This has caused me a little bit of a quandary though. My desk in the office is my home away from home and I want to make it feel comfy and welcoming when I visit. However, I’m not there that often, so I can’t bring in stuff I need at home, where I do most of my work.

Sparse

Currently I’ve brought in an original Raspberry Pi Zero from the cover of an issue 40, still in its blister pack, a 3D POP camera, some jingle bells I found, and a little ceramic hedgehog with a fake succulent plant growing out of it. It’s also got some prizes there for future competitions but they’ll come and go so that’s a bit different. The benefit of bringing stuff in also means I won’t have it filling up my home any more, but don’t tell the boss that.

I’ve been thinking about having little Raspberry Pi and/or Pico-powered devices to keep there – I have threatened to make a mini set of two drums and a cymbal so I can make a rimshot machine to punctuate my steady stream of bad jokes – and as we have a fancy new maker lab here with lots of toys - er, I mean serious tools - I feel I should make use of that while I’m visiting. Send me suggestions for simple little machines to the usual places!

Something to call your own

This is clearly a fairly unique and low-level problem, but I wanted to bring it up because it is important to be able to have a space to work/indulge in hobbies at while being comfortable. I have the luxury of being able to personalise my working space at home as well as my hobby space, which is full of boom arms holding cameras, lights and microphones though. I may have chosen the wrong hobby.

It’s taken me a while to get to this stage, so don’t get frustrated if it takes a while for you to get a space you can feel comfy in. Just like learning any skill, it can take practice as well as some trial and error. Also, money.

I now need to figure out the work policy on how many hedgehog plushes I can keep on my desk.