October 27, 1995
Dear Everyone:
It’s taken well over
a year (over 2 years, if you include the original Evaluation Project),
but the CRMIS-to-Versatile
Conversion Project ended officially in a meeting yesterday morning.
Bottom line: It cost
more than projected (no big surprise), but we still saved money by
getting out of the old system.
Over $130,000 this year and around $600,000 per year over the
next 4 years. Round it off
to 2.5 mil, give or take some pocket change.
(The actual Presentation took a little longer than this, about 90
minutes, but the gist is the same.)
Officially, we had
the meeting because our manager, “Sarah Thatcher”, wanted it.
But, truth to tell, I wanted it, too.
Just once in my life, I wanted to work on a Project that had a
Beginning, a Middle and an End. Usually, you get
one and two, but never have the time to finish things completely.
Once the initial rush is over, “higher” priority things keep
getting in the way and completing the Project (whatever it is) always
gets pushed to the back burner, then the back shelf, then it’s forgotten
altogether, except for someone who always remembers that “you never
really finished (fill in the blank).”
And, now that the
meeting, and the presentation I had to give, are over, I can relax and
get back to working on Versatile
again, as well as several hundred other things.
The Project is completed, but the work goes on.
The new, and greatly improved User Guide is nearly finished.
And one of these days, “Jerry” and I are going to steal a small
printer, drag it and a PC into the Conference Room and barricade the
door until we can get some report formats designed.
Speaking of
completing things, there’s a strong rumor going around that they’re
actually close to finishing the Headquarters Relocation Project in San
Francisco. They must be near
the end because I saw workers planting trees and bushes around the new
garden. And it appears that
they’re test-running the waterfalls.
Sometimes they’re on, sometimes off.
There’s a graceful bridge over pools of water (sometimes with
water, sometimes without--still testing).
And artfully placed chunks of granite in the garden and pool.
I don’t know why,
but for some reason, Company just has a thing for artfully placed rocks.
There are artfully placed chunks of granite on the roof of
Building 3 in “Pleasant Hill”, too.
It took a helicopter, and a full weekend, just to get them up
there. (“And what do you do,
Mr. Arbuckle?” “I’m a rock
placer. Very artistic
work.”) Somebody very high
up in Company must have always wanted a rock garden when they were
little. I shudder to think
how much those rocks cost.
On the subject of
costs, and saving big bucks, there is one last thing to do about the
Conversion Project. That’s
to give all the statistics to “Murray” so he can nominate the Project
Team for an R&A (Recognition and Award).
It’ll be interesting to see what comes of that.
Long time no
Movies...
Last Saturday,
“Jeannie” called to say, “We haven’t been to a movie in a month!”
I checked my Day-Timer, and she was absolutely right.
It had been four long weeks and it was my turn to pay.
So, presentation preparation notwithstanding, we went to see
Now and Then.
It’s a very pleasant
coming-of-age film about four 12-year-old girls living in
Indiana in the ‘70’s.
Savannah,
Georgia portrayed Indiana.
The younger actresses out-shine their older counterparts,
Demi Moore,
Rosie O’Donnell,
Melanie Griffith,
but then, they have more screen time than the women, who only appear at
the beginning and end. It
has a few chuckles and a few tears and one of the reasons we picked it
was because it was close to “Livermore” so I could run into the office
and do something on the computer before the movie started.
The sets and
costuming were dead on. One
girl’s mother “started dressing like
Nancy Sinatra.”
“Hot
pants” with sleeveless shells.
Crocheted dresses with bell sleeves.
“Jeannie” wondered, “In twenty years, will we look back on what
we’re wearing now and shudder like this?”
Who knows?
Love, as always,
Pete
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