Stupid is as stupid does

There's an old, bad -- and very politically incorrect -- joke that goes something like this:

Why don't they have ice cubes in (insert name of some sovereign nation that you think is stupid)?

Because the lady with the recipe died.

Actually, that's a little insight into what it is like in my office these days. It's been ... um ... interesting as the dust settles and the responsibilities of those who were laid off this time are redistributed among those who remain.

I, for example, am getting some web-related jobs. This is both good and bad. Good because new skills are always valuable for some kind of new career. Bad because it feels so ghoulish.

But the stupidity of what was done is absolutely legion:

A major piece of office equipment malfunctioned on Monday. No one did anything about it and it was still not working Tuesday morning. This particular piece of equipment is reasonably vital to the smooth operation of my job, so we asked around that morning to see who could fix it.

It seems that the only person who really knew how to deal with that piece of equipment had been laid off the week before.

The only guy who knew how to bail had been let go, and now the ship was sinking and we had no bucket.

Brilliant.

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Apparently, my head is not completely in the game because I'm 48 hours late (not unusual) for something called Delurking Day.

It's a day set aside for people who read but never comment (lurk lurk lurk) to come out of the woodwork and make their presence known.

So I have a favor to ask. Make my crappy week a little brighter by delurking and leaving a little how-de-do in the comments.

I know you people are out there. I can hear you breathing.

I've even taken off the word verification, just to make it easier.

I promise I don't bite. I'd just like to be able to say hi.