Monday, 11 February 2013
I spent much of the morning packing up a Valentine's present, and then headed off to the post office to mail it, along with another book we sold from our Amazon storefront. This was the first chance I had for exercise for quite a while, and I planned to make use of the bike ride to run some errands beyond the post office.
So on to FiveRivers MetroPark to visit Lucy Siefker, who wasn't expecting me and was away.
So up the Mad River, then south to Linden Avenue. I stopped at my favorite laundry to check on some lost slacks, which they did find. The proprietor knew that I wouldn't take them with me when he saw my bike and my tiny backpack.
So back on the Iron Horse Trail, with a short excursion to Carla Mann's home to drop off a brochure. She wasn't home, so I left the brochure and card in her mailbox.
So then—on a whim since I was already so close—to the Kodak plant to see the empty parking lots at the flailing Fafner. The north lot was nearly full, which is typical because it serves the wing of service and training staff, as well as those attending training. The engineering lot had isolated empty slots, perhaps some taking a long time at errands over lunch. The south lot was 80% full in the parts close in, but the extended lots were completely empty. Clear evidence that no rehiring has occurred, and that more layoffs had occurred since my last news in August.
So then to EveryBody Fitness for an abdominal workout, just a few sets at each machine.
So then to Patterson-Chase to check out the cost of repairing a framed painting, and their willingness to take on the project. The answers were at a reasonable cost and yes!
So next to Press for a cortado and pound cake, just to fend off the energy wall until I got home.
And, finally, after just over 22 miles, home before 3 o'clock.
Ride conditions
Temperature: 42°F at 12 noon
Precipitation: none
Winds: 25 to 33 mph (gusts to 43) from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, longsleeve undershirt, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed 48x16
Time: 02:30 for 22.24 miles
Heart rate: no data
Bikeway users: none others
Showing posts with label Eastman Kodak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eastman Kodak. Show all posts
11 February 2013
28 February 2012
Breakout from the job hunt
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Finally today I broke out of my cycle of breakfast-computer-lunch-computer-dinner-computer work to find a quick replacement for working at Kodak. The replacement was only for an hour-long ride along the Creekside Trail, but it served to break the monotony I had set up since leaving Kodak on February 20. It was a monotony tinged with depression, though I haven't felt depressed.
I know that it's for the best to be out of the work environment at Kodak. First, the atmosphere was toxic and every opportunity was taken to tear down my confidence as a writer. Second, the technologies in use to write documents were solidified and not forward-looking. Third, opportunity for advancement was absent. Fourth, the company's continuing failure to succeed meant that wages were stagnant, and I had taken a financial hit of almost 18% over five years.
I needed this kick in the pants. For some four years, I asserted that I should move out of Kodak. But never did I take resolute steps to do so. At first, in 2008, I was busy guiding the implementation of single-source writing. That program proved its viability by using a single set of files to support three parallel but separate products. But after two years, the progress was pulled back to traditional processes, and another team lead was chosen to do this. It took two years to reset the single-source files into three separate and independent books. Now I've been let go, once the status quo has been re-established. And I now have two months of salary without a requirement to work at the office. I use every moment for developing prospects for my next work situation.
Now perhaps I've come to a point where I can pull back a bit on the focused searching. I have resumés placed with many temp agencies and contracted services. I have search profiles set up with an array of job search engines. I have initial contacts with a network of professionals in the area. Perhaps the next major step will be to set up a similar framework for a possible job in the area around Palm Springs ...just in case. But for now, after ten days away from commuting by bike, I have both time and weather in my favor.
And I took the same route that I have as a commuter, down to the Miami River Bikeway, up the Mad River, and south on the Creekside Trail. But a change: I realize that I've reached the extent of a half-ride at Airway Boulevard, and I turn around to head home. With the turnaround, I head back to work ... at home.
