Post by papaof2 on Feb 18, 2022 12:54:53 GMT -6
short-short, complete in one post.
Monday, 2PM, Jack on the phone
'Jack, we can't afford a dial-up line at this site just for that purpose. We'll use the outdials on the system monitor computer. It's a big DEC computer and that's what we used at college.'
'Bob, that college computer was configured for several hundred students typing at terminals, not the 9600 baud continuous input from several hundred lines of incoming data from the systems being monitored. The college computer was idle 90% of the time - the monitor computer system is busy 90% of the time and does NOT have the additional processing time needed to handle that very inefficient outdial process.'
'I'll talk to your boss!'
'You do that.'
---
Thursday, 11AM, Tom's office at Merkle and Jamison
"But Jack - why?"
"Boss, I'm tired of being seen as the bad guy for keeping the process monitor computer systems running and all the reporting and other locally created support software functional. I've been yelled at one too many times."
"But I'll talk to Bob..."
"Won't keep him from whining and blaming me. Honestly, I don't know who in the organization can do all that I've been doing so you'll probably need to find at least two people to cover the skillsets that you're losing."
"But what about the money?"
"Remember the rare day off I took Tuesday?"
"Yes - and we owe you about seven weeks of vacation..."
"My resignation is effective Friday week, which is sixteen days, so well beyond the 'two week' notification time. My future retirement money is covered."
"You mentioned your day off?"
"Remember the books I write?"
"(chuckle) If you can call them books."
"This is a contract with Paramount for the movie rights to the first book in the series. It included this check for half a million dollars - which has now cleared their bank and my account looks much better."
"But..."
"No buts, other than someone up the line getting theirs in gear to find my replacement. I have a copy of my work log/diary for the past year and you can pass this to the poor guy who winds up in my chair. It should make good reading for you while you mull over the effects of my leaving."
---
Thursday, 2PM, Tom's office
"Jim, he can't do that!"
"Tom, he already did. I saw the contract, a copy of the check and his bank statement showing that deposit. He could have walked away without any notice and not been seriously affected."
"But why?"
"In his words 'I'm tired of being seen as the bad guy for keeping the process monitor computer systems running'. His uptime and percent usage numbers are the best in the entire company."
"What could we offer..."
"You have something better than half a million dollars and retirement now?"
"We screwed up didn't we?"
"You screwed up in a big way. The best I can figure, we'll need three people to cover his skillsets and his programming speed - and we'll need someone who can answer 3AM failure calls from the computer center techs without yelling at them and walk them through restoring systems that are not part of his job description but that are needed for the monitor center to function."
"We can't afford..."
"You should have thought of that when he requested an assistant a year ago..."
"But we couldn't afford..."
"Couldn't afford one then but we must have three now so whose salary would cover that?"
Knock! Knock!
"Come in, Mr. Merkle."
"Tom, I understand we need three people to replace someone you said we couldn't afford an assistant for last year. I've found that money. Empty your desk and get your coat. Someone from Payroll is bringing down your final check."
"But..."
"No buts. Your fixation on the bottom line has cost us the one person who was holding that line. You have your years in to retire so you don't go out empty-handed. Had I done this a year ago, we'd be in much better shape and you might be going hungry."
"But..."
"Security, empty his desk and accompany him to his car. Get his employee ID and the parking pass from his car. Ensure his system IDs are cancelled."
"Yes sir."
---
Thursday, 6PM, Jack's house
"Jack, why are you smiling so much?"
"We have half a million in the bank and I have all the time I want to write. If the first movie does well, Paramount is interested in the other four books in that series - at least as much as for the first one and possibly more if the first movie does very well. Tom, the guy that was always squeezing things so his bottom line would look good, was escorted out by Security today. His salary could easily pay for my replacement and an assistant or two so no direct impact on the bottom line and the people in the system monitor center will eventually have decent support. Could I interest you in dinner out? Perhaps steak?"
"You could, but I'd rather have one of your onion burgers fresh from the grill. There's three pounds on lean ground beef in the fridge."
"Then we should fix enough to share and call some friends to join us for a celebration."
