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 Issue 12
Things are still tough in Florence, but at least Angie’s getting plenty of
experience. There’s trouble round the corner though, as Kate stirs things up.
Monday
They said that spring in Tuscany would be lovely, but I didn’t think they meant this
lovely. Yesterday I went to Pisa with our administrator, Maria, and spent the entire trip
staring wide-eyed at everything, especially the unbelievable Leaning Tower, which has
apparently been leaning since 1185. That was an all-too-rare break though, and today I
have to pay the price - Franca’s disapproval for not having spent the entire weekend
working on Milan. That project’s become a nightmare, but I’m determined to get
it right, even though every time I do Kate changes the front end and makes it fall over
again. I’ve tried talking to Franca about it, but Kate always seems to get to her
first, and now she’s convinced that the problems are all my fault. Still, I
won’t let it get me down.
Tuesday
Things are tough, but I’m learning a huge amount very quickly. At the old place I was
kept away from server-side work, but here the server’s all mine and I’m loading
stored procedures into the Milan database straight from Visual Studio. I also understand
ADOs properly (well I think I do!), mainly because I played with them on a copy of the
Paris Engineers system. (Imagine Mike’s reaction if I’d tried to swan off with a
copy of Drivers Allowances!) I’ve even written a routine which uses the
IActiveDesktop interface to create intranet viewports. That’s nothing special, but
it’s in C++, a language I wasn’t allowed to touch. My skills list now reads like
the index to an MSDN CD, which has got to be worth a few lost weekends. That’s
something I try to remember as I get yet another dark look from Franca.
Wednesday
I put my foot down, and tell Franca and Kate that there can’t be any more mods to
Milan if they want it to go live this year. Kate takes it surprisingly well, but I think
that’s because she’s lost interest and is now busy being creative on the Fashion
Trends prototype. Unfortunately I can see trouble ahead on that front too, as she’s
proposing an Office-based solution to the in-house side. I tell her I don’t have (or
want) the skills to script the Office applications, but as usual she brushes my objections
aside with a dismissive, “We need flexibility here, Angie”, before going off to
chat about it to Franca. At lunch Maria tells me to be molto prudente of Kate, and I say I
will. I thought I’d left office politics behind in England, but it seems I was wrong.
Thursday
It’s strange how I’ve become good e-pals with Carl and Denny (of all people)
since I left, but these days I really look forward to their messages. Things sound
difficult there too, with Bill Hammond refusing to sign off Drivers Allowances Phase II,
and poor Sammy making a pig’s ear of some simple Bookings Client HTML, which C and D
had to put right. Meanwhile my successor, Ed, obviously hasn’t turned out to be quite
the star he claimed he was, since he’s now referred to as “Motormouth”. At
least Ed’s not my problem, and the thought of the C++ Mafia having to dirty their
hands on HTML gives me good laugh. Cheered up, I reply that everything’s going great
here, and return to the horrors of Milan.
Friday
It’s a lovely day, so I walk over the river to the Giardino di Boboli for lunch. I
still can’t really believe I’m here in Florence, but then I haven’t had
time to actually see much of it yet, so hopefully it’ll sink in soon. The owner of
the café by the Gardens recognises me and greets me, rather poetically, as “la
ragazza, lontana dalla gente e i luoghi che lei tanto ama”. It makes me think of
Pete, and I wipe my eye before starting my salad. I’ve just had a second mouthful
when my mobile rings. It’s Franca, telling me to get back to the office
immediatamente. The Milan customer trial has fallen over, the client is hopping mad, and
I’m to get it fixed now, if not sooner, and definitely - no excuses - by first thing
Monday morning. Another week ended, and another weekend lost.
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Issue 12 - Contents
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Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Issue 5
Issue 6
Issue 7
Issue 8
Issue 9
Issue 10
Issue 11
Issue 12
Issue 13
Issue 14
Issue 15
Issue 16
Issue 17
Issue 18
Issue 19
Issue 20
Issue 21
Issue 22
Issue 23
Issue 24
Issue 25
Issue 26
Issue 27
Issue 28
Issue 29
Issue 30
Issue 31
Issue 32
Issue 33
Issue 34
Issue 35
Issue 36
Issue 37
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