cdymek's Blog!

I did see the new Matrix movie tonight. In the morning I will post my thoughts.

At long last, another update to the blog. I was away all weekend (without Internet, no less! How do people survive?) down in Maryland visiting Dave with Nicole. Friday night was a long drive through the darkness, while Sunday was a long drive through the twilight hours. Saturday was the jewel of the weekend.

The first adventure was to the Maryland – UNC fooseball (football, for everyone else) game, where Maryland had the game wrapped up by the middle of the second quarter. Which was fairly good, because our seats were on-high (I thought I saw a few angels fly by), and I could barely follow the action. Throw in a dose of warmth in November, and a bright sun, and 3/4 of the people present (no, I don’t count as two, Dave brought along Phil, a college friend) were just about ready to go. The Marching Band provided a nice reprieve, and the twirlers were simply phenomenal. My jaw dropped on some of the swaps they did, especially when three did a swap and batons were flying across the field. In fact, I was so fascinated by them I didn’t even watch the rest of the field.

After an early departure, we stopped at Toys R Us in search of the elusive Hogwarts Express. Fortunately, we didn’t locate it, though in the end it didn’t matter as the train doesn’t run on lego tracks. I did discover, however, that there are more than two good games for the Gameboy Advance, including Puzzle Fighter and a Mario Kart racing game. This may have negative ramifications on my wallet, if my resistance to spending on those kinds of toys wanes.

Which brings me to the next phase of the weekend, a trip to the mall and Medieval Times. The intensity of the swordplay impressed me, as I didn’t expect to actually see sparks fly. The “special effects” and the actual “plot” components, on the other hand, struck me as cheesy, especially the fog and the usage of the lights. Still, I would not object to another trip, and it is fun eating without utensils. The mall at which the Medieval Times was located as a pleasant affair, with a well-maintained interior that was bright and inviting. And there was also a movie theatre built in a faux-Egyptian style with valet parking. At least for your $10, you’re getting your money’s worth.

Yesterday was its own fun, as well. A visit to the dermatologist ended with two stitches in my back from a mole the doctor felt should be removed. And upon returning home, I was greeted with an unknown visitor claiming to know my estranged uncle. She, like the visitor two weeks earlier, was looking for either him or his family members. Since I have no contact information from anyone on that side of my family, there was nothing I could provide. Nor would I have, though I did take her information and passed it along to my parents. Apparently, my Grandfather’s house is the last known family address. And since he has left the monestary, the contacts have been increasing, as word travels.

Thankfully, there was Monday Night Drinking, which was low-key in nature but did take some of the edge off.

The rumors have been flying over the past few days, as various organizations within the company have meetings to discuss the impending doom. The latest facts that I’ve heard, for my organization, is that notifications will take place between November 11th and November 13th, and that people will be allowed to stay until November 14th, though network access will be disabled.

In other news, I have to take issue with one of the arguments put forth in a case on displaying identification to police in Nevada.

The Nevada Supreme Court had said the case had implications for the government’s terrorism fight. “We are at war against enemies who operate with concealed identities and the dangers we face as a nation are unparalleled,” wrote Chief Justice Cliff Young.

Personally, I don’t quite see the connection between having to identify yourself to police and terrorism. Essentially, if someone is engaged in an activity considered illegal, or suspected of enganging in such an activity, then I would suspect grounds for detainment would already exist. On the other hand, simply being uncooperative with police strikes me as rude, certainly, but not criminal. And stating that you’re only targeting “suspicious” people is a low threshold, as many people can be engaged in activities which outsiders may deem as such in an unfamiliar context, will the activities are in truth very innocent.

And finally, in BusinessWeek’s latest issue, the writers of the cover story on Dell, in some ways, miss the point. They argue that Dell also faces an innovation dilemma. Its penny-pinching ways leave little room for investments in product development and future technologies, especially compared with rivals.

Dell’s focus is specifically not to innovate in the traditional sense. The reason that Dell partners so closely with companies such as Intel, Microsoft, and Lexmark is to leverage their R&D and their innovation. When you consider that Dell simply buys disparate yet (primarily) standardized parts, assembles them in to a finished product, and ships them to customers, it becomes clear how there is little need for them to invest heavily in R&D. The maker of the parts Dell is purchasing has already done this, and the standards in the technology industry ensure that different parts will function together.

Oh, there is one last thing. I love how a company’s stock price is seen as the final arbiter of a company’s success. Take this line: Qwest stock is down 14% since Notebaert arrived on June 16, 2002, compared with a 5% decline for the Standard & Poor’s Telecom Services Index. Given the rationality of the stock markets (just look at any chart of the Nasdaq that runs from 1997 to 2002), it would be facetious of me to question any statements such as the one above. The stock is underperforming! The company MUST be terrible, and we SHOULD just throw the bum out who’s running it. He’s been there since June, 2002, so that’s sixteen months! Sixteen MONTHS! It should have doubled by now. Tripled. Outperformed by 500%!

The belief in building lasting value in enterprises does not appear to be shared by the writers and editors at BusinessWeek, and on Wall Street as well, and I find that more disappointing than words can convey. Building a strong enterprise is a long-term process, and one that short term fluctuations in stock price should neither affect nor be considered meaningful. And yet the extreme shortsightedness of BusinessWeek and Wall Street, with such an intense focus on short term swings, obscures this truth and emphasizes the short term at the expense of actually having vision. Especially since vision usually has a cost.

I had the good fortune to finally watch an episode of MI-5, a British spy drama. For the first bit I found myself a bit skeptical, but in the end I was thoroughly engrossed. The story was fairly engaging, and despite entering the series on the 5th episode, I’m looking forward to watching some additional ones in the future. This definitely earns a gold star on my ratings scale.

