“Well I never seem to do it like anybody else, maybe someday, someday I’m gonna settle down. If you ever want to find me I can still be found, taking the long way, taking the long way around.” – Dixie Chicks
Notes, trivia, tidbits, and claptrap from yours truly, diligently manning the Guam Desk……….
-Two of my friends recently got hired by one of our competitors in the telecommunications bidness here. One was my awesome ex-supervisor, who got hired into a position that will take full advantage of both her experience and knowledge of how my company operates, and I’m really happy for her. In fact, it was Topic of Discussion #1 in my office today, and the entire shop feels the same way I do. The other person simply got a better offer and quit. In both cases, it’s my company that loses, and our competitor gains a ton. I’m happy for both of these wonderful women, and a little sad for our company.
There’s a lot of uncertainty going around where I work. In our company, the HR department sends out an email to all hands whenever someone leaves the company, if they get canned or quit, regardless. It seems that these emails are coming at a fairly regular rate, and that’s disturbing in a company our size. At last count, 22 people have either been fired or quit in the first 90 days of 2010 (yes, I’m tracking it). It causes some uncertainty and fear within the workforce, especially when there is no feedback from management about all of it. In fact, we rarely hear from our leadership, other than a certain troll who feels that they are above all of us working stiffs. Just feels weird at work, and not the fun place I’ve grown accustomed to spending the majority of my life at. It used to be I would wake up and could not wait to get to work, see what new challenges were waiting for me. Now, it’s more like “fuck, I have to go to that place again today and deal with these assholes.” You can see the fear in people’s eyes, and that’s never a good thing. Screw it – they can’t fire all of us.
I have applied for another position within our company that is vacant. Do I think I have a chance at getting it? I’m qualified, but what I think will happen is that they will farm out the work that this person used to do to other people in that section and try not to fill the position for as long as possible. I’ve already made up my mind that, if I hear nothing in the next 30 days either positive or negative, I will be making an appointment to see the CEO of the company and have a little chat. He’s a reasonable man more or less, and I think he will listen to what I have to say and not take it negatively. Hope springs eternal in the heart of a middle aged techie like me.
-It has been 9 days since my brother-in-law was taken away at gunpoint, and still no word on his whereabouts or whether he is alive or dead. The in-laws remain hopeful, and I’m trying to think positive thoughts as well, karma being what it is. The Gorgeous One actually apologized to me the other night on the phone. She has been carrying the weight of her family these last 9 days, and the stress has been pretty bad for her. Consequently, she has treated me a little badly since it happened; short tempered, impatient, and sometimes a little mean. I understand this, and she really didn’t need to apologize to me. I know that she still loves me, but she’s going through a world of shit right now, and that can make even the most wonderful people a little ill-tempered. She’s handling it a whole lot better than a lot of people I know would handle it, and it’s just another reason that I love her so much. To say that I miss her terribly would be a gross understatement.
-Because Guam is one of the most Catholic places on earth, our company is giving us Good Friday off as a paid holiday. I have absolutely no plans and no idea what I’m going to do with three days off, but I’ll probably end up spending some of it at work. Better to be productive than at home in an empty apartment bored out of my mind.
-Still plugging away on my book. So far, it’s a combination of an autobiography and “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” from a soldierly perspective. It’s actually been fun thinking about some of the shit that happened, but a little hard at times to put it all in the correct chronological order. My memory sucks sometimes. I mean, I remember the events, but don’t remember what order they happened in. The years 1985-1986 were fun to think about and put down on paper, and there were others that had equal impact. I don’t believe there is a chance in hell that it will get published, but I will be distributing it to friends and family, just to hear what they think. “Holy shit” will probably be a common reaction.
-I’ve lived here for 3 years now, and all this time I didn’t know that there was a Planned Parenthood related clinic near where I work. It now explains all of the anti-abortion protesters a little better. While their numbers aren’t huge, usually just 1 or 2 people, they make an appearance at least once a week with their little signs. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, as long as they’re not assholish about it.
-Buy one get one free is something I can really get behind, especially when steak is involved. My local grocery had that on shoulder steaks, and I had to give in. Pound the hell out of ‘em, fry ‘em up and tuck in. Mighty tasty.
That’s it from here in the Marianas Islands, where the women are strong, the men good looking, and the children are all above average.
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