Alvin's annoyed at the Chipmunk.

I am, too.

The more we work on this project and the more we learn about what it's going to take to make it successful, the more we're beginning to realize that all of the vaunted "expertise" the Chipmunk was supposed to be bringing to the table (in return for his generous stock option program), is mostly smoke and mirrors.

In pointed questioning over the last two days, I've elicited the information that of all the times the Chipmunk has tried something similar to the program we're starting up now, not one of them has ever been successful. There's always some excuse, someone else whose fault it was, but the bottom line is that the man has never successfully brought a project to completion.

That means I'm going to be spending the next three weeks tearing apart all of the training and marketing material we have and completely restructuring our approach and rewriting all of it. The new approach has to be ready to go by January 2, when we hope to roll out our new and improved program.

I hated New Orleans but now I'm admitting that it was a good thing I made this trip myself. I learned a ton of things, mostly about what we're doing wrong, that I might not have learned for six months, if ever, if someone else had gone. Fortunately, I also came up with at least a few vague ideas for how we might trying doing it instead. And, just as fortunately, Alvin agrees with me.

The point of all of this is that we've been having discussions, almost since the day I arrived here, about whether or not to bring The Terminator on board to work with us. She used to be my boss a couple of companies ago and while I'll admit she can bring results, and sales, in the door, I'll also stand steadfastly by the fact that many times you seriously question whether or not you want to be successful that badly. Is the pain worth the gain? With her, it doesn’t always seem to be.

However, she's been working hard on changing and has improved immensely. Enough so that she's more Tuffy the Tank than Terminator these days.

I think what Alvin and I are eventually going to decide is that, with a few boundaries drawn in carefully before the fact, bringing Tuffy on board and finally getting some real momentum going on sales is worth the potential problems.

Buehler, who has only previously been approached about bringing Tuffy on board as a sort of outside sales person, is in for a shock. He's worked with her before, but not this closely, and I don't think he has any idea of the total chaos he's about to face.

Serves him right. He's owned his part of this company for over ten years and it's still dinking along from one cash crisis to another and there's no excuse for it. His product and his concept are really, really good. He's just never put the consistent effort into the business to make it successful.

IDoJeannie really is leaving. Looks like it's official on January 1. They've hired a replacement, but before she gets here, Alvin and I are snagging IDoJeannie's double-sized office for ourselves. A couple of those acoustical "cubicle" walls to split it into two spaces and we'll be good to go. The new receptionist can sit where a receptionist should sit, at the desk in the reception area.

Since I stopped answering the phone for Darrell's company after IDoJeannie leaves around 2:00 each day, he has, if possible, spoken to me even less often than he used to. The Other Brother Darrell seems to be up to something. He's always wandering casually by my desk and asking what I'm up to. I think it's because one day he came over and found me playing "Bookworm" on my lunch break. They suspect me of goofing off all day.

Of course, there are times when this would be an accurate description of my day (NaNoWriMo!), but that doesn't change the basic fact that it's no part of my job to play receptionist for their company or the parent company.

In embarrassing news, I woke up the other day and found myself an addict. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm going to have to hit Blockbuster and see if they have the early season DVDs for rent. (I hate to buy anything unless I'm reasonably sure I'm going to want to watch it more than once.)

Anyhow, imagine my chagrin, after flaunting my indifference to this fannish phenomenon for lo! howevermany years. It's not my fault, though, it's my company's fault.

Specifically, it's the Chipmunk's fault.

If he hadn't pissed off the client, I wouldn't have been in N.O. with time on my hands in early November and wouldn't have seen a couple of episodes of the show with "Giles" and "Spike" in them, and fallen into lust with both characters.

Also if the Chipmunk hadn't pissed off the client, I wouldn't have had to go back to New Orleans this past week and would not have had time on my hands to sit and watch Spike gettin' all nekkid and stuff.

It's the Chipmunk's fault, okay?

Anyhow. I'm still not sure how much I'll like the show, but I'm convinced that I need to see Spike in his early, evil days. And that I need to see a lot more of Giles.