I have a traditional office, but every day part of me misses being back in the giant cube farm that I used to work in. I still remember counting six rows down,

I have a traditional office, but every day part of me misses being back in the giant cube farm that I used to work in. I still remember counting six rows down, then three blocks over, to get to the section of identical grey cubes where I sat. I had a computer just powerful enough to run a 3270 terminal emulator, a small bookcase, and a chair. What do I miss about that? Any time that someone was not deep into a program they would stand up to stretch their legs and you would see them over the top of the cube. That was the time set aside where you could ask them questions about a project, talk about last night's game, or make plans for lunch. Over the course of a day or a week, you almost always had time to talk to everyone and it encouraged a great atmosphere. We all knew what each other was working on, and everyone had a sense of who was good at what when the chips were down and we needed to fix something quickly. Those cubes are different from what I have seen in a truly "open office," but I would love to get back to that level of daily interaction. Productivity aside, being isolated in an office all day is really soul numbing.