Sunday, November 22, 2009
Hibernation Nation
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Corporate Corpulance
I'm not sure what it is that still makes me so nervous about presenting, but whatever it is, it grabs into my back with some pretty deep claws.
The presentation did not quite go according to plan, and some of the people I was both most afraid of and most eager to impress were AWOL. In standard Bill Gates form my video demo melted down 7 minutes before I had to present, so I was scrambling to get things fixed up to the last minute. Subsequently the lights, projector screen, MS NetMeeting and the room thermometer all malfunctioned and getting things working took a serious McGyver effort by most of the parties in attendance.
When the smoke settled though, I had managed to get my accomplishments across to the people that mattered, and got a positive response. One of the projects I have been working on since July even got enough attention to be hijacked as a new Global standard.
Hard work, success and recognition in the office do not always come as a package, but I have to chalk today up as a win. I am feeling good about getting the position I want for January and that is really all I can ask for at the end of the day.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Rotatation Time!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Opportunity Abuse
There are aspects of corporate speak which I have learned to live with, and some that I even enjoy using in civilian conversation to mess with people a little. For instance, throwing in “leverage” from time to time confuses some and makes those who are in on the joke chuckle. As in: “I think we should leverage our fridge full of Magic Hats before we go to the bar to make our evening cheaper and more enjoyable.” See what I did there? It’s awkward, and nerdy, but it’s usable. I can and have said that and it makes sense, despite being cumbersome. There is one phrase that does more than bother me. It upsets me. In the quest to eliminate negative language from the work place lexicon the words issue, problem, failure and inexperience have been replaced by the word “opportunity.” This does not make sense, and the proof is in the fact that it is absolutely unusable in conversation outside of the office. Ask me to use synergy in a conversation and I will. “I think if we had both our birthdays on the same night there could be some real synergy.” Sure it’s retarded but it still means SOMETHING. It does not work that way with opportunity. Some things are just bad. If I crashed my car, I would not call it a “car opportunity”, if I lock myself out of the house it is not a “break in opportunity” and if a 16 year old gets pregnant, it is not a “shot gun wedding opportunity”. No. These are fucking problems. As is showing up for work or being bad at your job or having a system crash. When these things happen, there is the choice to FIX them, but that is not the same.
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Monday, November 9, 2009
My Memory of the Fall
Twenty years ago this week something changed. After 70 years as a monolithic empire, the world finally saw cracks show through in the USSR. Long pent up frustration with the grey repression of life behind the Iron Curtain culminated in protest which overwhelmed the East German police. The government of East Germany called on Moscow for support, but they had been forgotten and no help ever came.
As the wall came down my parents took me to a Christian freedom conference of some kind. I don't remember much, but it was truly a post hippy affair for families that had given up on counter culture and found Christ. There were a lot of children my age (4) there, and between watching the Land Before Time we were corralled into a room full of large card board blocks. We were instructed to build a wall, and build we did. When a 10 foot long wall was built up past our low eye level the parents were brought into the room and sat. We then were instructed to ceremonially destroy the wall which we did with great enthusiasm.