Acting on Principle

1. I got a last-minute RSVP to the big meeting that I'm holding on Tuesday, after I'd already confirmed the room and the numbers for lunch. We're already planning on dragging in a few chairs, as this was the least-bad space for the meeting. These wannabe-attendees don't have much to offer and are leaving the project in under a month. Their badges are expired, and the admin who handles badge renewal has enough crap going on already. I told them that it was too late.


2. You know, you're probably right that sometimes-collaborator comes from the corporate world with all of his illiterate ramblings about leveraging schemas. The latest: We are going to teach a 30-minute web-based session on Linux for the Very Beginner (how to log on, ls, etc.). The man is talking about making slides. Slides! We're going to be broadcasting what is on the computer screen to teach how to use a computer, and he is thinking slides! My plan was to find a nice Linux cheat-sheet on the web and then demonstrate some of the most important things. Also, my answer to his holy war question was neither. These are beginners: pico (or nano) ftw.


3. Hunting down spaces for interns to sit. This is no-win. Windowless, drafty, raised floor machine room with humming electrical box? Apparently we are fighting with another group for the right to sit our interns in here. The middle-aged white guys forget that the entire experience -- including quality of office space and how well they get along with their summer roommates -- is important to interns as they decide whether to continue in our field. There is more to a successful internship than a cool piece of science to work on.