Last To Know

Assuming I ever have some time and some energy that overlap on the same day, I'm going to write a post about the joys of working for the government, which seems to be one of the safest places to be these days, even though that isn't saying too much. However, in lieu of that, today I'll just quote Joel Achenbach, who blogs and writes features for the Washington Post. You've no doubt been hearing that print journalism is going through some difficult times in terms of profitable business model. Here he was last week:

This is an exciting day at the Post because there are all these amazing structural changes in the editing and copy-flow process that I would explain in detail were I to have even the vaguest understanding of them.

There have been lots of meetings and memos. Entire departments have vanished. Where Financial used to be there's now a Taco Bell. Fact: They've told us that, in anticipation of a major architectural renovation of the newsroom, we should pack our belongings in boxes and take anything truly valuable to our homes. Um, sure. Like I believe that. Whatever happened to the decency of giving a worker a simple pink slip?

What's this all mean? I am the last to know. But probably the governing concept behind all these changes is "More Cowbell."

I love the bit about taking your valuables home and keeping your belongings packed in boxes. We had a little spate of people being "walked out the door" recently, and I always wonder--do you get to go to your office and get your stuff? Is it better not to have so much personal stuff in your cube that we'd be talking multiple boxes to get it all out? Do they have an adequate stash of boxes in the back, or would it be a good idea to keep a few in the trunk of your car? I've taken to trying to keep my pictures backed up onto CD so that I could walk away from my desktop without too much frustration, not that I'm expecting to contract a virus soon and have my computer investigated and be fired for doing something inappropriate with work files or anything.

(And if you don't know about "more cowbell," it was a Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell. I'm not sure this video is the entire skit, but it's most of it.)