Although the department has internal reorganizations regularly, this is the first major reconfiguration of the external operation during my career. Said differently, this is a strategic move in an area where we’ve usually made tactical adjustments. It’s going to be an interesting year. I expect to see some modifications to the plan as the politics play out, but things will likely shape up pretty much as announced. Since my responsibilities are primarily internal, I’ll mostly be a spectator.
Filed under
Bureaucratic Whimsy
Posted on
April 30th 2004
Not that there are no other fish in the ocean upon whom I can sling my hook, but who can be like my dear Betsy that loves me with such generosity of heart?
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
Posted on
April 28th 2004
Janet had an explicit rule against talking to managers and analysts from other divisions if we passed in the halls. This tended to make my job difficult, so I usually ignored it.
Filed under
Bureaucratic Whimsy
Posted on
April 28th 2004
From May 5, 1985 through March 3, 1988, my job title was Leadworker (it’s an assistant supervisor position, without enough authority) in what was then called Data Input. I mention this because the successor unit to Data Input was honored by the department yesterday, and because Joan is the current incumbent in that Leadworker position.
Filed under
Bureaucratic Whimsy
Posted on
April 28th 2004
My memories of the cycle were that it wasn’t so much difficult as relentless; the pressure never let up, though the emphasis changed from week to week. It helped a lot that I was reasonably fit, and accustomed to long hikes. It didn’t help that I was only barely competent with a rifle. It was clear to us that, at least from SFC Charley Tucker, the pettiness and meanness were part of the course work, not part of the personality.
Filed under
Veteran Testimony
Yarns and Tales
Posted on
April 24th 2004
At this point, we’ve got a pretty good idea how we want things to work out, and Randi has three potential vendors lined up for the project. All three vendors have working relationships with our group, and each is certainly capable of doing the job, but their differing skill sets are likely to impact the project’s shape. Randi and her boss, Mark, have been sorting through the implications of that for the past few weeks. Within the analyst group, Randi’s been bouncing ideas off Alice, and I’ve had a chance to comment on (or snipe at) an occasional memo. She’s about ready to set the proposal to paper, and to officially invite bids.
Filed under
Bureaucratic Whimsy
Posted on
April 20th 2004
As I predicted, we hooked Joan’s new weather station to the PC this afternoon and gave Joan a chance to play with the software. I still like the system–and I still think its design needs a lot of work.
Filed under
Semi-Geekery
Posted on
April 18th 2004
Margie’s been shepherding the testing since February. She did OK, but there’s considerable room for improvement. She really doesn’t understand the logic of a testing process, yet, and hasn’t recognized that app development is as much a negotiation process as a goal setting endeavor. But she’s got this under her belt, and she’ll be more valuable to us for that experience.
Filed under
Bureaucratic Whimsy
Posted on
April 18th 2004
Macalester College had a student-run coffee house, No Exit, which lived behind the college grill in the Student Union’s basement in the late ’60s. It was a cozy, black-painted place with good entertainment, good sound, and decent food. Leo, who struck me as a young white man impersonating an old drunken blues singer, played there regularly when I was a freshman and a sophomore. (The music redeemed the act.)
Filed under
Dear Old Macalester
Musicks
Posted on
April 17th 2004
On the day I was born, fortress-like Old Kenyon on the campus of Kenyon College burned, taking the lives of nine students. Lee Schermerhorn, a student at the time, captured motion pictures of the fire. A version of that film, and other film Schermerhorn shot before and after the fire, is available on the Kenyon College website.
Filed under
History Scrapbook
Posted on
April 16th 2004
