Allergic to work

Really, I am. Okay, so I'm not so much allergic to the work I do, but I am allergic to the place where I do it. As I'm sure I mentioned (bitched about) before, my office is located in the basement of an old Victorian building in Dupont Circle. It's pretty nice as far as basements of old Victorian buildings go (and apparently it still had a dirt floor a mere 15 years ago, which is really neither here nor there), but there are certain drawbacks. The most obvious con to being a basement dweller is the lack of sunlight (there are no windows), especially now that it gets dark so early, and I don't even want to try to list all of the reasons why relying solely on fluorescent lighting is BAD. The three floors of distance between me and my 3rd-floor dwelling superiors is both a blessing and a curse. It's nice if I need to slip in and out of the office undetected, but it's not so nice when I have to run up and down four flights of stairs to traffic shit back and forth to my boss's office because the elevator is older than Strom Thurmond (yes, I know he's dead now) and breaks all the time, probably because it is actually operated by group of aged Victorian midgets yanking ropes through pulleys.

The ventilation system in the building, particularly in the basement, and particularly in my office in the basement, is for shit. Not only can it not maintain a constant temperature throughout the building, but it cannot maintain a constant temperature in one part of the building throughout the day. It is a schizophrenic climate control system. And at last, I get to my point: allergies. Not only does the ventilation system not ventilate properly, but it is also clogged up with lung seizing allergens, such as dust and mold. I know this because there is a vent RIGHT ABOVE MY DESK, literally about 2 feet above my head when I am standing up, and if I don't tape a file folder over it, it blows crap onto my desk all day. Surprisingly, it took me a long time to figure out what was causing my frequent splitting headaches (I've been working there since July). In any case, this situation must be remedied. I'm going to take it up with my boss, who will tell me to take it up with human resources, who will tell me to take it up with the facilities manager, who will tell me to take it up with my boss. I love bureaucracy!