Where the road leads next

I have been away from the office since the 21st of December.

It was the first time I have left on vacation and did not have to come in to fix a problem. Since I am the only IT person and the only one that knows how to read a user manual, I have job security like no other.

This time was different and it was unnervingly quiet over vacation. I think I received one cell phone call the whole week and not one work related call. Not one desperate call to inform me the internet was down, or that email was broken, or that all the files on the server mysteriously disappeared.

Nothing.

So here I sit, an hour and a half after arriving from a week away with everything completed.

For the rest of the week.

I have a small freelance project to work on that will take me all of 5 minutes to complete, but other than that I got nothin. Zip. Zero. Nada.

While sitting here contemplating what I could do for the next hour before leaving for my Al-Anon meeting, a conversation down the hall bumped into my consciousness. It was one of our sales weasels talking to a client. Apparently his vacation was not so uneventful, because I could hear the familiar backpedal of platitudes one gets while trying to save ones nether regions. Apparently his client had a firm grip on bits and pieces and was applying pressure.

A funny thing happens when faced with pain or even discomfort, we tend to do and say anything to get out of it. I have noticed this with my children, but obviously this behavior is not age specific as Mr. sales weasel was saying anything to mollify his client.

It worked. She bought the explanation that we use scales to count the number of sheets we deliver and that her shortage was simply a calibration issue, one that has never happened before.

If someone tells you "it never happened before" you can all but guarantee a Clintonesque "is - is" is happening to you. It may have never happened before in 2008, but shorting a client on product is a given in printing, especially this shop.

So as I sit waiting for the next project to drop out of the sky, our new "Christian" sales weasel down the hall has successfully summited the pinnacle of capitalistic virtues by painting with broad stokes. Although not technically a lie, certainly not truth.

Sales weasel has perfected the art of lying.

What does compromise cost in 2008?

Apparently 8% commission on a $500.00 print job.