November 13, 2001
Dear Everyone:
The Good News Is: I still have a job. I don’t know exactly what it is or where it will be, but I still have a job.
This is what happens in a Merger. When two companies become one, there are frequently two people where now there is only one job. This is where a lot of “synergies” (i.e., more profits) come from, giving people the axe.
Not that there aren’t plenty of people who would grab that axe in a heartbeat. Some people see it as an opportunity to retire early. The current “package” being offered is four week’s pay for every year of service, up to 104 weeks maximum. That’s two years’ pay in a lump (plus, in my case, full benefits). Over $120,000 all at once has got to be tempting.
But, you have to figure that the gummint would grab the lion’s share of it. Then, after that wild week in Hawaii, how would you continue to live in the (overworked) style to which you have become accustomed. I suppose I could try being “Jeannie’s” business manager, but I don’t think that would work out too well. Shades of homicide in the making.
So it’s just as well that I was offered a job. The title has something to do with Active Files Consulting, which could mean just about anything, including all the Active Files Projects I used to do in and around San Francisco in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s. On the other hand, it could mean something else entirely.
As for the location, the official job offer said the location would be in “Pleasanton”, which would be nice, since that’s (near) where I live. But then I got a voice message from the newly-appointed supervisor, saying that she was looking for office space in “Pleasant Hill”. (We haven’t actually spoken yet because I was in “Hobby” last week and she’s in New York this week.) And, if the job’s what I think it is, you tend to be wherever your customers are. So we’ll wait and see about that.
And, of course, I’ll miss all the people in “Livermore”, as well as the kitchen, and the tea-maker, and frequently-stocked refrigerator, and someone to pick up my morning paper and deliver it to my desk, after surgically removing the Sports Section, every weekday. Again, we’ll see how it goes. Nothing will happen until after Thanksgiving, because I’m on vacation/holiday all next week.
In the meantime, I’m busily extracting data from something called the Meta Directory and reformatting it to send to the vendor to import into our database for moving people. I’ve been doing this long enough now, that I’ve figured out most of the shortcuts and can get through a lot of data in a fairly short time. (I wonder if they’ll use this application to move me to my new quarters, once we know where they’ll be?)
Tomorrow, we meet with said vendor, with the hope that she can teach me and the other System Administrator how to do these imports on our own. Then, tomorrow evening is the monthly ARMA Dinner Meeting which is why this week’s Letter is a day early.
In other news…
“Jeannie” and I finally got to see a movie last weekend. Too bad it wasn’t a very good one. Serendipity is about two people (John Cusack and some girl with an English accent) who meet purely by accident and hit it off. But the girl doesn’t believe in accidents; she thinks everything is determined by fate, which throws clues in your face in hopes that you will make the right move at the right time.
So of course they go their separate ways and are brought back together again years later. This is the kind of comedy where everyone has relatively ordinary jobs, yet can afford to fly across the country First Class at the drop of a hat. Credulity is stretched, but it doesn’t seem worth the effort. As “Jeannie” said, “Even John Cusack can’t save this film.” Plus, she hated the clothes. Consider it a rental, to be selected when your first choice isn’t available.
Everyone have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. “Jeannie” and I are thankful that we don’t have to do anything in the way of a big dinner. I don’t know if there will be a Letter next week. And if there is, I don’t know when it will go out. Like my new job, we’ll see how it goes.
Love, as always,
Pete
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