Ride conditions
Temperature: 49 to 55°F at 15:00
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 10 mph from the southeast
Clothing: Skinsuit, longsleeve undershirt, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Trek 850 27x30-48x12 hybrid
Time: 00:57:07 for 13.80 miles
Heart rate: 130 bpm HRave, 150 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 2 cyclists, 1 pedestrian
Playback of the ride
Finally today I broke out of my cycle of breakfast-computer-lunch-computer-dinner-computer work to find a quick replacement for working at Kodak. The replacement was only for an hour-long ride along the Creekside Trail, but it served to break the monotony I had set up since leaving Kodak on February 20. It was a monotony tinged with depression, though I haven't felt depressed.
I know that it's for the best to be out of the work environment at Kodak. First, the atmosphere was toxic and every opportunity was taken to tear down my confidence as a writer. Second, the technologies in use to write documents were solidified and not forward-looking. Third, opportunity for advancement was absent. Fourth, the company's continuing failure to succeed meant that wages were stagnant, and I had taken a financial hit of almost 18% over five years.
I needed this kick in the pants. For some four years, I asserted that I should move out of Kodak. But never did I take resolute steps to do so. At first, in 2008, I was busy guiding the implementation of single-source writing. That program proved its viability by using a single set of files to support three parallel but separate products. But after two years, the progress was pulled back to traditional processes, and another team lead was chosen to do this. It took two years to reset the single-source files into three separate and independent books. Now I've been let go, once the status quo has been re-established. And I now have two months of salary without a requirement to work at the office. I use every moment for developing prospects for my next work situation.
Now perhaps I've come to a point where I can pull back a bit on the focused searching. I have resumés placed with many temp agencies and contracted services. I have search profiles set up with an array of job search engines. I have initial contacts with a network of professionals in the area. Perhaps the next major step will be to set up a similar framework for a possible job in the area around Palm Springs ...just in case. But for now, after ten days away from commuting by bike, I have both time and weather in my favor.
And I took the same route that I have as a commuter, down to the Miami River Bikeway, up the Mad River, and south on the Creekside Trail. But a change: I realize that I've reached the extent of a half-ride at Airway Boulevard, and I turn around to head home. With the turnaround, I head back to work ... at home.
Ride conditions
Temperature: 49 to 55°F at 15:00
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 10 mph from the southeast
Clothing: Skinsuit, longsleeve undershirt, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Trek 850 27x30-48x12 hybrid
Time: 00:57:07 for 13.80 miles
Heart rate: 130 bpm HRave, 150 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 2 cyclists, 1 pedestrian
Playback of the ride
20 February 2012
Decisions were made
Monday, 20 February 2012
So the axe has fallen. Eight members of the Engineering Services department were laid off, and two more have yet to know because of a vacation day or short-term disability. I wish the very best to those who make this sudden change from employment with Eastman Kodak: Kathy B, Mike D, Tom N, Ted R, Tony S, Greg S, and Linh V. Our department manager, Bruce B, has yet to know whether he himself remains at Kodak.
I met with Bruce at 10:00, and after a bit of small talk, Bruce read from a script that Kodak had prepared for him. I interrupted a couple times to clarify a point, but his script was short—and well performed, though Bruce avoided much eye contact. I covered each point I needed to with full composure. I was especially careful not to let out a whoop of joy that I would now have full 8-hour days to pursue another position.
I returned to my desk, took my nameplate off my cube wall, wrote an email to my friends outside of work, and sent out a prepared good-by to many colleagues at work. I looked for several close colleagues to say good-by in person, and closed up the last box of personal belongings that I needed to remove from the office. I was out the door by 11:15, and heading to the gym for an upper-body workout.
On my way home, I stopped at Fricker's just in case some people from Kodak were there for lunch. Only four were, and they suggested meeting at The Pub around 4:30. That doesn't seem now to be a great plan—it's time instead to follow up on search results I had found from Indeed.com.
I don't believe that Eastman Kodak is at the point of thriving. Too much dead wood weighs down the very top of the company, and that includes Antonio Perez, Phil Faraci, and others who share leadership positions and board of director positions. The highest levels of Kodak are incestuous and self-perpetuating in their delusions. Kodak hasn't the nimbleness to find a logical and inventive way out of its backwardness, and Kodak may be now overly downsizing that small component that was to be the company's white knight.
