Tales from the Steppes

2006-07-27

2:41 p.m.
Thursday, July 27

Ain't no particular sign I'm more compatible with
I just want your extra time and your KISS
- Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones

Yeah, I know. Tom Jones. But you have to admit it is a cool cover. I could probably spout some bullshit postmodernist theory about how he is a self-referential caricature of himself but the fact is, I like the song.

Our Research and Technology department has a wonderful bulletin board with all of their photos on it and matching job descriptions. Management Services liked it so much that they have decreed that every division should have one. And to help us out with it, they are thoughtfully sending around interns with cameras to take every one's picture next week. Of course, if you object on religious grounds or can concoct some other excuse, you can get out of it. I will be working very hard over the weekend fleshing out whatever religion I can make up to support my lack of enthusiasm for this project.

At first pass, this might seem like a completely harmless exercise. Who cares whether they put every one's photo up somewhere? And this may be true if you only deal with things inside the building. But if you are a reviewer, then people always want to talk to you without making an appointment. And I see no reason to facilitate this.

There are many people I talk to on a near daily basis but have never met. This one engineer and I have had lengthy chats about our theses and all sorts of things but have never met. And that is just fine. If he is ever in the building and wants to speak with me, he knows where our receptionist sits and he can ask if I am available. She will call me and if I have time, I may or may not speak with him. It is up to me.

Not anymore, if I go along with Management Services.

I am not joking when I say that there are some consultants that lurk around on Planning Board days, waiting to snag unsuspecting staff members. I got caught by an engineer and a developer a month or so ago, innocently on my way to the soda machine. So we had our little chat, right there at a hall table, in public. And since I was not so happy with that engineer, I proceeded to point out all his major fuck ups errors to the man who was paying him, as this was why I had not approved the plan. He, of course, had neglected to tell the developer any of them but instead had blamed me for their woes.

But I would rather avoid that. While it was a satisfying outcome in that case, usually an unscheduled meeting is an opportunity for a consultant to whine at you.

The other issue with the whole photo thing is that most of the people that work in this building are all of a certain age. People like it her enough that they just stay on forever. So most of them have grey hair. And when the consultants find out that your hair is not grey, they use the argument that you must not be experienced enough to make whatever decision that you have made, so they are going to go to someone else. Now it will be easier for them to make this judgement before even talking to you. They can just skip a step.

The final problem I have with this "road map" has to do with where I sit. I do not sit with the rest of environmental planning - I have a "special" office. No, not because I am "special". It is more that there was no more room over with everyone else and they did not want Josh over here on his own. So I get to sit next to the phone closet on the first floor, where it is always cold. It is nice and quiet but there are a few downsides. The first is that I do not have a receptionist. Anyone can walk into my cubicle, where I have many files. This is not a hypothetical situation - I have had several engineers do this. One was even going through my In box when he was found - the same guy I dressed down in public. The tricky part, on his end, was to find someone who knew where I sit and lie about a reason he needed to know this information. Now, if they know who I am, they can just lurk and follow me back.

Yes, I do realize just how pathetic this all sounds. And I would not believe it either except I have put up with some of it already without having my picture posted somewhere.

So, according to the schedule, the interns will be around on Monday. I believe I will be doing fieldwork that day.

I do have to wonder though. How is it that Management Services has the time to do all of this work but yet cannot get our truck fixed? One of the mirrors is broken and our antenna is missing, as well as the body having several dents. The antenna is the problem I care about most. Spending the day driving around the county without a radio sucks.