CafeChatNoir

In true “I am an idiot with too much conscience” style, I finally got out of the office at 7PM this evening - my boss had even left for the day.

Forgot to have him sign my timesheet, but I sent off a copy to the agency anyway and left him the original with a plea to sign and fax for me.

Turned in my badge to the second shift guys at the front desk - hope they give it to whoever it’s supposed to go to! (I know they will, they’re terrific and I am going to miss them)

Highlight of the day - ran into the former president (before MegaCorp bought the company) - he is a PEACH to work with - told him my good news about the new job, and I was treated to a big ol bear hug and a smooch and a huge smile. He was such a treat to work with.

Mark was able to make it to lunch - he looked SO good. Totally relaxed and happy. Very glad to see that.

While I’ll miss a good number of the people there, the folks that I *really* miss are already gone. The organization itself can go bankrupt for all I care.

But no matter - I’m out and off on a new adventure in a week and a half.

Turnout was lighter than expected at the joint US/Australian press conference held at President Bush’s Crawford, Texas ranch…

Last day! WOOHOO!

Still feeling a bit iffy today - were it not my last day, I’d just call in sick. On tap today is finishing up clearing off my desk, helping the boss do some work in the accounting system, and lunch. I am going to try to keep thinking at a minimum today.

While I’ll miss several of my coworkers, I will not miss the politics, bad decisions, stress or general stupid crap. I will definitely NOT miss closing the books. I will say, this has been a very good experience in that it has shown me that my gut feeling of “stay away from publicly traded companies” was right.

They laid off two more people from the payroll group yesterday - one was out on disability (we’re wondering if they can actually do that), and the other one dealt with all our payroll tax issues. Now, we’re not actively filing payroll taxes as of 4/1, but we’ve still got issues and such from last year, and now there isn’t anyone left to deal with them. Smart move, guys!

Cpt. Mary Melfi, who is a Weapons Systems Officer with the 336th Fighter Squadron of the 4th Fighter Wing based at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina, hugs her dog ‘Glory’ after being reunited with him for the first time since being deployed as part of the U.S-led war with Iraq (news - web sites). Melfi and seventeen other members of the 336th Fighter Squadron returned to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base May 20, 2003 after participating in the war with Iraq. REUTERS/Ellen Ozier

Ahh, some time off. Tomorrow, I think I will go to the bank. In the middle of the day! WOOT! It will be nice to be able to get some things done around here.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

How much time I can spend *not* working the last three days….

Yesterday I left early for the dentist.

Today is a luncheon that I will NOT miss.

Perhaps a stop at IHOP on the way in tomorrow?

Why working for a privately held organization isn’t such a bad thing by any means… (My experience definitely is in sync with this!)

Private Life Suits Deltek Just Fine

And I am seriously ticked off at the “IT Guy” that Sideshow Bob has. He has totally left my new boss in the lurch.

We have to remote to the accounting server. He’s on the Herndon network, and has to remote to our network, and then re-remote to the accounting server, which you can’t do.

So, the IT idiot sends him a file to install, which he doesn’t have the admin rights to install and shouldn’t be anyway, since he’s not a computer guy. So, the IT guy is on the speakerphone and finally says, “Well maybe I should come out there and take care of it.” I happened to be in the room and damn near jumped up and down trying to let the new guy know that YES, this would be a better idea.

In the meantime, the only way he can get to the accounting system is to go through my workstation, because mine is ‘hardwired’ or whatever to the Tyson’s server and then he can remote from there to the accounting server. All with his logon, but we can’t get him set up to be able to “see” the Tysons server on his own workstation when he boots up, because they made him an employee of another division. He’s not happy either. Took 2 weeks just to get him a logon at all.

So, we spent half the morning going through JE’s, which was excruciating, and I spent the rest of the day teaching him how to use Costpoint. (I am actually a decent trainer.)

Dentist was fine, apparently had a small freak out or something with the nitrous - Doc said they uploaded the video to the internet already, LOL.

Two more days. Easy.

OK, 3 days left. I can do three days. Easy. Like nothing.

So, why do I have to keep convincing myself of it, LOL? I guess I’m just getting really tired of being asked questions that I don’t have answers for (and no real reason I should have the answers) and being looked upon as though I am some sort of idiot. (In that case, can I just go now, please?)

