June 2nd
It went through! After all the effort the three of us put into this deal, the company we have been trying to purchase for more than a year is finally ours. They have got a great name, a wonderful team, myriad projects, and satisfied customers. And now they are ours.
Song did an incredible job at the negotiations, especially near the end. He, Hannah, and I will now head up this company, and I am sure we are going to get the ball rolling just like it has been. We had been looking for a good opportunity to pave our own way, to create our own thing, and now we finally, finally got it. Top of the ladder, here we come!
June 3rd
Met the employees today. Of course, I already knew one of them, since he and I have been drinking buddies for years. Rodrigo is a good guy, a team player, so when he relayed to us that the previous ownership group was looking to sell, I knew we had to jump on it. An opportunity like this just does not come along very often, so when it does you have to seize it and never let go.
Here's to a new beginning! Now let's go kick ass and make money!
June 14th
Two weeks in, and it has been nothing but smooth sailing. The engineering teams are doing an incredible job pumping out products; in fact, they are almost too good at it. This is a great team we have got here, no doubt about it.
July 7th
Jamie filed for divorce today. It is... not exactly unexpected, but it is still... I dunno. Sad?
We have drifted further and further apart; there is no point in denying it. In the last few months we have barely spoken to each other. We have no children, so when it is all said and done there is nothing really binding us together.
Except... I love her. She's funny, she's radiant, she's smart. She's perfect. I can't help but to love her. I know I spend too much time at my job, but why can't she see that I am needed here, just like I was needed at our previous company? They will fail without me. Isn't it obvious?
This has been a long time coming. I don't want her to leave, I would much prefer to have her stay with me, but I doubt I can change her mind now. It is far too late for that.
August 15th
The contracts are drying up. I am not entirely sure when that happened, but today Rodrigo came to me and told me, no BS, that he needs more work. I am going to have to get new jobs lined up, so I have told Bianca to help find us new customers. She is a solid sales rep, so I am sure she will come through.
August 28th
My instincts never lie. Bianca's got a meeting set up with a new customer. We are quickly running out of billable projects, so we need a big win to keep the company in the black. It is what the company needs. I am sure we will get it, we just need to be patient.
September 4th
And, once again, my patience pays off. The customer Bianca got in touch with has hired us to produce this project scheduling app that Bianca says (and Rodrigo agrees) we will have no problem with. Now we have got work and everybody can get started right away. Bianca is still out looking for more customers just in case, but I got a good feeling about this one.
October 19th
Met with the lawyers today. I never knew a room could be so cold. I tried pleading with her, with my beloved Jamie, tried to make her see that I will change, that I want to change. I can spend less time at the company, more time with her, I promise, just after we get it up and running on its own. This time, for once, I really meant it.
Not that it mattered. She doesn't believe me. Hell, I'm not sure I believe me.
November 9th
The new project is proceeding right on schedule. We are going to blow the customers' minds! At least, that is what Rodrigo is telling me, and he has never let me down before.
December 10th
The divorce went final today. I went out drinking with Rodrigo and George to try to get out of this funk, and all that did was make me feel worse.
Why am I such an idiot?
December 17th
We had our first Christmas party today, and Song and Hannah wanted me to make a speech to galvanize our troops. Rodrigo still insists that we can make the deadline, but I felt that I needed to make it clear that we have all got to pull together and buckle down to get this project finished.
I just hope they heard me. We really need this win. I really need this win.
January 4th
So far, so good. Rodrigo's team has been pulling lots of overtime to get this project done, and it seems to be working. They are doing a great job, and their company thanks them for it.
January 27th
Almost there. Delivery is on the 4th, and Rodrigo keeps telling me that we will be good to go. And yet, I keep seeing his lead developer sleeping on the floor of his cube. I wonder what that is all about.
February 4th
Well, the delivery was today. Or, at least, it was supposed to be. Turns out that Rodrigo's team, despite all the overtime, has not finished the project, and the system isn't ready to ship. Bianca and I scrambled to get the customer to agree to a new date, and they did, so we will get a second chance at this.
Here's hoping that is all the chances we need. Come on, Engineering! What's taking you so long?
