![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Oct. 6th, 2006
Bwahahaha!
Oct. 6th, 2006 07:18 pmSo, I haven't heard about my old work place for a while. I'll admit I've been getting anxious. Next week I file for my last severance check, and after that it's the unemployment line, but I'm at least going to try and get the attention of a temp agency and I've been directed towards some useful .gov job sites that I didn't know about before, so I'm not completely screwed yet, just worried.
Anyway, I just got a call from my old co-worker Steve, who brightened my day considerably with his news. It would appear that the person they hired to take over my old boss Althea's job came to Steve with an oh-so-minor problem.
Apparently the pagination (determining how many pages the book will be, and what page particular information is going to be placed) was set before the area maps were made. This is a problem for several reasons. First off, area maps take up 1/3 of a collumn, in a two collumn book. Doesn't sound like much, does it? But when you're putting in about 150 area maps, they add up, to the tune of at least twenty pages of space that need to be accomidated for. Never mind throwing off stuff like the index at the beginning telling you what page the listings for a particular state begin. This also effects how much paper needs to be bought to make these books. Multiply twenty or so extra pages by 3/4 of a million books (the expected low side of a print run) and things start getting expensive.
I suspect the poor woman in Graphics that handles negotiations with our paper supplier is tearing her hair out right now.
The beautiful part? The new guy apparently hasn't even started making the area maps. Doesn't even know where to start (despite my leaving written instructions). So they don't even know how many area maps they're going to need, which absolutely must be determined before figuring out what the actual page count must be!
Did I mention the directory has to start printing by early November for them to be shipped to the hotels before January?
Or that the VP that hired my old department head just happens to be leaving the company to move back to New York, and taking her patronage with her?
(whistles cheerfully)
Anyway, I just got a call from my old co-worker Steve, who brightened my day considerably with his news. It would appear that the person they hired to take over my old boss Althea's job came to Steve with an oh-so-minor problem.
Apparently the pagination (determining how many pages the book will be, and what page particular information is going to be placed) was set before the area maps were made. This is a problem for several reasons. First off, area maps take up 1/3 of a collumn, in a two collumn book. Doesn't sound like much, does it? But when you're putting in about 150 area maps, they add up, to the tune of at least twenty pages of space that need to be accomidated for. Never mind throwing off stuff like the index at the beginning telling you what page the listings for a particular state begin. This also effects how much paper needs to be bought to make these books. Multiply twenty or so extra pages by 3/4 of a million books (the expected low side of a print run) and things start getting expensive.
I suspect the poor woman in Graphics that handles negotiations with our paper supplier is tearing her hair out right now.
The beautiful part? The new guy apparently hasn't even started making the area maps. Doesn't even know where to start (despite my leaving written instructions). So they don't even know how many area maps they're going to need, which absolutely must be determined before figuring out what the actual page count must be!
Did I mention the directory has to start printing by early November for them to be shipped to the hotels before January?
Or that the VP that hired my old department head just happens to be leaving the company to move back to New York, and taking her patronage with her?
(whistles cheerfully)