It’s silly, I know - it’s three days, and even tomorrow I leave early. I suppose if nothing else I could fake the plague or something. (Then again, claiming SARS during closing didn’t work either.)

Three days. I could do it in my sleep.

For a couple of reasons.

First, I am a lazy slob, so it pretty much goes against my entire genetic makeup.

Second, after three freaking years, I am STILL finding crap that belonged to my ex in the house. Drives me nuts.

about working in DC was the bagpiper player that would randomly show up at the MacPherson Square Metro station.

Beagle Makes Incredible, 800-Mile Journey

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=816&ncid=816&e=1&u=/ap/20030518/ap_on_fe_st/beagle_s_journey

The dinner I made or the movie Bad Boys. I had to stop watching.

And dinner was pretty bad.

Since I can’t find out what the default font is to be able to change back to it, might as well have some fun with it.

…that I am not going into the office today.

As the lovely bride of stated, they will figure everything out the same way I did. She is very smart that way.

If anyone could hear the snoring from wherever you are. Got back from the office and hit the rack for a while, and crashed HARD.

Going back to the office tomorrow, have what I need/want to do mapped out in my head. Was just too tired/beat down/unmotivated today to go beyond what I did. But, I did still get a fair amount accomplished.

Today was getting all the JE’s organized and a ton of stuff tossed in the trash, tomorrow will be getting all the tax files organized (and put away - no reason to even look at them again.)

The pile of things to send to corporate tax keeps growing - but the fact of the matter is, there just isn’t anyone left that knows what to do with the stuff.

I find myself worrying *way* more than I need to about whatever is going to happen after I leave, and I am trying to stop that. Someone will come in and fix whatever it was that I screwed up, the same way I came in and fixed what my predecessor screwed up. Circle of life and all that.

Actually, been here about 2 hours now. Gotten a fair amount done, but not enough. But I’m fighting against being tired and not caring much, and it’s a losing battle. Maybe I’ll come back in tomorrow for a few more hours and finish up, or perhaps just not worry about it so much.

Five Pallas’ kittens snuggle with each other in a cat bed Friday morning, May 16, 2003, in the Children’s Zoo Nursery at the San Diego Zoo. The Zoo’s animal care staff stepped in as foster parents to care for a total of six kittens, who were born on May 5, when their mom showed inadequate interest in nursing. The Pallas’ kittens, three males and three females, are fed a kitten milk replace daily in the Children’s Zoo nursery. Guests at the Zoo can see the young siblings conduct a host of behaviors including climbing, playing and cuddling. (AP Photo/San Diego Zoo, Ken Bohn)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/030516/168/4367h.html

Wow, my brain is just trying really hard to shut down on me. Thursday night, I had forgotten to set the alarm at all before going to bed. Last night, I didn’t set it, cause it’s Friday. This morning, I woke up at around 6 AM, realizing that I hadn’t set the alarm, so I turned it on, since after trying to think about it, I had no idea what day it was.

So, it finally occurred to me that it is, in fact, Saturday, so I was able to sleep for a while.

Granted, I still have to go into the office for a while and get my desk cleared off and everything filed away that needs to be filed and all that good stuff. Hopefully that will SHUT UP my boss for a while. He’s driving me batty - he wants everything all neat and organized, which is fine, except that I just haven’t had any uninterrupted time to do it - and he is the biggest cause of that.

Now, the good news is that I am going back to the dentist for some more minor (compared to the root canal) work on Monday afternoon - so that will be a short day. One more appointment w/ the good Doc after that and I’m done for 6 months. Hurrah!

So, I basically have 2 3/4 days left of dealing with people that drive me crazy. I realize that none of this should even begin to bother me at this point - I am LEAVING - why should anything get to me! But it’s just not working.

I am having a very hard time convincing the new guy that I don’t know everything. It’s not that I don’t want to share info - it’s that I DON’T HAVE IT.

Another example of things going wrong - the accrual for the pension plan contribution. That was something that Mark had always handled. In the back of my head, I knew it existed, because I had to go get the number from payroll in December for him to make the entry. But it never cemented in my head that “this has to be done once he’s gone” and it was something that Mark just forgot to pass on. It happens. End of story.

