Give Generously

I like giving blood. I don't mean that in the sense of masochistic delight in being poked with a needle repeatedly until they find my "deep veins" (even if it is done by a nurse), but it gives me a certain satisfaction knowing that I'm doing my bit for society. Being prone to the odd bout of warm and fuzzies (or guilt), I like to think of myself as a donor. It's been long enough since I was overseas, so it's time.
I like to give irregularly (when I think about it), I have nominated my organs, too, for some other poor sod when I shuffle off this mortal coil - I'll have finished using my bits, so someone can take whatever the vultures leave behind. I give to charities when it's convenient for me - like buying a useless trinket at an exorbitant price, occasionally emptying my pocket of loose silver, collecting receipts for tax purposes. I'm trying to get the band into donation receiver status so that I can buy my own equipment as a tax loss.
It's just the way I am - always thinking of others.
Why is it that I am constantly surrounded by those who couldn't give a rat's? Seriously, if cleaning up after the little pigs in the office kitchen isn't enough, you'd think that someone would have noticed that I'm re-supplying the breath mints from my personal stash - especially when I've gone off on holidays. There's been no indication of thanks, or appreciation for doing something for them. I don't expect it, mind you, but some token of their esteem in the form of doing as I do would go down a treat. I'd like to see the kitchen clean when I go in, not only as I leave it.
Do I expect too much out of people? I blame society. Everyone else does. I mean, what sort of social system are we building when little old ladies are constantly walking across the street unaided? Call me old-fashioned, but where are we going from there? I read De Bono's religion book, and thought "Great, that's for me", and since then I've thought "Hang on, why do we need to put this sort of thing in a book - why isn't everyone just doing it?" He had to justify the religion in terms of how it can raise the self-esteem of the individual. It would be a hard sell to say that the individual becomes a better person (not just feels like one). I weep for the future of humanity. I truly do.
Are people intentionally ignoring situations where they could lend a hand? Are they trained (by society) to not see people in need - like an invisible, untouchable lower class? Or do they intentionally avoid getting involved? They see the problem, they understand how they could help, but choose consciously not to.
That scares me.
Worse, it appals me that that is the society I live in. Worse still is that getting involved becomes some form of self-ostracism. You set yourself apart by helping, by sticking your hand up. That goes to politics especially. Who'd want to be a politician? "The People" elect you, and then complain bitterly about everything you do, come up with no ideas on how to do it better, refuse to do it themselves, and gratefully re-elect you so that they can do it all over again. Sometimes they replace you with the person who can both rubbish you and want to be rubbished in return (attention seekers). No wonder the country is going down the tubes. Then "the Media" - another faceless entity that refuses to do anything for itself, but sits back and watches people in trouble, flaunts your human frailties from a long distance, for the purposes of entertainment and money-making (better ratings means bigger advertising), and ensures that no-one gets too involved in their society, as all such people are exposed as similarly flawed.
What a vicious circle.

I'm going to have to find a way to calm down so that my blood pressure isn't too high when I go to give blood in an hour or two.

