thetallone

BUT THAT MEANS I HAVE TO PACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What if y ou are like thelibra and me and not all that tall?

So you're saying you don't get enough bull at work so you had to ride one for happy hour?

I crack myself up sometimes. Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

Welcome back. Granted, you haven't gone anywhere, you just changed your alias. Going to Cali in a month, eh? I'm envious. Have a blast!

Everybody should get to pick their own alias.

3-day weekends are a wonderful thing. I think I remember what they are like.

At least according to the web site's FAQ, all the bodies were either donated or unidentified. As always with China, there are questions about how scrupulous they are about "donations".

The ex got the dog in the divorce. I didn't fight on that point since I can't have Kiowa here with me. She was a 50/50 split between love hound and protection dog. I say "was" because I'm sure the ex hasn't kept up with her training.

I've seen her let a little girl who was just learning to walk pull herself up off the ground by Kiowa's fur. Kiowa didn't move a muscle. As soon as the kid was up she licked her face and then let her study herself on her back while she walked.

The neighbors behind us essentially let her babysit their kids in the backyard. The mom knew she could step inside for a moment to answer the phone or move the laundry around. Kiowa would bark to let her know if one of the kids fell down or started playing with the gate.

If I was sick she'd bring me every one of her toys, drop them on the bed, then curl up behind me and snuggle in to sleep.

Ever seen a dog herd big 6-point buck into a chain link fence and take a bite out of it? Yep - I saw that. She came back up the hill prancing and happy.

I've also seen her try to come through the door of my truck to get at a guy trying to steal it. (I left it running with the AC blasting while I ran into a store - I could see the truck the whole time). They guy came up with a couple BS excuses why he wouldn't leave when I confronted him. He ran like hell when I put my hand on the door handle. "Protected by Viper" my ass - protected by 70lbs of german shepherd is more my speed.

Some jackass tried to climb into the car with my ex when she was traveling with Kiowa. I guess he missed the dog in the back seat.

When I had 3 idiots laid out in my backyard and covered with a shotgun, Kiowa wouldn't leave a line between the idiots and my ex. No matter where she moved on the deck, Kiowa kept herself between them and her. I hadn't trained her on that. She just did it naturally.

I'm not applying for beatmaster status, but I've never had a problem with a dog. I've had military working dogs (UK MOD) sitting on a couch with me eating cheetos. The dogs that people warn you will bite - they don't bite me. Usually they want to climb into my lap. I've got a working theory that there are no really bad dogs - just bad owners.

Does it help that it is now Thursday where I'm at?


I'm definitely tuned out. Citigroup is rebranding? WTF? They have built some serious name recognition. Is some consultant getting a gigabuck to explain the holistic synergies of the new brand?

its sunday here... not tuesday anymore

i wish i could take a working vacay take me to myrtle beach with ya next time? please??? *pouts and bats eyelashes*

IF you want to meet up for margaritas text me!

Margaritas and good Tex-Mex. Now my mouth is really watering. Just 30 more days until I'm on my way to the land of such things.

They did it over multiple days?!?!?!?!?!? Are the HR droids really that clueless? I've only seen a few companies spread mass layoffs over time. That is a sure recipe for disaster. Your cow-orker can definitely kiss my ass too. Many companies go through layoffs to "gain staffing efficiencies" - yeah right. That translates to moving the workload of the staff that are gone to the salaried staff that remains.

The area around Eureka is one of my favorite parts of CA. SF is nice and has some great attractions. Eureka is more my speed though.

My personal experience says that large caps like your company have perhaps even more levels of bureaucracy than the federal government. Special assistant to the deputy assistant director of assistant deputy directors for executive directors - that type of thing. Somebody looks at the balance sheet and sees how large a fraction of revenue is in both direct and indirect labor costs and decides there is money to be saved there. To this point it is a reasonable and logical process - a great deal of that dead weight can be excised without harming the productivity and profitability of the organization.

Those extraneous managers didn't get where they are without a highly developed sense of self preservation. In many cases I've seen they have even structured their positions to be comfortable and lucrative, but with no risky responsibility or accountability. This reduces their chances of being the scapegoat for some GFI project that fails.

So when the layoffs come they cut the lower level employees that weren't in the VIMs (Very Important Meetings) and that didn't attend the uber-secret management holiday parties. Since those are the folks that actually do productive and revenue generating work it ends up whacking the company for a loss. My prediction is that you'll see many of those jobs performed by incoming contract employees which is somehow seen differently on the balance street and by the street.

The street loves layoffs that reportedly will increase efficiency and profits. Rose petal scented BS will flow from the mouths of the analysts and the stock will jump. Since senior management is highly optioned they will love it! Let me guess, the CEO has a huge stake in the company's stock? Most certainly in discounted qualified options and additional bonuses based on the stock price and short-term profitability?

It doesn't make it suck any less, but the whole thing is pretty standard. As are the repercussions.

Hope it goes well for you. Citi has been posting pretty good returns on their stock. I guess I've been too far out of the loop to know what is driving the layoffs. I went through the first big layoff at MCI/Worldcom - I volunteered for that one. I was then laid off twice in 2001 by two different companies. That was definitely pretty high in the suckosphere..

Everytime they make changes to the CMS the site goes through about a week of issues and tweaking. I'm not sure what drives some of the changes. Some are improvements, some are leaps backwards in usability. The user population is so diverse the desired user experience in probably very hard to nail down. I like a clean modal interface with clear hierarchical elements. Other people want glitzy flashy stuff with friendly looking buttons.

in the very wise words of your coworker, N.:

"Go back to sleep. You're safe."