Well, it didn’t get done for the end of first quarter. Now that I think about it, I think that we *didn’t* do it quarterly, and just expensed it during the year and at year end we did the accrual just because it was year end. Either way, the new guy ain’t happy that it didn’t get done. I will look at last year’s records and see if it really was quarterly or annual, and if it was annual I will shoot the new guy an email about it and just get the issue off the table.

Mark had his job, I had mine. I tried to learn what I could of Mark’s job, but again, I had my own job to do as well. I don’t mess with capital assets - never have - yet my new boss expects that I should be able to fix whatever happened with the asset file that was uploaded to corporate.

I have no clue how AP works anymore since they changed it to the corporate processing and moved the entire staff away from us. Yet, I am supposed to know how on earth they do everything now. I told him he really needed to talk with the A/P supervisor on their procedures.

Same with payroll - corporate took it over, patted us on the head and said “We’ll take care of it now.” I don’t even know *who* he should talk to on that one.

Because of the many changes since January which have happened with little or no explanation and in rapid succession across multiple departments, I have not been able to keep up with how everything else works, as I have just been trying to keep up with the many changes in how I do *my* stuff, and that has been more than enough!

Well, I had better go get somewhat cleaned up and head into the office and start shredding and filing things. (I seriously think it would be easier to just set everything on fire, but management frowns on that.)

A four-day-old baby buffalo faces off with it’s parents as it frolics at the Cincinnati Zoo, Thursday, May 15, 2003, in Cincinnati. The calf, born on Mother’s Day, weighs around 60 pounds. An adult buffalo can weigh between 1,100 and 2,500 pounds. It has been 11 years since the zoo exhibited buffalo. Zoo officials, not wanting to disturb the family, have not determined the sex of the as-yet unnamed calf. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

I’m going outside and I’m going to have a smoke, and try to get a little less aggravated with this company.

I’ve already decided that I will be in the office tomorrow so I can get everything done that needs to be done WITHOUT interruption and that should make next week a little easier.

I need to get out of here.

I am going to lose my mind in the next 3 and a half days here. My boss is driving me crazy. His connection to the accounting software still doesn’t work, and I just can’t help him with that - it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I really just CAN’T. He wants to go over “everything”. Please, can we narrow it down a bit?

I’ve also come to the conclusion I am working in the Matrix. (Yes, seeing both movies in less than a week has not been good for the ol’ rational brain cells.) They need people to survive. Most happily take the blue pill and stay in their little box, doing their thing and don’t even notice the chick on the motorcycle with two large machine guns going down the hallway. The corporation is very happy with this. Then you have the red pill folks… Questioning authority, policy, and anything else available and generally causing all sorts of problems for management. The phrase, “But that’s how it always has been done” makes us crazy. Only problem is, we don’t get motorcycles, cool leather outfits, and we don’t get to kick the daylights out of anyone. ;)

Oh - and I am discovering that for the sales & use stuff we did for year end 2002 - it would appear that the checks never got cut. Crap.

Visually stunning, left me MUCH more confused than I had been after the first Matrix.

So, with little bro being “the movie guy”, I shot off a list of questions to him. Here is the transcript.

Still don’t understand the need for hardwire for them to get back & forth. The ships don’t actually plug into anything, they just go to “broadcast depth” - this means that they are going wireless at least part of the time - why not all of it?

1) They have Cingular, so there are only very few areas where they get a signal

Neo: He’s got the superman thing going on, which is definitely cool, but is it a result of: Truly being able to free his mind and escape the “rules” and such. Having some weird programming loaded into his brain when he was plugged in that lets him do this (was he predestined to be “the one”?). He’s just a program anyway, he can do anything they have put into the programminmg.

2) Ouch, I can’t think that hard right now

- Being “the one” - just some weird programming/predestination thing it seems? When they talk of “Version 6″ did they mean 6 versions of Neo trying to end the war, or just 6 different people that tried to do it, and kept choosing to go with the “leave 13 people in Zion to start over again”, rather than the “everyone dies” door. (That still seems like a rather thin gene pool to me. Guess they figure that they’ll free others from the Matrix to help rebuild.)

