Today’s the day: the company deadline for removing all IM software from our computers. Management, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks its distraction potential outweighs its usefulness as a business tool. Personally, I’m not over-fond of IM, and amn’t particularly sorry to see it go. But what does it say about managers that, rather than search for the real reasons that their employees’ productivity is dropping, would rather rant, rave, treat the employees like children and take away their toys? 1. The economy’s too bad for them to give us the bonuses and raises we need to make this job worthwhile. 2. They’re idiots, and bad managers. 3. They’re just as addicted to Solitaire and Minesweeper as the rest of us.
Day: January 16, 2002
It’s not work, just fun
I’m playing around a bit more with Radio UserLand. It’s going to take some patience to make it work, as I really want to get it to point at this site and not at my Radio Weblog. Meanwhile I’ve decided how to move forward on Manila Envelope, which was felled right before launch with an impossible problem with the preferences. I’m going to have to write my own code to write and read an XML preference file. Should be fun. Dig we must…
But much less tasty
Tomorrow morning the Galileo probe will take its last photos in a low-altitude flyby of Io. It’s due to crash into Jupiter in early 2003 so it doesn’t accidentally land on Europa, which has the best chance of any of the Jovian moons to contain life, and contaminate it with bacteria. I’m looking forward to seeing the photos; as I’m married to an Italian-American woman, there’s always been something amusing to me about a planet that looks like a pizza from hell.
Old age and guile
Well, here I am. Sitting back in the Sloan lobby, waiting for some trivia folks. We’re off to battle the real MIT brains, which is anyone not involved in the business school program. That’s ok, I’ll take old age and guile over youth and enthusiasm every time.
Back, with tangerines
My turn to rise from the blogger dead. I’ve been laid flat (lain flat?) for the past few days by a very nasty cold bug, which I unintentionally and not on purpose probably gave to Tim during his visit. And my Internet connection at home isn’t working for the very simple reason that someone out there is out to get me. Seriously, I’m back, I’m eating tangerines, I’m reasonably content and on the way to being more so.
About Pop Pop: like Tim said, it’s been incredibly hard on the whole family — I don’t think any of us had realized how much we rely on Pop Pop to hold us together. Mom says that he’s doing better, though — his blood sugar was way, way down last night. As long as Mom has reason to be optimistic, so do I.
Have a great day, all…