Of Work and Other Things

As I've noted, while I've started my new life as "The Vee-Pee", I remain entangled with the old client as we figure out whether the Vendor has done a punishably bad thing, or just a sort of bad thing, and also to figure out who will replace me (with the adjunct of what they will be doing when they replace me, depending of whether we like or do not like this vendor anymore.)

So we had the big come-to-jesus meeting with the Vendor on the 31st, and I was very pleased. They brought the right attitude, the right people, and a commitment to do right by us. They walked us through the longer term vision, and made it clear that while they had radically shifted focus, they will get to the same end goal as we needed/expected, only one year later.

The down side was that the passionate Doctor B (who you'll recall referred to the entire project as a 'clusterf**k') showed up toward the end of the meeting: He sat quietly as I recounted the points of our discussion, and how I felt that we were getting back on track. He fixed me with a look and slid his gaze over to the vendors. He gestured at the whiteboard and said

"All of this, all you have discussed, it means nothing to me. My colleagues are surprised and disappointed at what has happened, but not me. I have known from the very beginning that you have an inferior product and that we would not be getting what we needed, and so when it was revealed that you had LIED TO US, it was not a surprise to me."

It went on like this for a good 20 minutes. He ranted about a wide variety of disappointments... only a few of which could truly be said to be a problem of the toolset as opposed to his own departmental workflow... but no matter, this was Vendor Beat-up time.

To their credit, the Vendor took their lumps - well the lumps that were theirs to take, didn't try to defend themselves, just deferred and promised to work on things. He stomped off, and we were all left in stunned silence. It was actually pretty embarassing, but we all were able to see the event for what it was - a diva rage.

Immediately afterward, we had a very promising interview with a lady who I think can take the reins of the project very ably, and she can start in 2 weeks, allowing me to escape!

Back to the "real job": I'm off to Portland and Seattle this week (just one night, but I'll be home late) - I get to visit Paul and Caesar this trip too! Good times!

And now, it's off to bed, my blogging done.