All quiet on the Merck front. Tomorrow our CIO has a face-to-face meeting, so perhaps some details will be released then.

Today some kinda’ details o’ da damn severance package wuz announced.
Employees in Grades 7 through 9 will receive foe weeks pay plus deuce weeks 4
aich yaih’ o’ service, in addishun t’ benefits continuashun. All told, dis
would gimme about 8 weeks pay post da damn terminashun date, dependin’ on how
they count mah current half-yaih’. Wank, wank. O’ course, if I still have
some 9-to-5, den dair be no worries anyway.

In otha’ bullshit, da President o’ M.N. Wank, wank.D. has decided dat he would
likes t’ rudda’ our mission away from havin’ some drinkin’ focus t’ mo’ o’ some
service-oriented focus. I think he be been eitha’ hittin’ da damn bottle too
rock o’ on some kinda’ badass quality candy.

Final-like, Da Washington Post has mo’ on da lies by da Bush Administrashun dat
Iraq wuz even close t’ havin’ no real form o’ some nuclaih’ waiposn rehab.

Translation courtesey of the Jive Translator.

Rummie’s memo on the progress in the war on terror and Iraq, displays a level of candor typically unassociated with this Administration.

Strike 1: We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.

Strike 2: Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?

Strike 3: Is our current situation such that “the harder we work, the behinder we get”?

Rummie plainly feels, and is willing to discuss internally, the truth that despite any military might the U.S. has, all the spin in the world doesn’t change the fact that we’re not winning the war on terror and we’re not addressing some of the core issues. In fact, his memo argues that the U.S. military, in its current form, isn’t even properly equiped to do this!

Slate takes much the same viewpoint, with the conclusion that Rumsfeld’s memo makes plain that our top officials suffer no illusions about the war. They are trying only to sell illusions to the rest of us. The leaking of Rumsfeld’s memo puts a tailspin on the sales pitch.

No report.

In other news, the police made an arrest in the murder of the young woman that was discovered down the street.

Layoff Watch Day 2
The cynical jokes continued apace as everyone waits in anticipation of whether they’ll still have a job come the end of November. These ranged from misinterpretations of “If I see you next week…” to others darker in nature. Truthfully the whole experience is something akin to a Survivor episode, except upper management is the one to vote you out. It’s precisely that unknown quality that makes this so difficult. While I would like to believe I have nothing to worry about, but like the New York lotto, “Hey, you ever know.”

I had an opportunity to talk to my manager for the first time since the announcement Wednesday, and though he had little to add, it was reassuring. While he has no idea what’s going on, he’s taking a more optimistic stance on the outcome of the layoffs. Hopefully he’ll be proven right.

The most interesting rumor of the day was that the IS organization is attempting to perform all their separations in one batch, rather than dragging out the process and the uncertainity longer than necessary. While I will commend them for this, at least, the potentially three week time lag has slowed any work to a crawl. Next week is, according to some timelines I have heard, the major decision week where most of the specifics will be determined, so the rumor mill should be spinning in overtime. Certainly, I hope so, as it provides a distraction from the actual work we’re supposed to be doing.

Today I thought I would innaugurate the Layoff Watch, as a space where I can chronicle the rumors, the facts, the morale and the odd ways people react to the uncertainity surrounding the question “Will my access card and network login still work tomorrow morning?”

Today brought official word that the IS organization would be cutting approximately 150 positions, as was known yesterday, out of approximately 2500 worldwide. The odds were basically right around what was expected. It also brought official word that some middle management, not unexpectedly, might be on the chopping block as well, and also demonstrated that my immediate management team is now looking a bit on the haggard side. My director, usually someone very much on top of the goings-on, had to silently repeat a few questions to himself at our staff meeting this morning, when he’s usually quite on the ball. Not the most positive sign, and in fact, everyone I talked to in the meeting felt less confident after it was over.

Among the many items stated at many of these meetings is that the precise numbers and people targeted for “elimination” is not really known and will be determined over the next two weeks. Granted, everyone seems to insist that such a list is already in existence, and that they’re certainly on it. If this is true, I really do have nothing to worry about, as that would easily take care of the 150 people being targeted worldwide. I wouldn’t want to have to pick up the slack alone, though.

Morale is low, but sarcasm is high. Sometimes during the day the office has taken on a kind of “Survivor”-esque theme, with everyone whispering who they hope management votes off the premises in their place.

Oh, and of course, almost nothing productive happened. As if that’s a surprise.

Today was not a good day to be a Merck employee. The company announced less than expected earnings for the most recent quarter and layoffs of 4,400 positions worldwide, including 1200 temporary and 3200 permanent. This is a company that prefers not to take these kinds of measures, so it is disappointing to see them reach such a situation. Morale, to be honest, was extremely low today as more people spent their day trying to come up with some likelihood of being in one of those 4,400 positions. The one positive I’ve noticed is that management has indicated this means positions, of which some are vacant as employees have moved on but the position has remained available. This actually reduces the number of people being removed, such as in one organization, where about 25% of the positions were actually vacant. The IS organization itself is budgeted for around 150 positions, which appears to be in line with many of the other organizations.

Coincidentally, tonight as also the night of an RAA dorm storm, where alumni return to speak to students in their residence halls about life after Rutgers, careers, and any other topics students express a curiosity about. So as I wonder about my own immediate future, I also had the pleasure of discussing the future with current Rutgers students. All in all, it was a successful program and while the students were more shy than in the other dorm storm I’ve attended, we were relatively pleased.