{"id":342,"date":"2005-10-16T04:55:00","date_gmt":"2005-10-16T04:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bobtherieau.com\/blog\/index.php\/2005\/10\/16\/0ae3be60-e004-4a1e-8934-12ba6d73cd82\/"},"modified":"2018-06-13T01:29:23","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T01:29:23","slug":"0ae3be60-e004-4a1e-8934-12ba6d73cd82","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bobtherieau.com\/blog\/2005\/10\/0ae3be60-e004-4a1e-8934-12ba6d73cd82\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chance Of Isolated Thunderstorms…<\/b><\/p>\n

I thought is was hooey, pure dope-smokin’ crackheadedness. Not a cloud in the sky after all, but it’s beginning to look like the real deal. A bigger chance than not of rain tonight and tomorrow means only one thing—I’ll have to actually concentrate on getting things done inside The Lodge this weekend.<\/p>\n

Not that it’s so terrible, but I was hoping to continue my exterior winterizing projects but lo, it’s already winter. Already! Maybe it makes sense for the stores to run closeout sales on Thanksgiving stuff (they’re mostly done with Halloween, just picked-over scraps left at this point). That’ll give them more time to concentrate on my Birthday Holiday Season in February. Things are moving so fast around here that next year’s birthday may have come and gone and I missed it. <\/p>\n

Clear skies this afternoon, socked in now.<\/p>\n

Speaking of poor reasoning skills, I’ve been confronted with job choices by the powers that be that hinge on a flawed premise. Either I pilot a desk in an office full time or become some sort of switch-throwing monkey taking orders in the field from Captain Mahogany. Maybe a little background is in order…<\/p>\n

My plan to administer the electronic medical records systems involved not only maintaining the database but also the workstations and other equipment at the ‘Charity. I’d travel between sites in San Diego and Riverside counties to provide hands-on support, chatting with staff to understand their needs, and devote all of my time to that program. My plan was shot down as being too expensive. They’d have to hire two techs to replace me after all.<\/p>\n

The new crazy plan is to hire a database admin to run my deal and a couple more databases that keep the accountants hip deep in their daily allowance of numbers. There would also be switch-flippers for the medical program, one in each county, and two techs (or one and a half or some Human Resources circus trick like that). Not wanting to sit in an office all day, I was offered the monkey job—just pick a county. Apparently, this plan is okay and well-funded even though it involves a high-priced database administrator PLUS two (to three and a half) more techs.<\/p>\n

I didn’t want to throw around the fact that I was a math major during that meeting, but it seems to me that the numbers just don’t work. There was the hint of acknowledgment of that but this isn’t about budgets, it’s about vision and direction!<\/p>\n

Um, vision. More layers of management, does that constitute a vision? As it is, the structure of my department is pretty flat. There’s the boss, then everybody else. We’ve all had projects thrown at us, seemingly minutes before they’re scheduled to launch, and we’ve all stepped up and taken them on. We’ve settled in and we do our thing. It’d be nice for everyone to know what everyone else does in case something happens, but we’re stretched pretty thin and generally leave our phones on when we go on vacation. It is what it is and works okay. Not great, but it can be exciting at times to see everyone rally around to get something done.<\/p>\n

If this sounds familiar, it should. My former employers at the Twenty-Fifth Largest Marketing Communications Firm (by billings) pulled a similar stunt before we were all laid off. In that case we were a happy family working together getting jobs done until management had a “better idea” which involved selling out. Currently the “better idea” is to add layers of management and new layers job titles (more money though, right? – ed<\/i> Don’t get your hopes up. No Robustos for you. Guess you’ll have to keep chomping on those cheap nickel cigars you’re so fond of. -bob)<\/p>\n

As usual, I’m over-alarmed by all of this, but if past is prologue this “better idea” will soon be forgotten and we’ll all get back to what we do. Electronic janitorial work.<\/p>\n

Your best pal in the whole world,<\/p>\n

bob<\/p>\n

P.S. People have been clamoring for photos lately. Maybe rainy day shots tomorrow?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chance Of Isolated Thunderstorms… I thought is was hooey, pure dope-smokin’ crackheadedness. Not a cloud in the sky after all, but it’s beginning to look like the real deal. A bigger chance than not of rain tonight and tomorrow means only one thing—I’ll have to actually concentrate on getting things done inside The Lodge this … <\/p>\n

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