Technicalities
Feb 5, 2001

*) Finally!

There hasn't been a Technicalities for a while.  First order of
business: let me whine for a bit about how busy I've been.  Projects
finishing, projects starting, covering for folks sick or on vacation.
A tidal wave of pitches.

Now let me give you the real reason for the protracted silence.  Since
I came back from my extended absence, it has just been damn boring
around here.  Your humble chronicler has been hurting for material.

*) Mea Culpa

I'm sure I would have had something to write about had I gone to the
Woodbridge "holiday" party, which this year, as ever, was held closer
to Groundhog Day than any other widely celebrated festivity.  I was
told a rumor circulated in the Woodbridge creative department that I
failed to show because I was afraid of the reception I would get.
Nonsense.  I'm never scared of going where I'm not appreciated.
Besides, I had Richard Harris all set to be my bodyguard.

Actually, I spent that evening trapped in the office working on a
pitch for a consulting company.  Anyone who knows me would certainly
understand that I'd much rather spend an evening in New Jersey
discussing J2EE architecture than arguing about staffing on a project
plan.  But as always it's total devotion to ACOM, and business before
pleasure.

Fear had nothing to do with it.

*) Enough About You...

... let's talk about me.  Wednesday was my 41st birthday.  I've been
seeking some epiphany to mark this entree to my fifth decade of
existence.  Here it is: leather pants are in.

I am 41, old enough to remember when it was that women first wore
pants, back in the early 70s.  (Ok, I don't mean the Rosie-the-riveter
workers in the factories in WWII, but women in an office in
Manhattan.)  I recall my grandmother's joyful experiment at trespass
as she told me that she had bought he first pants suit - an outfit
that is probably as I write being snapped up in a used clothing store
as a stunning example of 70s high camp.

Well, as of this year, leather pants are for women officially
categorized as "business casual".  There were a few examples around
the office last year, but this winter I am practically surrounded by
leather-clad female bottoms.  Not that I'm objecting (!), but I just
wonder what my grandmother would have thought.

(Alright, I know that it's not much of a profound insight.  Give me a
break.  My birthday was only last week.  I have deeper things to say
about my 30s.)

*) New Faces

As ever, new folks join our intrepid band of geeks:

Brandon Hornbeck - a new Tech Director, has been tossed into the new
Knoll project.

Daniel Lee - just started as a Lead Tech Consultant.  I think he's
working on the i-traffic project, but you'd have to check projector to
be sure.

Bill Ort - is a Sr. Tech Director on C&W.  He didn't quit his first
week here, despite being given my old cube.

(I hope I didn't miss anyone.)

*) Speaking of Seating...

... people have been asking me my opinion of my new office on 10.

On the plus side: it's an office, and I can indulge my habit of
listening to my three CDs over and over and over, and I can talk on
the speakerphone without annoying anyone.

On the minus side: my side of 10 has the ambiance of a library,
there's some huge magnet in the elevator on the other side of the wall
that makes my monitor swim every time it goes past, and spend a lot of
time on the interior stairs.

But in fact, I don't think about my new office too much.  I suspect
that you'd get a similar response from a migrant worker asked whether
he liked the particular farm on which he's harvesting this crop of
strawberries.  And I've moved relatively few times.  Ritesh is now
back up to 13, after less than two months as my neighbor.  He tells me
that he has had _five_ locations in the 13 months of being at 20
Exchange Place.  Even if I do like my office, it doesn't pay to get
too attached.

*) Party Prognosis

One of the reasons it's so boring around here is that there haven't
been any parties.  Since my extended absence Jamil Ellis and Eugenia
Antipas have totally failed in their responsibilities as festmeisters.
(They have their reasons.  Eugenia's been busy trying to keep track of
which department the builder group is in, while Jamil has had to fly
around the country meeting personally with everyone in the company
who's interested in wireless communication.)

Still, on those times when folks go out things do pick up a bit.  Yuju
Yen is responsible for monitoring Yoo Kyung Chang's alcohol
consumption.  Jamil - under Tony Ward's tutelage - tells jokes lewd
enough to make Ritesh blush.

I'm willing to bet things will pick up a bit pretty soon now.

*) (C6 H10 O5)n

The score: Atkins 1, Scarsdale 0

Yuju is quite a bit thinner, and has recently been seen eating real
food again.  Peter Gluck on the other hand, is still chowing down on
cheese.

*) A Mystery

Cathy O'Sullivan is on vacation.  She is in some tropical location.
She refuses to tell us where.

*) Celebration!

Well, I celebrated the company's backdown on the three-strikes-and-
you're-out timesheet policy by failing to get my Friday hours in on
time last monday.  To top it off, I'm late giving my people their
reviews.  There, do I have everyone ticked off at me now?

*) Count Your Blessings

You don't work for Razorfish, which, aside from being sued by their
shareholders, can't even seem to execute their plan to fire 1/3 of
their workers without the news leaking out to their staff beforehand -
via www.fuckedcompany.com!