3)Yes

- The Oracle: Good or bad? She is part of the programming of the Matrix after all…

4) Who knows

- The Oracle (2): They seem to know that the humans are drawn to her - so why not just kill them right then and there - nip that whole “the one” thing right in the bud and not have to worry about it screwing up the rest of the Matrix? (Kinda like scanning incoming email?)

5) See #4

- The Oracle (3): (Which may answer #1) Why does she need the security dude? Is it to protect her from other programs because she is, in fact a good guy?

6) See #5

- The Oracle (4): Was there any significance to the candy being red?

7) Yes, its cherry flavored

- The spoon - that was from the little kid at the Oracle’s apartment in the first movie, right? (”There is no spoon”)

8) There is no spoon

- Carrie Anne Moss - looking a little harsher this time around?

9) Nope, just as harsh

- Lawrence Fishburn - gained some weight?

10) dunno

- Agent Smith - basically now a self replicating worm? Now, I did quickly figure out that he is rather pissed at Neo, cause he didn’t like having to work in the Matrix, but how will killing Neo fix anything for him?

11) hmm…..

- Agent Smith (2) - this guy was MUCH less creepy in the Elf role in LOTR.

12) He’s SUPPOSED to be creepy

- Is there a possibility that they haven’t really escaped the Matrix, and this is just some corollary program that lets them *think* that they got out, so that they can continue to be an energy source, yet maintain the illusion of free will?

13) wait 6 months

- The scene in the courtyard after Neo meets w/ the Oracle - did it make you dizzy? (For a second I thought I was gonna toss my popcorn)

14) No, wuss

- The French guy (exiled program keeper) - funny as hell? “You have some skills…”

15) Yes

- Did everyone in the theater go “Oh nooooooooo” when the keymaker met his end?

16) No, it was “Awwwwww” because people are stupid

- Going through the “other door”. That door was supposed to mean the end of everything. Understandable - but that whole scenario also included Trinity dying because Neo wouldn’t be able to save her in time. But he did. Wouldn’t that totally hose up the program somehow?

17) wait 6 months

- The guy that survived the ambush of the ships attempting the counterattack - was that the guy that Agent Smith replicated himself into and then answered the phone and got onto one of the ships? Or is it someone different?

18) its the guy Smith got

- The machines trying to get to Zion. They’re machines, it should be much easier for them to get there than it ever was for the humans to get there - shouldn’t it? Seems like Zion should have been eradicated a long time ago.

19) you saw the defense network for Zion. the machines can’t get in that way. that’s why they wanted Morpheus in the first movie, because he had the access codes to enter Zion. So instead they dig. And it has worked the 5 other times they’ve done it.

- Red pill or blue pill?

20) red of course

okay, I hope this helped…or at least made coffee come out of your nose.

Well, I’ve gone from subconsciously ignorning the alarm clock, to completely forgetting to turn it on. Good thing I don’t have much time left here. At the rate I am going, I’ll be getting into work around noon next week.

Thinking that I am going to come in here tomorrow. It will be the only chance I have to really get everything cleaned up and filed with no interruptions at all.

Need to go check on the boss and see if they ever got his connection to the accounting software set up - if so, today is training day. If not, well, yippee! (Yes, I am STILL ticked that the training guy isn’t doing the training.)

Oh, and WOOHOO, IT’S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!

After some discussion with my coworkers, we have decided that there is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting until the due date to turn in the metrics package, even if it is the same day I am leaving.

This was cemented a few minutes ago. The woman that had sent the package out *four* times this morning, who said that the bad data in ours couldn’t be fixed until Monday, came by wanting to know what was going on with our cash account…

Her: I need support for these cash numbers.
Me: We don’t have a balance in our cash account.
Her: Yes you do.
Me: No we don’t. It’s zero. I have the report for our division here.
Her: Where did you get that?
Me: Ms. XXX ran it for me. note: Ms. XXX has been a fantastic resource for me with these reports so I have some clue as to what is hitting or not hitting the corporate books.
Her: Well, it shouldn’t have any balance sheet [ie, cash account] information on it.
Me: It does. She runs the entire range of accounts for me every time.
Her: [something unintelligible and runs off]

So, I am wondering if the gal that runs the reports for me will no longer be allowed to do it or something like that, and it’s one less tool we’ll have. Eventually she comes back with a piece of paper in her hand, pointing at a number.

