Er... now I have! I was just calling to ask how to use the library to find online journals because I was having a brain cramp. All better now.
So, across the hall they're having ridiculous amounts of work done in preparation for the new administrator who's coming in. There's hammering, there's dust, there's the smell of... stuff (maybe paint, I don't know). Honestly, I think they should have moved the people who work there while this was going on, but I don't (fortunately) work there, so whatever. The (odd) exec assistant asked me to cover the phones (as the other two people in the office left for the day already -- perhaps because it's so bad in there?), so fine. I go over there so she can go to lunch, and there's dust and smell and people in and out (at one point I nearly choked myself on a string hanging across the middle of the room), and I said, "How do you do this?" Just a mild sort of "My goodness, this is pretty bad, huh?" comment. Her reply was, "To be honest, I'm just grateful to have a job. I haven't been here long enough to take it for granted yet."
On reflection, I think she may just have gotten sick and tired of people complaining about it or sympathizing about it. All the same, I was a little taken aback.