February 6th
We need some more bodies on the scheduler project, so I have reassigned Engineering Team 3 to help. It is what the company needs. Their manager, Francis, was part of the old guard here and just wasn't quite fitting in with the new order of things, so I have decided to let him go as well. My buddy George has stepped up to the plate and agreed to lead that team, a fact for which I am eternally grateful. Now we just need the developers to pull their weight.
February 11th
George has had a few days to really dig into this scheduler app, and he tells me that it is not looking good. He recommended pushing the delivery date another few months, but Bianca objected (quite rightly) that we have already failed to deliver once, so any further delay might just cause the customer to drop us altogether. We cannot afford that.
So, I need George's team to pull overtime to get this project done. They will not like it, but it needs to happen.
March 10th
Song is now on my back because the lead server admin, some chick named Kelly, quit yesterday. So now I gotta go find a new server admin, and they don't exactly grow on trees.
For now, Rodrigo's lead Steve has the most server experience, so the company needs him to fill the gap until I can find a new server admin. Hopefully that won't take too long.
March 31st
Delivery day tomorrow. Here's hoping it goes better than the first one. Rodrigo assured me it would while we were at the bar after work, and he has been nothing but consistent in his affirmations. I asked George what he thought, and he said they were closer than they had ever been.
We will be fine.
April 1st
Or maybe we won't.
Demo did not go well. The customer wasn't happy with some of the changes, and wanted a few more, so Bianca and I agreed. Gotta keep the customer happy.
Rodrigo and George are just as stunned as I am. How could they not like this project when we're closer than we have ever been to finishing it? They seem to think that the root problem is Rodrigo's lead developer, Steve. Rodrigo said he would handle it tomorrow.
I hope Steve has said his goodbyes.
April 16th
It was all going so well. Now, the scheduler project is way behind (thanks to Steve's incompetence), and I am not at all sure we can save it in time.
No! I can't think like that. We have to complete it. It is the biggest job we have had since the acquisition, it cannot fail!
On the bright side, all this commotion at work means today was the first day I have not had time to think about how much I miss Jamie. I don't know how to feel about that.
May 13th
Apparently there is something going on with Engineering Team 2; several of the interns are refusing to work late. That cannot be allowed to stand have that, the company needs every man on deck for this project. Our very survival is at stake!
I'm going to have to find whoever started this and give them their just rewards. After the project, anyway.
May 26th
Tomorrow is our last chance. The new lead, Marisol, says we're not going to make it, but Rodrigo and George have seen the product and they say it's good enough. I'm sure my buddies have a handle on this.
If not, well, I am going to need a lot more drinks.
May 27th
Shit.
The customer was fed up with us. Engineering didn't come through, despite all the promises made. They dropped us, and now we're stuck with no work and a scheduler app that nobody wants.
Somebody's going to pay for this. It is what the company needs.
May 28th
Had a heated argument with Team 2 lead Neil today. He got all pissy, saying we had not given him enough time to get his interns up to speed on the new project. Which is crap, and I told him as much. Had he put as much effort into this as we have, it would not have been a problem.
I also informed him that, while his own job is safe, we will be disbanding Team 2 and reintegrating him with Team 1. He lost his cool, something I had not seen before and, quite frankly, was rather unbecoming of him. He yelled about "broken promises" and other crap, and at that point I stopped listening.
As far as I am concerned, he, Marisol, and Steve caused this project to spiral out of control. Since Steve's gone and Marisol will be shortly, he should be pretty damn glad to still have a job.
May 29th
I fired the interns today; Neil refused to do it. I am not sure how much longer I will let his insubordination stand, but for now we are understaffed and the company needs him around. When the company no longer needs him, well...
May 30th
And now we begin the long process of finding a new team, a real team, one that will pull their weight when asked and can do the job they signed up for. I've already got several candidates coming in; replacements for Steve and Kelly, and a possible new manager. All we need is a team we can gel with; keeping the existing team employed might have been a bad idea after all.
It has been a rough few months. Lots of turmoil; Song is unhappy about the whole thing and I do not blame him. But Rodrigo, George, and I will get us back on our feet.
As long as we have a solid engineering team supporting us. We need them to be ready for anything, ready for a challenge, ready to get down and dirty. We need them to pull their weight.
It is what the company needs.