Her: See, you do have a balance in your cash account.
Me: [looking] No, that’s not our transaction.
Her: Yes it is. Mark put it in. note: not possible. He’s gone.
Me: It’s not our transaction. The LE/AE code there is 351. All our transactions are 332.
Her: But, that should have been moved out. note: I cannot move these transactions. She can.
Me: It’s the same problem we ran into last month, remember?
Her: [something unintelligible and off she goes]

Basically, I’ve been asking for 2+ months for them to please only include the 332 code if they are going to do any data calls, because those are the transactions and balances that we are responsible for. Anything with a different code belongs to someone else, and we can’t explain it, and I really have asked nicely for them to either a) stop asking for an explanation or b) do a better job segregating the data (which, yes, they can do, and no, it’s not that hard.)

And, while the above exchange doesn’t look like much on paper, the level of attitude was just over the top. There were two other people watching this, and both stated after she left: “Wow, what a bitch!” I don’t know what her deal is, but I am glad I won’t have to work with her anymore.

OK, so it’s afternoon now…I’ve been jotting this down all morning while working.

Interesting morning so far. The Balance Sheet Metrics package (well, about half of it) showed up in my inbox this morning. I had so hoped it wouldn’t get here before I left. It’s already laden with issues - whoever sent it had to send it out THREE times… No - wait - make that FOUR times.

Of course, we’re having the same issues as last month with the financial data that has been “assigned” to us to explain simply isn’t ours. (On all four versions that have been sent this morning) And there “isn’t anything they can do about it” until Monday. Oh, and they forgot to send the actual spreadsheet that I am supposed to fill out and send back to them.

Well, they’ve finally gotten me the “official” spreadsheet that has to be turned in, with all the wrong numbers still, so I’ve replaced them with numbers I like better. So, that is what I’ll explain and turned back into corporate with the note of “send this to the new guy next month.”

I have also just realized that it is due next Wednesday - my last day. Would it be really wrong to wait and send it about 5 minutes before I leave? (Yes, I am still harboring a touch of annoyance from this thing last month. Repeatedly asked for guidance/assistance, was told no one could help, then later was told that we’d done it wrong.)

I’ve also talked to a couple more people that know folks at the new company. One gal’s mom works there and *loves* it, the other person’s friend worked there for about 12 years and only left to start his own business. (The mom had actually had a position w/ them before, the travel in that job wore her down, she went elsewhere for a while, and now is *back* in a different, no travel job.) Good to hear stuff like that.

Bititi, who was born on Mother’s Day, walks around with her mother, Twiga, in the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, May 14, 2003. Bititi, which means ‘Strong Lady’ in Swahili, was born on Sunday, May 11, 2003, and measured 5 feet, 9 inches and weighed in at about 175 pounds at birth. Bititi was the third calf born to Twiga. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/030514/168/4285c.html

A blue tit feeding its brood of young in a fully furnished bird box. An Internet site in Norway is offering a bit of reality TV, in the form of the daily life of the birds in their fully furnished nest.(AFP/File/Sten Magne Klann)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/030514/241/423om.html

France’s green groups sent up a collective howl after a parliamentary panel recommended that Alpine sheep farmers be allowed to shoot wolves that attack their flocks.(AFP-EPA/File/Robert Ghement)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/030514/241/427hw.html

Sai Mai, a 26-month-old female tiger, plays with baby pigs at a zoo in Chonburi province, 50 miles east of Bangkok, May 7, 2003. The Royal Bengali tigress was born in captivity and breast-fed by a female pig for four months after her birth. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters)

A polar bear cub nuzzles its mother in Moscow’s zoo, April 24, 2003. Two polar bear cubs were born in December and started playing in the open as the weather warmed. (Adlan Khasanov/Reuters)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/030424/161/3vzil.html

Trenton Thunder team mascot ‘Chase the Golden Thunder’ retrieves Derek Jeter (news)’s bat after Jeter hit a single against the New Haven Ravens at Waterfront Park in Trenton, N.J. Sunday, May 11, 2003. Jeter played his final rehab game for the Thunder and will return the Yankees on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Brian Branch-Price)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/030511/168/415fj.html

Well, I’m getting a bit of the munchies, must mean it’s time for lunch.