Gryffyd Eamonn Dempsey » Work

More trends in office interior design

Gryffyd — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:18:41 +0000

I once had a bonsai tree at my desk. It died. I have now replaced it with the fake bonsai below. Under the fluorescent lights, it somehow does not look so garishly plastic.

A Thin Slice of the Working Man’s Life

Gryffyd — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:30:12 +0000

Below is a wee beanbag Mrs The Fyd bought me some years ago. Yes, it is a place for my phone to rest, and is indeed where my phone lies when I am at work and not using it to take pictures of wee beanbags.

The Roads Must Roll

Gryffyd — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:53:52 +0000

So I get into work and only then do I find out that yesterday’s snowfall has indeed blown the city’s gasket and the company I work for has closed for the day, along with apparently most of the rest of downtown businesses, given how deserted it was when I got off the bus. That actually doesn’t matter; even if I’d known about the closure I would have come in, as there are some market-dependent things I have to take care of anyway. Mostly I’m disappointed in this response to what was really not all that much snow. I suppose the very cold temperatures make the roads too dangerous for commuting, but more likely it’s an indictment of the moral fibre of my fellow citizens.

What actually pissed me off this morning occurred as I was crossing the street in front of our office building. “The light says don’t walk!” someone shouted behind me. I turned and saw a cop giving me the stink-eye. So I stepped back on the curb and waited beside the cop for the twenty seconds or so until the light changed. There was not a car in sight on any street around us; there weren’t even any other people. And I don’t think he appreciated it when I joked, “I thought when snow fell that there was no law.”

Our Pain is Their Power

Gryffyd — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:30:06 +0000

Back at work. Hatred of working for The Man renewed. Fact that current boss is (as with most previous bosses) a woman noted as bitter, bitter irony.

UPDATE: I forgot my glasses this morning - just walked out the door this morning without ‘em. I am that most squinty of squinty creatures today.

Perhaps a bit too late

Gryffyd — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:06:41 +0000

Seems like some of the information released here could have been announced at this time. I’m sure essentially being called a liar (“I don’t understand how you can say you feel comfortable with your capital position, and yet you say you can’t give us any idea what the number is,” he said. “At this point, it’s impossible to say those two things.”) didn’t go over well and I wonder who got fired because of that. It’s not very interesting beyond such speculation, but sticks in my mind because our investor relations team had a look of half-shock, half-terror when talking about the infamous Hartford earnings release call.

House of Pain

Gryffyd — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:26:55 +0000

It turns out that the cubicle neighbor whose perfume gags me on occasion is not insensitively over-applying it and ignoring its effect on her co-workers. Rather, the body odor of the guy who waters the plants on our floor provokes her into a defensive spraying of the scent. She apologized to me if she’d overdone it just now, but I know that against Outsiders collateral olfactory damage is to be expected.

New distraction

Gryffyd — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:08:13 +0000

Back from Sacto and back to work. Should be getting stuck in to that but cannot be arsed. Could be because I am itching to check Facebook, to which I was introduced by my dear wife during our vacation last week. I’m going to assume it’s blocked from work and not even try accessing it; I know a time-sink when I see one.

Other useful advice: when walking one’s dogs on a dark foggy evening, make sure that the fence of the church parking lot they enjoy whizzing on is not stacked high with Christmas trees for sale. That is a poorly constructed sentence, but we’ll leave it as is because we’re so street.

A wild guess

Gryffyd — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:12:12 +0000

Because I get irritated by all the anti-mark-to-market bloviating going on, here is an apposite observation by Pierce Scranton, Chief of Staff to the President’s Council of Economic Advisors (feel free to discount any and all of his opinions if you: (a) hate advisors, (b) hate chiefs of staff, (c) hate the gubmint, (d) hate the President, (e) hate economics):

But our fear is that by suspending mark-to-market, you are masking the problem. What matters for financial institutions right now is their liquidity positions. If they are unable to make good on something that requires near term liquidity, and they are relying on something they can’t sell in the market as collateral, that just masks their problem. Mark-to-market granted has some merits. So does the SEC saying we’re going to give you some time. The bill provides for a study and report on mark-to-market. If suspending mark-to-market would be effective, that authority is included in the legislation. The last thing we want to do when there is a lack of confidence in financial institutions is to prove an accounting mechanism for them to say “We’re just fine.” The market is going to see right through that, which would breed more distrust. [my emphasis]

I think over the next ten years, the revenue the government will make on the “bail-out” will have a significant effect on reducing the deficit and national debt. It’ll be an indirect taxation of foolish institutional financial gambles, and the citizen who will therefore avoid (partially) the massive tax increase that must come some day, due to our massive national debt, will be thankful.

Where I Am Kind

Gryffyd — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:17:34 +0000

I’ve never gotten so many calls from worried investment bankers and money fund managers as I have this morning. Every one wants to alleviate any worries I might have about their products’ exposures to current market turmoil. Without getting into details, we’re not holding any positions that would cause me any worries, but I appreciate the calls. Actually, the only worries I have is that these people must be under bad pressure and stress. My propensity to make jokes to ease their strain has me wanting to josh them about not stepping out on their window ledges, but apparently I do indeed possess an untapped reservoir of self-restraint, as well as a few brain cells that recognize utter inappropriateness when they encounter it. Who knew?

Rat race

Gryffyd — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:03:07 +0000

Today my boss and her boss have been interviewing outside candidates for an open position in our department. What makes this a curious situation is that just yesterday I myself interviewed for this position. So today’s efforts are either just a gesture to pro forma competitiveness, a perfunctory prelude to offering me what is rightly mine, or else these unknowns are fearsome candidates prepared to show me up as the under-qualified impostor that I am.

I have the urge to open to door to the office and just stand next to the candidate and keep shaking my head every time they speak.