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Yesterday's Magnolia bud two or three days older.
October 21st, 1999

Is That Good?
We got an email today with the new company organization attached. Forget about doing any work. People talking in the corners, the new structure, the names and the titles that now populate the little boxes on the chart. There are changes on my side of the business with, we all suspect, more to come after Y2K is behind us and they can afford to make the changes that will inevitably drive some of us out. Some little boxes mark promotions, others mark reductions and all have job descriptions that could mean almost anything. Whole company sections now seem to have different lines of authority, reporting to different managers in different divisions in different parts of the world. Exciting stuff. This is of more concern to the really senior people in my company, of course: vice presidents, directors and the like, but it will trickle down to the little people soon enough. Probably Monday morning.

I know my patterns pretty well. The book says and experience says I should have a fall back plan in case I find myself out on the street. Take some of those resume building classes in the latest OOP. Better yet, anticipate this madness and line up another job with stock options and a decent commute. And quit. But. To do what?

I've been floating along mindlessly now for years, finding What It Means to Live in Berkeley parade. myself nearing the age of 60 in a world where they're looking for people who will sleep on a cot tucked back under their desk. I'm not actually in that side of the business. I'm not a programmer. I like Coca Cola well enough, but I don't play video games and home computing is more about this journal and scanning photographs than anything else. I'm not sure how that sells on the street. I know the networks and the boxes and the drivers and the sniffers and the pipes and a bunch of other stuff and given a manual and an overnight read I can fake the rest. Except I'm kinda tired of that. I like projects with deadlines and day to day operations drive me nuts. In the advertising business you're considered old and over the hill at 40. I'm not sure how that works in the computer business because there are so few of us old folks in it except on the mainframe side and when it comes to mainframes I couldn't even find the on/off switch. Right now they need every man, woman and child; every national, foreign national and Internet national they can get, sign on the line and cash your bonus check. Won't always be like that.

Part of me should be more upset. I'm not. I'm writing this and reading it along with everyone else. Sounds OK, sounds like the common wisdom all right, but there's no energy coming off me on this. I should be worrying and I'm not. Is that good?

 
The banner photograph was taken from my balcony last week one or two days later than yesterday's banner photograph. The long tall lady is a long tall lady and there's not much more to be said about it.

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