I predict that Kodak will stop making film stock for cinema, that the photo kiosks will become part of history, and that the Kodak Gallery will steadily lose what market share it has now. Kodak's frenzied litigation to uphold its intellectual property rights will dwindle after several rulings against its asserted pain, and the portfolio of 1100 patents will largely not be sold, as their aging complexion loses to the beauty of new ideas As for the Dayton division that designs and builds inkjet, digital-data printing presses, it might have done well on its own, but now the Kodak modus has overtaken what innovation was there.
So the axe has fallen. Eight members of the Engineering Services department were laid off, and two more have yet to know because of a vacation day or short-term disability. I wish the very best to those who make this sudden change from employment with Eastman Kodak: Kathy B, Mike D, Tom N, Ted R, Tony S, Greg S, and Linh V. Our department manager, Bruce B, has yet to know whether he himself remains at Kodak.
I met with Bruce at 10:00, and after a bit of small talk, Bruce read from a script that Kodak had prepared for him. I interrupted a couple times to clarify a point, but his script was short—and well performed, though Bruce avoided much eye contact. I covered each point I needed to with full composure. I was especially careful not to let out a whoop of joy that I would now have full 8-hour days to pursue another position.
I returned to my desk, took my nameplate off my cube wall, wrote an email to my friends outside of work, and sent out a prepared good-by to many colleagues at work. I looked for several close colleagues to say good-by in person, and closed up the last box of personal belongings that I needed to remove from the office. I was out the door by 11:15, and heading to the gym for an upper-body workout.
On my way home, I stopped at Fricker's just in case some people from Kodak were there for lunch. Only four were, and they suggested meeting at The Pub around 4:30. That doesn't seem now to be a great plan—it's time instead to follow up on search results I had found from Indeed.com.
I don't believe that Eastman Kodak is at the point of thriving. Too much dead wood weighs down the very top of the company, and that includes Antonio Perez, Phil Faraci, and others who share leadership positions and board of director positions. The highest levels of Kodak are incestuous and self-perpetuating in their delusions. Kodak hasn't the nimbleness to find a logical and inventive way out of its backwardness, and Kodak may be now overly downsizing that small component that was to be the company's white knight.
I predict that Kodak will stop making film stock for cinema, that the photo kiosks will become part of history, and that the Kodak Gallery will steadily lose what market share it has now. Kodak's frenzied litigation to uphold its intellectual property rights will dwindle after several rulings against its asserted pain, and the portfolio of 1100 patents will largely not be sold, as their aging complexion loses to the beauty of new ideas As for the Dayton division that designs and builds inkjet, digital-data printing presses, it might have done well on its own, but now the Kodak modus has overtaken what innovation was there.
Day of decision
Monnday, 20 February 2012
Yesterday's exercise was a visit to the gym for a leg workout. Though I had aimed to bike to the workout, our friends Russ and Kim called a bit after noon to invite me to join them for dinner. So I cut back my plans: drive to Cardinal Fitness for a workout and use the showers there to prepare for the evening. The leg workout was a careful one, to pay close attention to my right knee that had got injured sometime between last weekend and Saturday's ride at Lagonda Trail. I went through most sets with a 10% reduction in weight and careful attention to alignment of the knees and ankles to hips. After an hour, I knew that any more exercise would be beyond what the knee should be put through.
I returned home to feed Howard and brew a large latte for my drive to Cincinnati. On the drive, I visualized my workday tomorrow, as much as possible. For one thing, I have little control over my meeting with Bruce, my direct supervisor. Bruce emailed his staff Friday that he had a conference room reserved from 7:00 to 11:30 a.m., and that he would call us in alphabetic order for a short meeting. Each of us will be told then whether we are to remain for now with Kodak and participate in the company reorganization or to be laid off. His plan leaves 15 to 20 minutes for each person, and I am near the middle of the list, with seven meetings before mine and eleven after.
