September 23, 2009
Dear Everyone:
Last night I paid bills.
Happily. In full.
Even the credit account that had a balance of over $10,000 (this
is the one I was using to pay off another account that had a much higher
interest rate.) And the new
refrigerator (for the new place) and new
stove (for the old place) were
on an account that was “interest-free” for six months.
Paid it all off long before the “six months” were up.
I love having money in the bank.
Although, technically speaking, it’s in the
credit union.
And today I received the final paperwork from said credit union
that the mortgage was paid off.
I still need to talk with the company that manages
my 401(k) account about paying back the money that I borrowed.
And I have to pay “Jeannie” for all the money she put into the
place. And our friend, the
plumber, deserves something, too.
It’s all coming together.
In other news…
A few years ago, when we were in Building K, I
discovered a desk tray set up next to one of the network printers that
we used. There was a
hand-lettered sign above it asking people to put their “cover sheets”
into the tray. A woman who
worked in the building would collect the cover sheets every week or so
and take them to her daughter’s school to use for scratch paper.
At work we use what are called “Multi-Function
Devices” (MFD). They are not
only printers, but are also copiers and can be used to scan documents.
Everyone uses the same MFDs.
So how do you know which printout is yours?
The MFD prints a “cover sheet” which is a sheet of paper with
your login ID printed on it.
My ID is one of the earliest:
First initial, middle initial, first two letters of last name.
A.P. Wood translates into “xxxx”.
When I first heard about this, I was working in
“Exploitation". We had two
people on staff who were both R.R. Stxxxxx.
I asked what happens then.
The first one to go into the computer would be “rrst”.
The second one would be “rrsx” because the computer would
automatically skip over the second letter in the last name and try the
next one. These became known
as “Company Accounting Initials” or CAI.
Naturally, there are certain four-letter
combinations that are not allowed.
Felix Unger Ckgowitz would not get the automatic first initial,
middle initial, first two letters of the last name because it would be
rude. As time went by, fewer
and fewer people actually got that combination because all the good ones
were taken. When someone
left the Company, they used to wait a good six months before reusing a
CAI, especially since a contractor might leave, then come back to work
on another project. But
after the “Another Company” and “Yet Another Company” mergers, the need
for fresh CAIs forced them to start reusing initials after much shorter
durations.
Getting back to the cover sheets.
When I discovered someone was “recycling” them through a school,
I set up a tray near the printer we used most at our end of the
building. About once a week,
I took the collection down the hall and placed them in the original one.
When we moved to Building E, we lost that
connection. But by that
time, a former co-worker had become qualified to teach and so had
schools that she could deliver the paper to.
So I started collecting cover sheets on my own.
There was always a box under my desk, filling up until I could
find the time to take it down to her place in “Pleasanton”.
I’d leave the box on her back porch and she would deliver it to a
school. Sometimes we’d get
together for dinner after work to catch up and transfer a box of paper.
When we moved to Building G, where we are for now,
it took a couple of days to get desk trays and signs set up at the two
printers nearest my office.
I even had a person complain that she had no place to put her cover
sheets and no way was she going to toss them into the recycle bin.
Now we have two trays filling up with cover sheets.
Some people are funny about this.
The signs asks that you place your cover sheets in the tray
“neatly, face up.” Well,
people can interpret that a great many ways.
Some just toss the sheet, letting it land where it may.
Others leave a pile of sheets because they take everything to
their office, separating cover sheets from actual output, then bringing
the cover sheets back later.
There’s one person who seems to have a compulsion to mess the sheets up
as much as possible. But
here’s the thing: It has
your name on it (anyone can look up a CAI to find out who “yyyy” is.)
Why would you want to advertise to all your co-workers that
you’re a slob? Whatever.
Last Spring, what with moving to the new place and
fixing up the old place, I hurt my back.
I was reluctant to try and move boxes of paper around, so I let
the cover sheets sort of pile up in my office.
Actually, they were piling up on my office partner’s desk.
Since he’s working in
West Africa, that doesn’t bother him.
I now have two moving boxes absolutely filled to
bursting with cover sheets.
Probably close to three cases worth.
My back is finally better.
I have been collecting boxes (mostly the ones used to deliver
printer paper to the printers) for a few weeks now.
I can fill a box half-full with paper and can move it fairly
easily. And I can move two
half-filled boxes to my car in one trip, using my little hand-truck.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, I’ll take the first
two boxes down to “Pleasanton”.
After that, I’ll check on how soon the school will want more
paper. Because there’s
plenty where that came from.
Love, as always,
Pete
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