September 19, 2007
Dear Everyone:
Last week there was a Very Big Meeting in “Hobby” having to do with GIL 3. (Everyone remembers that GIL 3 stands for Global Information Link version 3 and it has to do with replacing all the computers, etc. at the company, right?)
Of course, I was not at that meeting. It was for Very Important People only. Apparently, when the meeting (four days worth) came to an end, the High Mucky-Mucks told the Very Important People, (I’m paraphrasing here) “You people are SO not ready for prime time!”
And promptly revised the schedule for the Full Pilot, which starts in a few weeks. (FYI, “Full Pilot” means a testing phase that should have been in much better shape than it apparently is.)
I sensed something was wrong near the end of last week when I started getting frantic email messages from the File Plan Team Leader asking for various statistics out of the blue. Then I saw a message from the Team Controller suggesting that we needed to have a workshop, in “Hobby”, of course, next week.
Today, in a regular weekly meeting, we found out a little bit about the outcome of the Very Big Meeting. It seems the Very Important People did what Very Important People usually do when suddenly faced with the news that their assumptions didn’t quite hit the mark: They restructured.
This is a standard corporate maneuver meant to hide the bodies as quickly as possible. It follows the logic path that says, if you get a flat you can fix it by rotating the tires.
Apparently, they blame the problem (whatever it actually is) on “too many silos!” Silos, in corporate-speak, prevent people from communicating important information between teams. Never mind that the Very Important People set up the teams that way in the first place.
Then our Team Leader did what she always does in a crisis: Called for a meeting. In this case, a workshop all next week in “Hobby”. So no Letter next week unless we get a last-minute reprieve.
In other news…
“Marshall” and “Jeannie” went up to
But I did have the entire weekend to myself. So I spent Saturday afternoon signing up for some “free music downloads” courtesy of a clothing store where I had bought some clothes for the fall-winter season. I also, finally, installed the software on my computer (now that I have high-speed Internet access) for the MP3 service that I’ve been paying for all along.
So I downloaded almost all of the 35 free pieces of music. Trouble was, I (big surprise) didn’t recognize any of the artists that the site featured. After all, musically, thanks to that old jukebox in the basement, I grew up during the Big Band Era. Tommy Dorsey I can recognize. Ditto Perry Como (who no one in my work group had ever heard of when the Trivial Pursuit question came up during Safety Stretching.)
However, I realized that many of my old favorites might just be available on the more mainstream MP3 service. So, after I get back from “Hobby”, I’ll spend some time downloading and storing music in my Library. This computer has over 14 gigabytes of free space. That will accommodate a lot of music.
Also, I spent last Sunday shortening the new pair of trousers I’d bought. So the weekend wasn’t a total loss. Reminder: No Letter next week.
Love, as always,
Pete
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