Sunday, July 8, 2012

Why???

Dateline Laredo, Texas -

I am in this God-forsaken hell-hole because I have a meeting tomorrow.

A one-hour meeting.

For that I had to drive three hours down here today, and will repeat the three hour drive home tomorrow.

Did I mention this is for a one-hour meeting?

I teach in the business school of an international university. We stress to our students the benefits of technology, and how to leverage the Internet, social media, mobile technology, and the like to take advantage of things like globalization, telecommuting, virtual employees -- all trends that don't require the physical co-presence of employees to get things done.

This is a classic example of  "do as I say, not as I do."

I am meeting with the dean, associate dean, and my department chair on a matter that could very easily be handled via Skype, Go To Meeting, or any other virtual conferencing technology. But nooo, we have to all be in the same room.

Why?

I have no friggin' idea.

And I doubt if the people who called this meting do either. With the exception of yours truly, who actually teaches students and produces publishable research, the others are an ungodly crossbreed of bureaucrats and government employees -- they neither toil, nor do they spin.

I feel the need for Shiners ... many, many Shiners.

Sigh...

3 comments:

Pascvaks said...

You're being considered for a promotion and they want to press your flesh to see if you really are who they think you are?

Misery loves company? And your number came up on the roster? (You should be go to not go again for two more years;-)

Maybe the FBI called and told them how you punked me?

CenTexTim said...

Oh, I knew why we were having the meeting (a curriculum design matter for the Fall 2012 semester). My "why" question was why the hell I had to be there in person for a 1 hour meeting that could have been handled in 15 minutes over the phone.

Pascvaks said...

I have a feeling that 15 minutes over the phone would not have met the grant criteria for the $27M from The U.S. Department of Education for meeting(s) to develope "New Curricula Design for Fall 2012 Semester in Higher Education". Anything not spent on the meeting may be used to defray costs for "Buildings and Grounds Maintenance performed by PhD Candidates after High Humidity Cyclonic Events or Experiments".