Exceling Towards the Finish Line

I’ve come to embrace life within excel spreadsheets over the last few days.  Twenty-nine down and thirteen to go; I’m a little obsessed  - I even brought some home to work at the dinner table with a “sightly” disapproving spouse seated next to me.  It really sends you into another state of mind where human interaction is almost frowned upon.  It does make you a little cranky.

I have a weekly meeting of subordinate managers each Wednesday in which several are, like a lot civilians, habitually late.  I usually let it roll off my shoulders but I’ve brought it up as a subject in the last couple meetings and I had no weekly lunch with the son trapped down in Virgnia all week to fall back on.  Yesterday, one minute after the meeting was scheduled to start, I locked my door and started the meting without two of the participants who are amongst the worst offenders.

Five minutes later they were banging on the door to which I politely informed them they had missed the meeting.  This would have been shrugged of in the military as just desserts but apparently I’ve offended some sensibilities, the proverbial flatulence in a holy place kind of stuff.   The two culprits complained to my excellent boss who simply told them – show up on time in the future.  I love my boss.

The Secret Service is having another bad week if the reports about the Mandela ceremony are to be believed.   I spent several years supporting activities at the White House and know the exhaustive process they rightfully go through before they allow anyone to get close to the president.  That’s why the unfettered access a wacko fake sign language guy is such a jaw dropper. 

Sad We're Hearing More About the Bozo on the Right Instead of the Content of an Excellent Speech

According to ABC News:  Thamsanqa Jantjie said in a 45-minute interview that his hallucinations began while he was interpreting and that he tried not to panic because there were "armed policemen around me." He added that he was once hospitalized in a mental health facility for more than one year.  A South African deputy Cabinet minister, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, later held a news conference to announce that "a mistake happened" in the hiring of Jantjie.  Government officials have tried to track down the company that provided Thamsanqa Jantjie but the owners "have vanished into thin air," said Deputy Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu.

If nothing else – they’ve got great names.