Improvising darkness

It's autumn, and the Sun is low in the sky in the afternoon. And as it so happens, I have a velux window in the ceiling, which faces south. And that means that in the afternoon, the sun can shine straight onto my monitor. Obviously, that means you can't really work.

In the olden days, I had blinds I could pull down. But these broke. I told Estates; I told them twice, but they haven't responded, and it seems they are very unlikely to be willing to do anything about it. It's a sorry state the university is in!

When it had just happened, I would hang my keffiyeh from the bar with which you can open the window (with difficulty). But then Dean lent me some blackout material with fixings. There was a big sheet and two small ones. If I’m feeling optimistic I will use the small bit. Initially it’s only an upper corner of the window the sun comes through. By the time the Earth has rotated a bit more and the Sun shines past the small sheet, it may have clouded over. But when I’m feeling pessimistic I’ll use the big sheet. That makes my office look somewhat ominous. 

Small measures

When I really mean it

I don’t think Estates have any intention of fixing this. I might want to think of a more pleasant solution myself. I wonder if a colourful drape that just hangs down, rather than being stuck to the glass, would look better. It should be easy to put up and take down. I might be able to work on a sunny afternoon without making my office gloomy! Imagine that…