air

That's interesting. Quite a difference so surely it impacts people working / being there?

Royal Festival Hall has some good spots particularly on the mezzanine but they get taken early. National Theatre is good backup. I found Barbican too soporific due to lack of natural light. This was pre-Covid so setups may have changed.

I don't know, but a bit more searching says that's the same as about 2000 m altitude, which is e.g. similar to higher ski resort towns, also similar to airline cabin oxygen levels.

RFH seems like my preferred option too but i wont get there till 11am-ish so guess ill try my luck.. thanks

So if I take my Zwift setup in there I can get some red blood cell adaptation benefits? No wonder there are so many librarians in the pro-peloton.

I stand entirely corrected about the British Library. Every day is a learning day.

I don't think entirely, because I think people are mistakenly thinking this is true of the reading rooms rather than the stacks. I could be mistaken though.

I stand partially corrected about my statement about standing entirely corrected about the British Library.

UCL ventilation doesn’t seem great at the moment. I’m back in 2 days a week and not feeling particularly ventilated

If I find a window that's not locked shut or dangerously seated in a crumbling aperture, I open it – a behaviour predating the pandemic. The much trumpeted green credentials have never applied to ridiculously elevated thermostat settings, no matter how much we've complained. World-class, global excellence, etc., etc..

Estates have told me that I can’t have a key to the window in my office because it’s a ‘health and safety issue’. I sent them the HSE guidance on natural ventilation vs air conditioning. There was no reply.