November 22, 2002

           Miami 5:33 a.m., perfect weather 80° Fahrenheit ally all I need is a new car. I worked on a database table again. There is a 30 year pattern to this. Before I can get things done properly I have to both gather the data and organize it. My fellow coworkers don't seem to have this problem, if you follow what I mean. Maybe that's why vacation requests have to be approved three months in advance?
           Anyway, although I dislike MS applications, I find myself having to tolerate them. Everyone I meet who is an “expert” uses the computer tactically, not strategically. Rhonda came by and explained the need to track safety training by the individual employee. It's now very easy because we know who's where.

           [Author's note: My current car is a two-door 85 Cadillac with 163,800 miles on it. I originally paid $11,000 work for it, mostly cash from a small claims action. Since then, it's been to California for a few times, across the country and to Key West. I found the original bill of sale in the seat pocket. It was sold new in Florida. I bought it in 1990 in Washington State.]

           [Author's note: Rhonda G., was asked to help me in finding which employees driving home the vehicles had expired driver's licenses. This was the start of the current database. I had to know who was there before we started looking (see comment above about gathering data). Turns out, Ron (Rhonda) is married to a higher up.]

           [Author's note: There are some unclear comments here about safety records and legal points that were overlooked. Rhonda's conclusion afterward is that soon all 20 departments will be controlled by my database. I did not disagree, but in the end this never happened. There were two reasons why not. One, the sheer impossibility of training other people to understand the technology. Two, incredible resistance from two people who were jealous that they didn't understand the technology. Hector A. and Charlie F., completely cynical and morally corrupt individuals living in the wrong century.]

           [Author's note 2022: It was a treat to read this after 20 years. This was a calendar entry by the choice of words. The database did "sort of" take over, but after I left the company--it was the only way for each department to double check their own work. However, there was nobody who could maintain the data. The two people, Hector & Charlie, were heads of the department that would have been responsible. They problem was, until I came along, they thought they knew what they were doing. Both were backstabbers in the style of the past, where getting ahead meant shafting everybody else. The company went bankrupt not long after.]