December 17, 2003
Dear Everyone:
Last Letter of the year.
Tomorrow is my final day in the office.
I have almost all of my shopping and shipping done.
Next Tuesday we leave for
It’s been a nice, busy year, particularly with electronic document management. Remember last month, when we were scrambling to get the Computer-Based Training (CBT) in place in time for a large group of folks who needed to get trained as quickly as possible? It’s not like they fell all over themselves to get through the CBT and send in the test to be qualified to use the system.
We got a bunch in the beginning, then very little.
Until last Friday when 12 people sent the test in all in the same
afternoon. I suspect their
boss sent a “reminder” that lit a fire under a group.
When three different people
email the same test at
the exact same time (
Nevertheless, as long as they don’t miss more than three, they get in. Once they finish using the training IDs, we log into the training system as their ID and clean up any documents left. I’d say less than half of them even tried the hands-on exercises. Which just means less work for me.
This afternoon, one person sent in the test. He got four answers wrong. What the heck. ‘Tis the Season. I sent back a reply telling him that “we regret that the number of wrong answers exceeds the limit”, then told him which questions to review and try again. Since two of them are True/False questions, I expect he’ll pass tomorrow.
And after tomorrow, the backup Training Coordinator will take care of things while I’m on vacation. (I love having a backup!)
OK, enough about that. Movies. I know I should have done all sorts of productive things last Sunday, but I walked over to the local cinema and watched The Last Samurai instead. All two hours and 35 minutes of it.
It stars Tom Cruise, but you already knew that. It also stars Ken Watanabe as the actual Samurai in question. Cruise plays a veteran of the American Civil War, also known as “The Unfortunate Incident of the Northern Aggression”. After the war, he fought Indians, now known as Native Americans. Bad things happened, especially to helpless women and children. Cruise is unhappy about this.
Meanwhile, the
Emperor of Japan,
played as a very young man whose “advisors” are only interested in
lining their own pockets, is busily trying to drag
Enter Watanabe. He hasn’t done that many English language films, but he’s done enough work that Cruise can’t blow him off the screen just by being there. The Samurai wants to learn more about his enemy, but it’s Cruise’s character that does most of the learning. As his wounds, both physical and spiritual, heal, Cruise begins to bond with his captors.
Eventually, East meets West, modern weapons vie with ancient honor. Oscar nominations wait in the wings. It’s long, but worth the matinee price.
Everyone have a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.
Love, as always,
Pete
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