Why not, instead of setting up a depression, creativity-draining cublice landscape, erect an office based on the lazy river rides found at most water parks? There would be no walls, just a wide space with a winding, slow-current river replacing most of the floor. Each employee would get a large innertube outfitted with a couple drawers, a raised writing surface, cup holders, office supplies, a cell-phone, etc. Then they could spend all day floating around, perhaps with their feet in the water as they go about their business. I envision much happier, productive employees (as long as the innertubes are made sturdy enough to support some serious work.-- smizzou, Jun 22 2001 Floating Executive Desk http://www.kevinkop...6_lg_float_desk.htmI suppose this desk would float, wouldn't it? [hippo, Jun 22 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] Floating Desk http://hawknest.sba...e_floating_desk.htmHmmm..... [hippo, Jun 22 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] Spinning City of Fun Would work well with this idea. [Worldgineer, Jul 08 2005] Good idea. I'd like a budget version -- an office with a narrow stream snaking through it at about waist level. The flowing water would help create a mood of peaceful contemplation, employee bladder cancer rates would dive, and memos and office supplies could be floated down to colleagues on tiny rafts like platters of sushi.-- Monkfish, Jun 23 2001 Koi to clean up the donut crumbs, maybe an opening high in the wall to let ducks and herons fly in and out. Oh, and dragonflies, lots of them, to keep any mosquitoes under control.-- Dog Ed, Jun 23 2001 Monkfish and Dog Ed: Good stuff. Now that I think about it, it might be good to include a few peacefull fake waterfalls along the walls, too.-- smizzou, Jun 24 2001 Your quality of work would suffer as people got up to go to the bathroom every five minutes...I like lots of dragonflies, though...-- StarChaser, Jun 24 2001 Ah, but people wouldn't have to get up to go to the bathroom...-- steg, Jun 24 2001 I dunno about you, but if people DIDN'T get up to go to the bathroom, I wouldn't be dabbling my little paws in the Yellow River...-- StarChaser, Jun 24 2001 Not quite baked, but along these lines: the Port of Seattle administration offices have an artificial stream running through them. The offices don't float and I doubt they use the stream for mail, alas.-- wiml, Jun 25 2001 If you stayed late at the office would you have to put navigation lights on your "tubicle"? Would they be covered with Velcro so that they could be stuck together for meetings? So many questions.-- hippo, Jun 25 2001 No, I meant would the "tubicle" (that word again!) be velcro-covered, so that you could stick it to someone else's?-- hippo, Jun 25 2001 I'd prefer it if the tubicle's were set up to repel all other tubicle's, thus creating a form of water ballet as we all floated around the room. Get out and paddle if you need to get to a meeting. PS: I wonder if we'll ever hear from Rods again?-- DrBob, Jun 25 2001 Yes - good point, [DrBob] - "...so I might set up my new toaster in the bath..." - No [Rods}!! Don't do it!-- hippo, Jun 25 2001 How about a sort of siding to the river where you could veer off for a little entertainment on your lunch break?br> Perhaps a white water rapid ride finishing in a plunge pool - filled with Firesnakes!! When you've finished, a sort of travelator could bring you up to the level of the office river (I envisage the rapids taking you down at least one floor) to join in again. I see a large atrium style office with lots of mezzanine floors and galleries so you could see all the watery stuff going on. Can't imagine anyone getting much work done though...-- goff, Jun 26 2001 [Mephista] - A concatenation of "tube" (the original idea was for floating innertubes) and "cubicle".-- hippo, Jun 27 2001 Sex.
Mephista, not really. Weather, humidity, mosquitos, wildlife, wind blowing things away.-- StarChaser, Jun 30 2001 RIght, 'Does no human being long to be working on a big river?'. Besides, I'm not human. Wind is not an effective mosquito repellent...Citronella plants work pretty well, though.
As to the barge thing...a basically interesting idea, but you're quickly going to run out of 'new scenery'...-- StarChaser, Jul 01 2001 I'm not sure you'd want *me* on your wallpaper...-- angel, Jul 02 2001 Well, we've got to put those tubicle sinking darts somewhere...-- thumbwax, Jul 02 2001 Not when it interferes with what one is doing. If what you're doing is looking at a river, great, but if I'm trying to bodily drag someone through how to click on their start button, having to fight off forty pound mosquitos is an unwelcome distraction.-- StarChaser, Jul 02 2001 Where I work is completely inside. No windows at all visible from my desk. I don't particularly like it, either...but even the low-budget AC here is better than the 98 degrees outside. No bugs is important to me, I hate having little flying bastards buzzing me. I'd love to work at home, with my better AC, cats and faster network connections...-- StarChaser, Jul 03 2001 Clothing would get wet, so bathing suits would be in order. I hope my colleagues are hot...-- supercarrot900, Jul 08 2005 I was at a waterpark the other day, and the exact same thought entered my mind. I found it unfitting for the 'bakery, shows how much I know!
... okay, so it wasn't exactly the same. I wanted to have little cubicle outfits that you could ride down the big rides with, too.-- daseva, Jul 08 2005 Too little exercise for the employees. How to fight obesity if people just float around?-- rrr, Jul 09 2005 random, halfbakery