It’s time to paint the office! 🎨 Which means dismantling all the computers and radios, and pulling everything out. There are so many cables. Seems like the opportune time to sort it out™️. That does mean deciding what it’s being sorted out to.

In the interim, I’ve setup the worktops I use as desks in the playroom and setup a Lego train loop on it. They’re a little bit narrow for the loop but with a few baseplates I can manage the overhang. There isn’t enough space for two full loops but one main loop plus a couple of switch tracks for smaller ones. I also setup a similar loop underneath the table so another train can run down there. Here’s a little video of them running on it:

I am pleased that BlueBrick runs on linux without a song and dance of Wine (which is what the internet said it needed). Just need to install mono-devel and run it with mono. It’s a bit of a funny piece of software but it’s good for figuring out track layouts. I’m sure I can put shapes for tables or room layouts in it somehow. I’ve forgotten how to use it since last time. I was thinking about building a lego table with plywood etc. but I wonder if a collection of IKEA tables would be cheaper/better. At least with them I can dismantle in pieces and reuse elsewhere or sell/give away individual units if things change. The only thing is I’m stuck with fixed dimensions (or three tables sizes to use). I did want to make a little gap where you could pop up in the middle, as I thought that would be fun - that would require custom made, unless I’m doing a super huge layout (which I’m not). The other thing with the IKEA tables is that they’d have a nice finish, all be exactly the same height and could allow for new layouts in the future. I’ll make a design I want to do, see how big it is and then decide what’s best.

I still can’t believe how many things were in the office. When I took it all out, except the last table by the window, I did think about just having one desk in there, with one monitor and one computer, then using the rest of the space to have an arm chair for reading or listening to music (probably on headphones). It certainly wouldn’t feel cluttered. I could still fit in the printer and radios, either on the desk or on the little shelf thing I have sitting under it. All the rest of the surface is just there to gather stuff. The only downside would be the monitor being in front of the window, and blocking the light a little. Unless it’s off to one side. Although arm chairs are always bigger than they seem, and we have lots of seating elsewhere. I dunno, would just like it to be a little less cluttered. Maybe keep the desktop all the way round but just one computer, or rearrange things. Perhaps I’ll sketch out a few options and see what I think. Torn between one computer to minimise it and all the computers.