Blogger for a day

I've decided to let D abduct my blog this morning only because the email he sent me the other day was so funny I wanted to share it. As a bit of background to the email D is a project manager at his company and his job is to streamline, remove wastes and make everyone's jobs easier and not in the band-aid kind of way. To do this he's been working some odd shifts so he can get to the root of the problems. This is the email I received from him yesterday, names have been changed to protect him. (I call her Petula because it sounds like petulant and that's what she is)

"Ha!!! A big fat fuckin HA!

I came in early to watch a startup on line G, this is something I didn’t speak to Petula the team leader about in advance. Subsequently she had all sorts of questions as to what I was doing first thing this morning which I didn’t mind and was prepared for.

I did my observations and noted them down. I asked Petula whether the repeated slicer issues have been dealt with and whether she intends to check on the stauts of the slicer before start-up. I asked her if the press’s sideloader which had been a pain last week was sorted. Her answer was that everything was under control (and she seemed offended that I should ask).
By 06:30 she was set up and able to get a coffee while her staff turned up.

06:55 comes and everyone is back down on the line. Petula does her final check, a headcount of staff on the line and the staff do their final check – the “am I sure I can’t fake a sicky”.

06:59 and the machinery starts up

06:59:10 and the machinery stops, the slicer issue has come back and an engineer is needed.

07:18 I pick myself up off the office floor, tired from laughter, I decide to look through the window and what do I see but the engineer, still working on the slicer."

I laughed so hard! D has been often viewed as just someone 'sticking his nose in' when most of what he has to say is good, after all he's employed to be the person who takes a step back and can see flaws from the outside and then works with the other members to try and make things easier and better for them. But as they say you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.