Profanity Generation

This week our IT Director has been in town. With any new workplace, there is always an initial period where limits are established and boundaries tested.

So I bet our local server guy $5 that I could make the IT Director curse.

"You'll know when I do it, and there will be profanity from him within the first sentence."

Our local server guy, having worked with me a few weeks, refused the bet but agreed to laugh long and loud at whatever happened.

We had a "Corporate Town Hall" meeting on Thursday morning. I've attended a lot of these over the years. Basically, they all boil down to this: Revenue is up, and that's good. However, costs are also up so don't expect your bonus to be any better than last year. There is talk of new customers and emerging markets and grateful sentiments about long hours and hard work -- With the empty promise that employee quality of life will be a key focus in the coming fiscal year.

This meeting was no different. I could have recycled a half a dozen Power Point presentations and changed the company names. I only caught part of the meeting however, since someone always has to miss these to provide the illusion that computer work is constant.

Anyway, I went to lunch with our IT Director and the local Sysadmin.

We discussed drumming and old jobs and a bit of current work stuff before piling back into the rental car to head back to the office. We talked about network architecture and Active Directory structure and policies both Corporate and Technologically Enforced.

"I'm still confused," I started,"You'll have to forgive me. I know the faces of the executives and I know the names, but I haven't managed to put them together exactly. But I heard two of them discussing your 2008 Single Sign-On project. What technology did you decide on for that?"

Invoking the "Single Sign-On" project is all but taboo among most of the IT set. It is often called "a" project, when it is, in fact, many many projects lumped together under a shared deadline.

There was silence for a second as the IT Director turned red.

I though (for a moment) that I'd failed.

Then he seemed to explode.

"They are talking out their ass!"

Before I could even turn around to remind the Sysadmin that I would have won $5 he had already collapsed into laughter.

And, after that and before we could explain he continued to sputter profanity so creative that I was tempted to take notes, though none of it would ever be published on Pr3++yG33kyTh1ng (Think of the children!).

That said, it was impressive to the point of awesome. Physiological impossibilities were described in such vivid and vigorous detail that it almost hurt to come clean about the "project" I had made up.

Choice bits may be made available by email request.

Apparently the boundaries with my IT Director come somewhere after making him curse a lot.