I Won.

I beat you.

You tried to cheat me, you lied, you stole from me.

Then you tried to make it look like something I had done wrong.

I called you on it, and I won.

Maybe I didn't win as much as I would have liked, but you got zip.

And considering the ridiculous claim that you made, that's satisfaction for me.

Neither one of us can talk about it--so this is all I will say.

But I won.

You know it.

I know it.

And that's all that matters.

Hurry Up and Wait

I do business with a company that has offices in every major city in America. The scope and size of this organization is simply VAST. So much so, that getting things done, arriving at decisions, and making things happen is generally an exercise in patience of the nth-degree.

Sometimes, it's just an exercise in futility.

One of my customers wanted to make an announcement of a new feature involving the company described above. It's always good to toot one's horn, but even better if you can get someone else to honk about you, too.

Of course, there's always boilerplate and legalese, and signing off on intials that have initialed sign-offs. Sometimes it takes 6-months to order a pencil; you could write it quicker with a box of burned matches...

So a request for proper protocol and nomenclature was sent up the chain of command of this mighty corporate operation on behalf of my customer.
They were all out.
Couldn't be bothered.

We'll get back to you.

My customer seemed not to sense the gravity--or the glacial nature--of the corporate giant, and released his news without their input. Too bad.

This same corporate sloth recently re-branded one of its products, which affected my business, and all other businesses doing business with this business.

Did they allow weeks upon weeks before changing course?

Did they take their time in steering their behemoth onto a new heading--which would have given the rest of us ample time to make changes to pitches, documents, affiliation marks, etc.?

Of course not.

We were given less than a week's warning...AND at the last minute, the company also changed the presentation form of their product. The transition was a train wreck.

Next time they ask me for something...I think I'll take my time. They can hurry up and wait.

Hell, no!

Just amazing.

The company that unceremoniously fired me in 2008 now finds itself in dire straits because its know-it-all CEO doesn't know it all after all.

Representatives have actually called me and asked me to consider returning to manage things.

What is the temperature in Hell?

In their typical style, they're in a hurry for a decision.

Gotta know within 48-hours, 24-hours ago.

At the very least, could I please give them some guidance on what to do?

(Um, is it just me, or isn't it customary to pay people for that kind of thing??)

So...after doing some digging, asking some questions, and ferreting out the reality of their alternative universe, I called back.

Twice.

Sent an e-mail.

A text-message.

A FB message.

No response.

And now I remember why leaving that place really wasn't so bad after all.

The temperature in Hell?

Still well-above freezing.

I hope they roast.