Bruce had guessed that the workday would continue for 84% of us, and that the others would process out today. Bruce planned to advising that they should leave to compose themselves and return a day or two later to pack up and say goodby to colleagues. The percentage implies that Bruce will tell three of us that the layoff affects us.
Yesterday's exercise was a visit to the gym for a leg workout. Though I had aimed to bike to the workout, our friends Russ and Kim called a bit after noon to invite me to join them for dinner. So I cut back my plans: drive to Cardinal Fitness for a workout and use the showers there to prepare for the evening. The leg workout was a careful one, to pay close attention to my right knee that had got injured sometime between last weekend and Saturday's ride at Lagonda Trail. I went through most sets with a 10% reduction in weight and careful attention to alignment of the knees and ankles to hips. After an hour, I knew that any more exercise would be beyond what the knee should be put through.
I returned home to feed Howard and brew a large latte for my drive to Cincinnati. On the drive, I visualized my workday tomorrow, as much as possible. For one thing, I have little control over my meeting with Bruce, my direct supervisor. Bruce emailed his staff Friday that he had a conference room reserved from 7:00 to 11:30 a.m., and that he would call us in alphabetic order for a short meeting. Each of us will be told then whether we are to remain for now with Kodak and participate in the company reorganization or to be laid off. His plan leaves 15 to 20 minutes for each person, and I am near the middle of the list, with seven meetings before mine and eleven after.
Bruce had guessed that the workday would continue for 84% of us, and that the others would process out today. Bruce planned to advising that they should leave to compose themselves and return a day or two later to pack up and say goodby to colleagues. The percentage implies that Bruce will tell three of us that the layoff affects us.
If I'm laid off, I want to say, "Of course I feel bad about the news, but I appreciate that the news comes directly from you. I do have a favor to ask you for—that I can receive a good recommendation from you. Especially carefully say I hope that the last year of conflict with Vic can be put aside when you prepare the recommendation. Also be sure to ask Are there any internal jobs that you think are available I can apply for? and ask details on What does Kodak provide for the promised outplacement counseling? and in closing say I hope that you still have your job... and depending on his answer, continue If you are not remaining with the company, what is the best contact information for you? and ask discretely Can you tell me how many in the writing area are being let go? How many are being let go in the engineering services department?"
If I'm not laid off, I want to seem not too disappointed, and say, "So where do we go from here? Do you know which product lines will continue, and whether I'll be shifting from sustaining work on the VL products to development work on the Prosper line?"I've been taking pragmatic steps for a while—packing up boxes and taking them home, archiving documents I produced over the past 20 years, cleaning out the accumulated source material and historical files—since I really expect to be laid off. The last year, or even two years, have been very stressful, and I'll be glad they are history. On my drive home after Kim's wonderful meal, I thought several times, Please, please let me be laid off. How unfortunate it would be to stay! And any later lay-off might have a poorer severance package, since Kodak's problems would have worsened.
17 February 2012
Missed bike-commute day 2012.02 and maybe the last for a while
Friday, 17 February 2012
Today is the second day this year that has good weather to commute by bike. It might be the last opportunity I have to commute to work at Kodak/Dayton.
Near the beginning of February, Kodak announced a 16% reduction in its Dayton division. This followed the long-expected filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that occurred in January. Within a week of the layoff announcement, eight colleagues in the technical writing area were released from their contracts. The billings for their contracted services had not been paid for at least 60 days, and our department manager had continued to bill their services to a purchase order that he had written and his management chain had approved sometime before the filing for bankruptcy. Though another purchase order was opened after the filing date, its approval was in question, and the contracted workers had to leave...
Now comes the turn for direct employees to ease pressures on the bottom line. Each employee will be told on Monday, 20 February if the layoff includes her or him.
As a matter of pragmatism, I've been preparing myself for no longer working at Kodak. The layoff affects one employee in every six, and at least the first-line managers are also subject to the cut. My boss joked about the possibility of finding out first-thing Monday morning that he is being laid off and then in turn needing to tell 3 to 6 of his reports that they are laid off too. So I plan to drive to work Monday, expecting to carry home the personal articles in my cube and in my locker in the company gym.