The Bet's Still on

The project's going well. Thanks for asking. Sometimes it feels as though I'm going it alone because Arkel seems to think he can borrow my people at will, and I don't mind all that much most of the time. I'm just too nice a guy.
I've got Spin and Owl collecting data like crazy, most of the time, and I've been so involved directly that it's a constant distraction. In theory, I'm only directing the work, but it seems that I'm too efficient at doing it myself, and it's too easy to get going along a path and not be able to hand it on to anyone. My fault. My problem. This is one of those problems about being a manager with a technical background. One will get in the way of the other.
With Axis about to go on holidays, I get Wildman as a replacement. Due to his other duties within Engineering, everything is being pushed back. With no Polo to play politics with, and Gabriel being run off his feet, there's little I can do about it anyway.
Merk's gone - and FO can't find him, because he seems to have fallen off the side of the earth. Dryza will return, which will be a pleasant change. She and I get on particularly well, and I can trust her to do things I would normally be bundled with myself. She may not have the background, but she has the capability.
Meanwhile, Doodles is trying to line up someone for my staff, before I even realised that I had need for them! Given that I've always wanted a 2IC, and Booker, the prime candidate, still won't work more than three days a week for me, I live in hope that this is the one. If only I had the budget to do it. I can see it now - having to sacrifice one of the other girls to achieve it. That's not necessarily my idea of moving forward. Then again, I've never worked to a budget - I spend what I need to, and no-one dares question it.
Maybe that's how the bet came about. FO bet me 10K that I wouldn't be able to finish this little project by the end of the year. Truly, it was the only way of guaranteeing its success, calling my bluff and turning it into a challenge. He needs it as much as I do, and he can only think in terms of money. That's why Dryza's coming back. That's why Merk was here. That's why, the last time Dryza was around, I had two contractors sitting around creating stuff for me. Money - short-term, one-off, non-recurring, under-a-given-value money - works wonders with the accounting-minded. You tell them how they can make it or save it, and they're sold on the concept.
I'm not saying that I caused FO to make the bet. I'm merely suggesting that, if he wanted it done, money was the only way he would be able to see it happen, and the only person who could amke it happen in reality was me. Me and money don't get along, so paying me off doesn't help, which left the bet. Bugger the money. There's pride at stake now!
I've got time. I've got (just) enough resources. What I need is a little luck, and I can make some money.

Love Your Work

Out of the blue, an old friend sent me an email. I haven't seen him for ten years, and he practices law (the two not being related) - well out of my field of interest - I mean expertise. Alfie and I used to hang with a third wheel - Tom. Tom and I then shared a house for a year and a half, but we've drifted apart. Enough of ancient history.
So, I received an email "Daffy! What are you up to?" etc, with an email signature indicating a reputable telecommunications company, but no status within same (that is, how his career was going). We talked for a bit, and set up a lunch date, and I mentioned that I hadn't seen Tom for several years, and it got me thinking - where was he?
So, I started trawling the web (as you do) and found three potential email addresses quickly, and sent off mails to all of them. They were on his personal domain, I might add.
It turned out that Tom took a job where I didn't when coming here - at about the same time. That's the second time we've almost crossed paths - we didn't realise that we'd been working about a street apart for a while until years later. Tom couldn't make it for lunch because he's working a bus and train ride away from here.
Meanwhile, Alfie got back to me with "How's this for coincidence - I want to apply for this job at , and I was wondering if you could give me some tips. I don't suppose you know what external law firm they use ..."
Lawyers are these strange creatures that I use when we have to do something with patents, or the occasional letter with intent, or contract. We aren't big enough to have one full-time, but does. What I would use a lawyer for is quite different to , because they have a lot more brand to protect. I said as much to Alfie. However, within a day, I was reading a trade magazine online and found an article where proposed government regulations might impinge on 's operations, and they had made a submission to that effect, and how it would bring down society, etc.

I passed the link on to Alfie "I don't know who they use, but I know that a good lawyer would be right on top of this."
The reponse was simply "We both know I'm not a good lawyer. But jeez I can hustle."
Love your work.

I'll be Mother

No, this is not some reference to my time in prison ...
In every organisation large enough to have its own kitchen, there is a problem over keeping it clean. When this company was a lot smaller (one room), we used to traipse down to the shared facilities, where a beautifully-maintained cappucinno machine would pour forth its frothy brown delight, and cups would be collected from there by someone paid a pittance to do nothing more than load up the dishwasher and make the place look tidy.
When we left those ideal, but very expensive, surrounds, our kitchen was a cupboard, and we'd go down to the toilets to fill a jug with water (from the basins, that is), and cart it back to the office to our own grim machinery, which I would clean on a regular basis. When Veg joined us, he was the coffee connoisseur, and would tell me when the machine was acting up, but would never take it on himself to do anything about it. Even Beach, who might have considered it her job then, merely giggled her way to my desk to point out that something needed to be done. We were a much smaller collection then.
Now, we've built up this little group from about 12 to 20 in a lot larger office space, with a proper kitchen, our own dishwasher, professional coffee machine, poor little Tutu with the responsibility of operating the dishwasher, and still a reliance on me to handle the coffee machine. This was all well and good when I was one of those who used the machine - twice a day, mostly - but now that I've given up the demon caffeeine (horrors!), I feel less affinity for cleaning up after others and servicing their needs (so to speak).
I spend less time in the kitchen waiting. If the jug just boiled, I make my tea and leave. If it hasn't, then I'll walk away until it has. That's the thing with jugs - they're predictable. Coffee machines could do anything during your coffee. For one thing, the last fool to use it could have left it dry, or the milk frother empty, may have left it full of coffee capsule, or water overflow, or any of a number of such simple problems. I seem to be the only one who notices such things. Maybe I look for them too often with my critical eye. Having once been the height of technical excellence in this organisation, I jokingly referred to it as a part of my job. Now, as the chief of product, I have less interest in other people's.
I don't mind wiping down the cupboards, resealing the biscuit box, taking the empty boxes out to the recycling bin (around the corner), replacing the water bottle; but there's got to be a limit. Someone else must have a clue, surely. When people like Tweet burn toast and wonder why there's a stench in the kitchen, it's for me to say - "Don't worry, I'll be mother and clean the toaster. You go enjoy your lunch."
Then again, if Beach puts up a sign that says "You Mother doesn't work here. Clean yourself up." (I kid you not), then it's also for me to add a "Keep Smiling" directive.

