Management. And now I have joined the club. Yep, that’s the big news. I was offered a promotion last week. The whole job req/head count still needs to be worked out, but the job is mine if I want it. Scary huh? Me. Management. Facial piercing, pink hair and all. My new manager, who had never actually seen me before, didn’t even blink. Of course I was wearing a very nice Jill Sanders skirt and Strenesse top with my Patrick Cox kitten heels, when I arrived. So my new title will be, HPE IT Manager. I manage the white space. I have no direct reports, thank God, unless you count the three pieces of paper attached to my monitor that say Joe, Susan and Bob. Nick, who is in Patrick’s workgroup, thought I needed a staff so he made one. I am responsible for a Financial IT platform across Europe. My first task will be merging it with Compaq. Scary huh? I think I can do it, but I am scared. The ramp up is extreme and it has to go live by Nov 1st. Seems that our technical solution will be simple enough, but I am still nervous. I mean, why me? Bob, my new manager, said he talked to a number of people who gave him three names. I was on each list. When he asked some other people to rank the list, I was first on all of them (three I think). He said I should be flattered. And I am, but still why me? What is so damn special about me? I work hard and I am smart but I don’t think I am that special. I asked Ivette if she wanted the job. She has more experience than me and she ran LDMP from Hell, quite well I might add. She said she wasn’t asked but I don’t think that counts. Anyhow, wish me luck and if I don’t write, you know why.

And what about that outfit? Is management allowed to show their stomach like that? Not to mention my slightly sloping behind! Normally folks, I wouldn’t wear something like this but Patrick really really loved it and I wear a long shirt at the office. Kind of fun being skanky.

I was in Geneva this week for two days. It was a meeting about this merger project. I was disappointed with the town, in a sense. As an American, I had this idea of Geneva being this perfect blend of old world and modern finance. A city that had Chalets with hand carved wood and bat phones to all the major international indexes. It was more like a tired old town that had a lot of ugly buildings built in the 70’s. I didn’t get a great rush of Financial power when I got off the plane. In fact the airport makes Stuttgart look like the new Int’l wing at SFO. But we went for dinner on the outskirts of town and it was beautiful. I had the most succulent Salmon I’ve ever had. The setting was so beautiful. As we drove into the area of the restaurant we saw lots of people riding horses down the streets. We were out of place. One of the guys at the meeting told me that Geneva (Genf in German) is actually a sleepy little city. It is a French speaking city, unlike Zurich, which is German speaking. Zurich is far more metropolitan and has more things for younger crowds. The meeting was as these meetings go. Please refer to the time = money passage from last week’s talk.

Patrick and I are going to the South Side festival this weekend. We’ll be car camping. I’ll take pictures so that I can prove I did it. Still going to bring my electric tooth brush. The battery should last until Sunday no problem. Mostly, I am going to see The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Mostly, Patrick is going to see Shirley Mansion of Garbage and Gwen Stefan of No Doubt. Should be fun. Being dirty can be fun. And if there isn’t enough room in the car for both of us to sleep, Patrick can sleep outside on the ground because he was a Boy Scout and knows how to do these things. He said mud is insulating.

Today the US lost to Germany in the quarter finals of the World Cup. I am actually sort of relieved as I don’t think I would have wanted to be an American in Germany if we’d won. Especially if anything ‘funny’ had happened (think Schumacher in ’84, I think). I am told it was a good game. The US played well. I happened to be on an errand when the game finished. Lots of people driving around honking and waving German flags. Decent number of accidents too. When I returned to the office I asked when we would all sing ‘Deutschland, Deutschland uber Alles’. People laughed. Technically the song is against the law to sing. Something about extreme Nationalism. Oh well.

Patrick says he’s damn hot and the fan isn’t helping. Maybe we could practice sleeping in the car tonight, as it is parked in the nice cool underground lot? Cheers.