lapierrefamily.org

I went to the break room for coffee today and then thought, this coffee really bites. Why not drive over to BAM for a real cup of Joe. So I did. I snapped this photo walking out to my truck. The coffee was great and I enjoyed the nice break from the office so much, I stayed an hour. For the last 3 days I’ve been chained to my desk for 10-12 hours a day, no lunch break, only fast trips to the “washroom”.

On Monday morning I woke up at 3:00 and couldn’t sleep. I tried to log in and work via my new intranet connection, but it was too slow. So I packed up and went to the office. I came home 24 hours later. I’ve had a lingering coding project using the WEBi interface that a VP has been pressuring for, so I worked on it for 16 hours straight. The result is amazing if I say so myself. Now I send out reports for all of our call centers across the country; sliced, diced, and rolled up nice, every 2 hours, fully automatic. All I have to do is check my email. Cool. Used Business Obj 13 – I was suprised how flexible it is. One night of code. Call ctr managers everywhere now have 10-12 more emails to delete daily.

Received word last week that our company is going to make yet another round of cuts. My job suddenly became more vulnerable when a couple days ago my manager made it official she was leaving the company for a new opportunity. I am just one of   40,000 (0.000025%) employees in the nations largest health care insurer; none of the  stockholders know my name, how hard I work, or how good I am at my job. I  work with some good people,  they know me, I know them, and we all care about each other. However, they are are also only 1 of 40,000.

In  previous restructuring moves I’ve seen  teams like  mine treated like a   “salary block” that corporate planners can move, manipulate, or eliminate to save money,  thereby increasing profit. It’s a fact of corporate (and Ferengi) life.

Nothing is official yet -  there is a good chance I will be moved to a new team. All I can do right now is hope for the best. And update my resume. And try not to panic.

Mondays – everyone wants last weeks reports by yesterday, which coincides exactly with when I’m ready to leave.

Saw this in the June 2009 Wired Magazine…  She signs my paycheck.