That left today as perhaps my last day to commute to work at Kodak.
At home I was suiting up at 7:20 as the fingers of rosy dawn spread across the sky. Then the zipper to my skinsuit stuck. I pulled it down, then up: still stuck. With a couple repeats, the zipper pulled through the hitch. But as the zipper reached the neck, the whole thing split open, with the zipper housing stuck at my adam's apple. I don't know why I didn't just decide to cover the gaping front with another layer, with duct tape even. But instead I fixated on replacing the skinsuit with another and spent several minutes trying to squeeze my head through the neck opening, then slip the top off my shoulders, and then pull the skinsuit down to my hips and off my legs.
Too much time. I realized that leaving even by 7:40 would leave too little time for working through the day. (Why would I care about this, if I really am to be laid off on Monday? Either a sign of optimism or of duty. So what are they gonna do? Fire me?) So I finished getting down to skin, took a long shower that included a leg shave, and headed out the door to perhaps my last full day of work at Kodak.
The mood of ennui, of pointlessness, of fatality pervades the Dayton offices. The ship runs rudderless, the General Manager has stated that all products are under scrutiny, and that some will continue. We work without motive, though the need for continuing work is clear, if the company is to succeed. Until the workforce is culled, product lines cut, and management reorganized, no work seems to have real meaning. But decision has been lacking for a month, and no one looks forward to whatever the result may be. Resignation rules in the wheelhouse, where the Captain and his First Mate should be. Instead, they are holding yet another press conference to utter platitudes: "Business as usual!" and "It is what it is!"
But I do look forward, in a few weeks, to a different destination for my commute. In the meantime, I'll update here for my progress in finding a refreshed bike-commute to a new workplace.
See my resumé.
News Flash! Loop Detectors Sense Your Bike
Ride conditions-for planning
Temperature: 27 to 33°F at 06:45
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, longsleeve undershirt, ankle socks, quilted tights, light jacket, quilted full-finger gloves
Bike: Trek 850 27x30-48x12 hybrid
Time: no time for 11.95 miles
Heart rate: no data HR
Bikeway users: no data
Today is the second day this year that has good weather to commute by bike. It might be the last opportunity I have to commute to work at Kodak/Dayton.
Near the beginning of February, Kodak announced a 16% reduction in its Dayton division. This followed the long-expected filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that occurred in January. Within a week of the layoff announcement, eight colleagues in the technical writing area were released from their contracts. The billings for their contracted services had not been paid for at least 60 days, and our department manager had continued to bill their services to a purchase order that he had written and his management chain had approved sometime before the filing for bankruptcy. Though another purchase order was opened after the filing date, its approval was in question, and the contracted workers had to leave...
precipitously... When management became aware of the issues with the purchase orders, the decision came down to end the contracted work that same day.
...and with a built-in cliff-hanger. Because a new purchase order awaited approval, the contracted workers were told that they could be called back at any time, but they should feel free to take another job, if one comes available.
Now comes the turn for direct employees to ease pressures on the bottom line. Each employee will be told on Monday, 20 February if the layoff includes her or him.
As a matter of pragmatism, I've been preparing myself for no longer working at Kodak. The layoff affects one employee in every six, and at least the first-line managers are also subject to the cut. My boss joked about the possibility of finding out first-thing Monday morning that he is being laid off and then in turn needing to tell 3 to 6 of his reports that they are laid off too. So I plan to drive to work Monday, expecting to carry home the personal articles in my cube and in my locker in the company gym.
That left today as perhaps my last day to commute to work at Kodak.