I once worked for a company where they hired someone to keep the kitchen clean (there were over a hundred (semi-)technical staff), clean white-boards, collect print-outs, etc. After a month or two, they made her the CEO's PA, and no-one noticed the difference.

So long ... and thanks for all the clash

It's been so long since I last talked to you that I've got no idea what I've said, and certainly can't recall any of what I haven't. That being the case, this conduit of creativity and consolation has been busy in the interim trying to actually get some work done whilst being constantly distracted by other people's problems. That sums up my life - counsellor to the unconsolable, dabbler in the diabolically disparate.
I keep trying to foist my team onto someone else, as I may have mentioned several times, to no avail. Tweet is still the perfect candidate to be my official 2IC, but I can't steal her completely from Polo (and I think Arkle has dibs on her time as well). Therefore, I remain the main technical support for those I manage - and I even look after Puff because Arkle doesn't have a clue. C'est la vie. FO has decided that the only way he's going to get his project completed is if he leaves it in my hands and bribes me. He has also offered to take off my hands any distractions - not in any sense that might mean him doing the work, but in that I wouldn't have to worry about things. That worries me. Most of what I do is done because I am the only one who takes responsibility for them. No-one supports my team because the only ones who can are Polo's people, and they "don't have the time" - at least they don't have the planning that would allow for it.
The other chief thing I do, as conduit between the customer-focused people and the engineers is so critical, and yet so avoided by others that I can't trust anyone else to do it. No-one understands both camps like I do. This often leaves me the meat in the middle of a mind-game sandwich, but someone's got to be there.
Case in point. Doodles had a requirement, and he brought it to me as urgent, and I did all in my power to move it forward into engineering. He had done some work on his own (always a mistake) and thought he had the solution, and there would only be a five minute job to incorporate his changes. I told him that he hadn't solved the problem, or even come close, but it would take a week for an engineer to re-do his work, and then test it. Two weeks later (yes, there was a delay), we discovered in the field that I was right - the solution wasn't sufficient. The customer had not disclosed their environment to us in all cases, and Doodles now whined about having to go back on his word and ask for more time for a complete solution. It was, apparently, all Gabriel's fault, because he came to me and said that he wanted to avoid another situation where Doodles blamed Engeineering for taking too long to deliver something that didn't work, and another customer was going to be lost.
Putting things in perspective, the customer's threat (if real) was empty - no-one can do what we do. I know the competition. Secondly, Doodles making promises to customers that go against the advice of experts (such as myself) puts the onus back on him with regards failing customer relationships. Thirdly, for Doodles to complain about things not being delivered in a timely manner flies in the face of Polo's complaint that most of the requirements introduced by sales people never get used anyway, so why bother?
Thus, this little black duck being the Exxon Valdeez, pouring oil over troubled waters. Would FO do this for me? I don't think so. The man has the tact of a cave-man and the grace of a cross-eyed elephant on a lop-sided skateboard.
Is this a distraction? Company-sized.
Any suggestions? Usually, you see, it would be me coming up with the solution to such a problem. Now I'm not sure if I'm a part of it, or merely the cause of it.