In the “Token-Ring-Times” we had the apprentices hold up the cables when they were unplugged, because otherwise the token falls out of the net.

Most of them did it without questioning….

Well my joke for the day. Snow falls in Toronto and the schools close  . I must be getting old.. “err when I was young were forced to go to school during blizzards and Polar bear attacks but now…

As for an IT joke.. give me some time, I have to run this through the Burke censor  . You never know former bosses and managers might be stalking me and God forbid they make the unbelievable mistake of thinking that I based my funniest and most ludicrous stories on them  . Won’t take long, I can create a Frankenmanager, i.e. knit together all the funniest parts of them into one Uber Manager. 

Well my joke for the day. Snow falls in Toronto and the schools close  . I must be getting old.. “err when I was young were forced to go to school during blizzards and Polar bear attacks but now…

As for an IT joke.. give me some time, I have to run this through the Burke censor  . You never know former bosses and managers might be stalking me and God forbid they make the unbelievable mistake of thinking that I based my funniest and most ludicrous stories on them  . Won’t take long, I can create a Frankenmanager, i.e. knit together all the funniest parts of them into one Uber Manager. 

We’ve got strong winds today but no snow and our schools have closed!

@MicoolPaul 

But Jen must be right. The internet was in that box

Yes the turboencabulator. However, at times it is not to far off from reality. Many of of us have had the pleasure of sitting through a lecture or meeting with the “trying to be human again” CEO or even worse the winged (as in Angel wings, put aloft by strategic vision and can do! projects)  Manager types will have felt that we do have had dealings with turboencabulators.

Lets take for example Morris Machiavelli Moronian. (DISCLAIMER Morris is a fictional character any likeness to living or dead persons is pure coincidence or perhaps a result of ever so slight behavioral similarities).

Morris liked to have “Team” meetings. Morris constantly stressed “teamwork” and then would wander off to the sidelines to observer the work being done from a comfortable distance. Morris had watched many spy films and knew about the carrot and stick method of managing, sometimes give a carrot sometimes the stick. It took Morris a long time to climb the corporate IT ladder, in fact many believed that there was no ladder at all in the Corporate IT department, just a slippery slide, to climb it you needed ice picks!. His promotion came after years of corporate gymnastics (strategically choosing which higher up to compliment or offer to do extra work for). He had also become adept at what he called the Maradona technique in passing. He had watched the footballer Maradona receive the ball and then effortlessly and stealthily pass it on to others. Sometimes this was done so well that the receiver had no idea the ball was coming. Morris employed this same technique with certain work projects juggling task after task then hiding a sinister smile when Junior Joe (from our previous story) or the Notorious KGG (yes Kube Genius was also a victim of the work stealth pass) would score an own goal since they had no idea the jobs had been assigned to them. Morris never forgot the day he was made manager (after the old one quit in salary dispute and when certain inconsistencies were revealed in his expense account in relation to huge lunches). His eyes teared up when Moe the CEO called him into his office and inducted him with a 2 hour speech about goals, targets, the meaning of life, forces moving the universe. In fact Moe the CEO talked about literally everything except for profits, bonuses, IPO’s and the vulture venture capitalists who would later be calling Moe in for a 3 hour walk over the financial coals engagement. Morris left Moe the CEO’s office with a mission and fire in his eyes. He could not really remember anything that Moe the CEO had said but knew deep down that it was important and in fact would become the credo of his life going forward. His job was now to transfer Moe’s forgotten message to all of “HIS” team. “MY Team” Moe thought as tears swelled up. No longer would he have to secretly pass the ball to his unsuspecting competitors in career advancement. In fact Morris realized he was no longer even on the field. He was now that guy on the sidelines in the expensive suit walking up and down with a look like the weight of the world had been bestowed upon him.

In one of his first acts as manager when he got a call about a priority one issue at 9PM in the evening from a panicking Junior Joe. He calmly told the Junior Joe “Junior, you know I will always be there in the background to help you and provide support, we are all in this together”, and feeling very fatherly and charitable he made sure to turn off his cell phone in order to get a good night’s sleep. After all the Boss’s Brain must be Bright first thing in the morning!!

@Geoff Burke that had more twists and turns than a blender, but the end was worth the journey

Love that Rockwell video and still had to watch it through for the umpteenth time.  However, I still don’t know how one could get through that entire thing with a straight face and stumbling though the words….

Note to self...still need to watch The IT Crowd…..