"You cook and I'll call."
"Sounds good to me."
---
Monday, 2PM, Jack on the phone
'Jack, we can't afford a dial-up line at this site just for that purpose. We'll use the outdials on the system monitor computer. It's a big DEC computer and that's what we used at college.'
'Bob, that college computer was configured for several hundred students typing at terminals, not the 9600 baud continuous input from several hundred lines of incoming data from the systems being monitored. The college computer was idle 90% of the time - the monitor computer system is busy 90% of the time and does NOT have the additional processing time needed to handle that very inefficient outdial process.'
'I'll talk to your boss!'
'You do that.'
---
Thursday, 11AM, Tom's office at Merkle and Jamison
"But Jack - why?"
"Boss, I'm tired of being seen as the bad guy for keeping the process monitor computer systems running and all the reporting and other locally created support software functional. I've been yelled at one too many times."
"But I'll talk to Bob..."
"Won't keep him from whining and blaming me. Honestly, I don't know who in the organization can do all that I've been doing so you'll probably need to find at least two people to cover the skillsets that you're losing."
"But what about the money?"
"Remember the rare day off I took Tuesday?"
"Yes - and we owe you about seven weeks of vacation..."
"My resignation is effective Friday week, which is sixteen days, so well beyond the 'two week' notification time. My future retirement money is covered."
"You mentioned your day off?"
"Remember the books I write?"
"(chuckle) If you can call them books."
"This is a contract with Paramount for the movie rights to the first book in the series. It included this check for half a million dollars - which has now cleared their bank and my account looks much better."
"But..."
"No buts, other than someone up the line getting theirs in gear to find my replacement. I have a copy of my work log/diary for the past year and you can pass this to the poor guy who winds up in my chair. It should make good reading for you while you mull over the effects of my leaving."
---
Thursday, 2PM, Tom's office
"Jim, he can't do that!"
"Tom, he already did. I saw the contract, a copy of the check and his bank statement showing that deposit. He could have walked away without any notice and not been seriously affected."
"But why?"
"In his words 'I'm tired of being seen as the bad guy for keeping the process monitor computer systems running'. His uptime and percent usage numbers are the best in the entire company."
"What could we offer..."
"You have something better than half a million dollars and retirement now?"
"We screwed up didn't we?"
"You screwed up in a big way. The best I can figure, we'll need three people to cover his skillsets and his programming speed - and we'll need someone who can answer 3AM failure calls from the computer center techs without yelling at them and walk them through restoring systems that are not part of his job description but that are needed for the monitor center to function."
"We can't afford..."
"You should have thought of that when he requested an assistant a year ago..."
"But we couldn't afford..."
"Couldn't afford one then but we must have three now so whose salary would cover that?"
Knock! Knock!
"Come in, Mr. Merkle."
"Tom, I understand we need three people to replace someone you said we couldn't afford an assistant for last year. I've found that money. Empty your desk and get your coat. Someone from Payroll is bringing down your final check."
"But..."
"No buts. Your fixation on the bottom line has cost us the one person who was holding that line. You have your years in to retire so you don't go out empty-handed. Had I done this a year ago, we'd be in much better shape and you might be going hungry."
"But..."
"Security, empty his desk and accompany him to his car. Get his employee ID and the parking pass from his car. Ensure his system IDs are cancelled."
"Yes sir."
---
Thursday, 6PM, Jack's house
"Jack, why are you smiling so much?"
"We have half a million in the bank and I have all the time I want to write. If the first movie does well, Paramount is interested in the other four books in that series - at least as much as for the first one and possibly more if the first movie does very well. Tom, the guy that was always squeezing things so his bottom line would look good, was escorted out by Security today. His salary could easily pay for my replacement and an assistant or two so no direct impact on the bottom line and the people in the system monitor center will eventually have decent support. Could I interest you in dinner out? Perhaps steak?"
"You could, but I'd rather have one of your onion burgers fresh from the grill. There's three pounds on lean ground beef in the fridge."
"Then we should fix enough to share and call some friends to join us for a celebration."
"You cook and I'll call."
"Sounds good to me."
---