At home I was suiting up at 7:20 as the fingers of rosy dawn spread across the sky. Then the zipper to my skinsuit stuck. I pulled it down, then up: still stuck. With a couple repeats, the zipper pulled through the hitch. But as the zipper reached the neck, the whole thing split open, with the zipper housing stuck at my adam's apple. I don't know why I didn't just decide to cover the gaping front with another layer, with duct tape even. But instead I fixated on replacing the skinsuit with another and spent several minutes trying to squeeze my head through the neck opening, then slip the top off my shoulders, and then pull the skinsuit down to my hips and off my legs.
Too much time. I realized that leaving even by 7:40 would leave too little time for working through the day. (Why would I care about this, if I really am to be laid off on Monday? Either a sign of optimism or of duty. So what are they gonna do? Fire me?) So I finished getting down to skin, took a long shower that included a leg shave, and headed out the door to perhaps my last full day of work at Kodak.
The mood of ennui, of pointlessness, of fatality pervades the Dayton offices. The ship runs rudderless, the General Manager has stated that all products are under scrutiny, and that some will continue. We work without motive, though the need for continuing work is clear, if the company is to succeed. Until the workforce is culled, product lines cut, and management reorganized, no work seems to have real meaning. But decision has been lacking for a month, and no one looks forward to whatever the result may be. Resignation rules in the wheelhouse, where the Captain and his First Mate should be. Instead, they are holding yet another press conference to utter platitudes: "Business as usual!" and "It is what it is!"
But I do look forward, in a few weeks, to a different destination for my commute. In the meantime, I'll update here for my progress in finding a refreshed bike-commute to a new workplace.
See my resumé.
News Flash! Loop Detectors Sense Your Bike
Ride conditions-for planning
Temperature: 27 to 33°F at 06:45
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, longsleeve undershirt, ankle socks, quilted tights, light jacket, quilted full-finger gloves
Bike: Trek 850 27x30-48x12 hybrid
Time: no time for 11.95 miles
Heart rate: no data HR
Bikeway users: no data
14 October 2011
Bike-commute day 94—to gym and home
Friday, 14 October 2011
It's been a very long time since I stopped at Cardinal Fitness on my way home from work. I was able to stop there today only because I worked a partial day. That left the afternoon for the gym visit and going to the Neon to see The Future.
I had to leave Kodak at noon, since overtime is not allowed. I had worked a very long day Wednesday to finish revisions on a book that must be reviewed and completed by the end of October. After FrameMaker "blew up" three times while making the PDF, it finally succeeded after I made enough space available for builing the intermediate files. So I left that evening after 12.5 hours of work. So I cut the workday short to avoid recording more than 40 hours. CEO Antonio Perez announced several acts of belt tightening. And in August, Kodak announced that about a thousand of its patents on imaging technology were offered for sale. Perhaps revenue producers like the Versamark and Prosper brands offer another strength in the transition to a digital focus.
Ride conditions
Temperature: 56 to 60°F at 11:45
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 15 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, longsleeve undershirt, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 1:02:06 for 15.82 miles
Heart rate: 132 bpm HRave, 149 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 10 cyclists, 4 pedestrians, 1 dog
Playback of the ride
It's been a very long time since I stopped at Cardinal Fitness on my way home from work. I was able to stop there today only because I worked a partial day. That left the afternoon for the gym visit and going to the Neon to see The Future.
I had to leave Kodak at noon, since overtime is not allowed. I had worked a very long day Wednesday to finish revisions on a book that must be reviewed and completed by the end of October. After FrameMaker "blew up" three times while making the PDF, it finally succeeded after I made enough space available for builing the intermediate files. So I left that evening after 12.5 hours of work. So I cut the workday short to avoid recording more than 40 hours. CEO Antonio Perez announced several acts of belt tightening. And in August, Kodak announced that about a thousand of its patents on imaging technology were offered for sale. Perhaps revenue producers like the Versamark and Prosper brands offer another strength in the transition to a digital focus.
Ride conditions
Temperature: 56 to 60°F at 11:45
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 15 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, longsleeve undershirt, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 1:02:06 for 15.82 miles
Heart rate: 132 bpm HRave, 149 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 10 cyclists, 4 pedestrians, 1 dog
Playback of the ride
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