Love, As Always, Pete

The Weekly Letters, by A. Pedersen Wood

September 13, 2007

Dear Everyone:

I have been given an order:  Produce content for training on how to use the Enterprise File Plan in GIL3.  I’ve actually been trying to do just that for some time now.  But I keep running into the same brick wall:  There is no File Plan in GIL3.

We have a representation of the File Plan in the form of an Excel spreadsheet, but that’s not the File Plan itself.  You can’t store a Word document in it.  You can’t record metadata about a Word document in a spreadsheet.

So I’m back to writing step-by-step instructions for how to use a figment of imagination.  (Cue Rod Serling’s introduction to The Twilight Zone.)  Sigh.

I did have a conversation with a contractor who says she is the “point person” for communication with the training people; so I’m hoping that we might be able to “connect” with someone who can set up the environment that we need in order to actually use an actual File Plan in the actual GIL3 environment.

In other news…

About a month ago, I noticed that stores were beginning to sell Halloween costumes, candy and props.  In fact, the Sunday that we returned from San Francisco, we stopped at a candle store because “Jeannie” wanted to get Halloween candles.

Now, really.  Two and a half months before October 31st , isn’t that a bit much?  How much advance notice do you really need for Halloween?  The pumpkins aren’t even ripe enough to bring to market yet.

And today, September 13, 2007, I opened my mailbox and there it was:  The first official Christmas catalog.  And no, I’m not planning on buying anything.

Meanwhile…

“Jeannie” and I finally went to see Hairspray.  This is a remake of an earlier movie that came out in 1988, which was based on a stage musical, which was based, in turn, on a play.

The year is 1962, the place, Baltimore, Maryland.  Tracy Turnblad wakes up singing, “Good morning, Baltimore”.  She’s a teenager who loves to watch the Corny Collins Show, a local TV station’s version of American Bandstand, which is sponsored by a hairspray manufacturer.

Tracy’s parents, Edna and Wilbur, are portrayed by John Travolta and Christopher Walken.  Yes, John Travolta plays Edna, a lower middle-class housewife who does laundry to make ends meet.  When Tracy gets a chance to audition for the Corny Collins Show, Edna is horrified because she knows that Tracy, not exactly a size 5, will be humiliated.  But Wilbur tells his daughter to follow her dream.

They’re a very progressive family, though they might not know it.  In 1962, “Negroes”, as they are called, are only allowed to dance on the show one Tuesday per month, and with rope dividers to make sure they don’t “mix” with the white kids.

Before you know it, Tracy is marching for civil rights and Edna and Wilbur are singing “You’re Timeless to Me”.

Did I mention Michelle Pfieffer plays Velma Von Tussle?  She’s the TV station manager determined to maintain the status quo, including making sure her daughter wins (again!) the coveted Miss Hairspray contest.  Things don’t go well for Velma.  But her daughter is quite the little trooper, clinging to the crown with all she’s got.

The best part of the movie, of course is Travolta.  What impressed me the most was not that he put on a fat suit and danced around.  It was how much work he must have put in to pulling off a perfect Baltimore accent.

Love, as always,

 

Pete

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