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Issue 17
 A visit by Consortium bigwigs brings XML trouble for Angie, and euro trouble for Greg, but help comes from the least expected direction.
Monday
My three least-favourite letters of the alphabet right now are definitely X, M and L, in that order. Having been roped in as the TEL Consortium’s XML Guru, I seem to have developed a mental block about the subject and just can’t get to grips with how it fits into the scheme of things. This is a bit frightening, as up to now I’ve always coped with new technologies (even DCOM) fairly easily. Carl’s sympathetic, and says he had the same problem with ADO at first. Denny’s just plain cruel, saying it means I’m burnt out and it’s time for me to give up and get pregnant. To make matters worse it’s our turn to host the monthly TEL directors’ meeting, so this Friday I’m scheduled to give a room full of Euro-bigwigs a presentation on ‘XML - the Future of TEL Data Integration’. Help!
Tuesday
Kevin, Mike and I discuss Ed, the Increasingly Useless Developer. He’s now had verbal and written warnings, the first for straying from the spec, the second for being plain stupid with a VBS ASP script, yet he’s still full of himself and still making silly mistakes. We agree that he’s got to go, and Mike says he’ll do it on Friday. It’s a relief, but it doesn’t solve my XML presentation problem, which is basically that I don’t have one. In the circumstances an email from Didier is the last thing I need, but I get one anyway, saying that the engineers are desperate for their system mods, and asking if Mike’s agreed to let me do them yet. Mike’s still stalling me on that one, so I stall Didier, feel guilty, and log on to the MSDN XML pages in a desperate search for knowledge.
Wednesday
Drivers Allowances Phase II has, at last, been officially signed off, which will be great news to give the TEL bigwigs when they arrive tomorrow, although that’s purely coincidental of course. Bill Hammond congratulates me publicly on a superb achievement, and privately for producing something he could sign off in good conscience, which I think means that he’d have accepted virtually anything. My success has, of course, brought the usual side-order of sour grapes - Ed’s in a sulk because Hammond thanked me and not him, while Carl and Denny cheerfully say that the firm will probably dump me now that I’ve sorted DAII out. Wise to their mind-games, I reply that Mike’s asked me to stay on until I’ve sorted them out too, which has them looking just a tiny bit worried as I head quickly for the Ladies.
Thursday
Kevin and I sit in on the TEL directors’ IT session as Greg’s technical backup. Everything goes smoothly until Greg mentions currency conversion for the Through Transit system, at which point the other directors say that they’re all in the Euro, and if we need conversion then we’ll have to pay for it ourselves. A financial wrestling-match quickly develops, allowing me to slip away and tell Mike that we’ll have to cancel my XML presentation tomorrow, as it just isn’t good enough. We’re just beginning to argue about it when Ed, of all people, comes in and says he’s heard that we need some red-hot XML expertise, and that he’s our man. Normally I’d laugh, but I’m so desperate that I ask him a few questions, and incredibly he seems to know what he’s talking about. Salvation may just have arrived, from the least likely direction.
Friday
7:30 am, and Ed and I are rehearsing our XML presentation. He understands DTDs, schemas and data islands much better than I do, which is annoying but an absolute life-saver. At 11am we give the talk, with me handling the strategic side and Ed the nuts and bolts. I’m nervous, but Ed actually manages to crack jokes. The presentation is a success, and gets everyone talking about data integration instead of currency conversion, to Greg’s obvious relief. At 3pm Mike calls Ed in, and I suddenly remember that he’s due for the chop. This seems unfair after this morning’s triumph, and I’m about to go and speak up for him when Mike calls me in too, and tells me the good news. The TEL project has a new XML specialist, he and I are going to be working closely together, and his name is - of course - Ed.
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Issue 17 - 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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