July 23, 1993
Dear Everyone:
(Happy Birthday, “Richard” and “Byron”)
Update on “Jeannie's” itty-bitty accident.
Her neck is much better.
Update on our Destruction Approval Improvement Project.
The Destruction Batches that came
back from the Owners are now in the “Tiddly” Department, being reviewed.
Our concept of a "“Tiddly”
Window", a two-week period during which the “Tiddly” Department would
set their regular work aside and concentrate on Destruction, hit a
slight snag when the key person went on vacation the very day that the
Window "opened". But we have his
assurance that he'll get everything back to us by the end of next week.
My Team decided that we could do some comparisons between where we are
so far, and where we were at the same point during the last two "Annual"
Reviews. So we ran some reports
and figured out what percentage of the Owners responded in time for the
official deadline. In 1993, 47%
had sent their Batches back in time. In
1990, during the last Review, only 3% responded.
We concluded that this looks like a pretty good improvement.
Of course, in 1990, Owners
weren't being charged storage costs for their boxes; we began that in
1991. And the economic climate
was a lot more comfortable back then. Today,
everyone is looking for ways to pinch every penny.
Nevertheless, my Team intends to
take full credit for the increase in Owner response.
Besides, it looks darned good on
a bar chart.
Update on RMSEP (Records Management Software Evaluation Project).
Yesterday, we had our first full
meeting without the Guidance Review Team hovering over us like parents
at a Little League game. The kids
just wanna play, but the
folks all have their own agendas.
Actually, we did not have a full Working Team.
Two people couldn't make it and a
third had to leave before we were half-finished for the day.
Consequently we got
TONS accomplished and quit an
hour early. In my opinion, the
productivity of a group (team, committee, company) is inversely
proportional to the size of the group. The
fewer people you have, the less time you have to waste arguing.
By the Way, Ogden has been in the hospital.
Ogden is the department's
notebook PC. Last month, during a
Records Center Teleconference, Ogden's starter got so bad that I decided
he should get a checkup. I
reported the problem and got a "fix-it ticket" number just before he
went on vacation. (Company
has a deal with “XY” to fix all PCs. You
just called the Help Desk and get a ticket number; and “XY” comes and
does the work.)
I figured Ogden would get fixed while I was gone and I wouldn't have to
do without him. Well, yes and no.
While I was gone, “XY” arranged
to get a "loaner" delivered from the PC manufacturer, then waited for me
to get back, discover the loner, and call “XY” to come and get Ogden.
So Ogden didn't get fixed right
away, but I've had the loaner (Ogden, Jr.) for a couple of weeks.
Unfortunately, the loaner doesn't
have the optional internal modems that Ogden has, so I haven't been able
to access the mainframe computer by phone, which cuts back on what I can
do with Ogden.
In the meantime, the loaner has started a stutter of his own, only with
different keys.
In other news…
“Jeannie” and I went to see
Sleepless in
Seattle. It's cute in
places. Sweet in places.
Only cloying in a
few places. This is
definitely what you might call a "chick
movie". It's all about
romance. Which means:
No car chases, no explosions, no
fist fights, no vulgar language, and absolutely no sex.
It's a nice, cozy little film.
Frankly, you might want to wait
for this one. Spend your time and
money on
Jurassic Park
this summer.
Then, next winter, on some long, gray afternoon, when you don't have
anything better to do; and when the menfolk are off somewhere doing
whatever it is that menfolk do when they're off somewhere, go out and
rent An Affair to
Remember and Sleepless in
Seattle. Build a nice fire
(assuming you have a fireplace), make a big pot of hot chocolate and a
bowl of popcorn, settle down in front of the TV and indulge shamelessly
in a double feature of sentimental slop.
You'll have a ball.
Love, as always,
Pete
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