Finished penciling Paulie's tattoo to give the artist an idea of shading and color. Been a LONG....LONG time since I have broken out my Prisma Colors. -Matt

After several delays over a period of six months, the day of the reorganization of our web team arrived today. The specifics were very closely held until today--even for management.

At 8:25am, in a private meeting with my boss and two reps from human resources, I was told my job will be eliminated as of June 1. I got a thick folder of unemployment fact sheets and job descriptions of new positions to which I could apply. I had five more meetings with various groups until 3:30pm during which time I learned the big picture of the changes. 19 jobs were eliminated, including my entire group of 13. 24 new positions were created and 10 people were spared.

The eliminated were encouraged to apply for one or more of the new jobs by May 8. If I don't get re-hired, I can work until July 1 and then be given a severance package, which for me would be four weeks of pay. The 20+ consultants in our group are not affected for now.

My guess is that I have a good chance of getting re-hired in some capacity or another because I'm assigned to so many large projects and work groups that they would be mildly F-ed if I walked. And all this is after two of my colleagues in senior management resigned two weeks ago. Lots to think about over the next few weeks.

The last two photos are a reminder of why I am doing all this.

- mike lee - washington dc

I know who I am calling next time I need a plumber. -Matt

Well, after four years of ignoring invites from LinkedIn, I let myself get assimilated into this grownup's social network. I decided to join on Friday as I have to tweak my resume to re-apply for a job at my current workplace. We find out in a few hours how many jobs have been eliminated and what the new ones are. But hey, as I build up my network-enabled resume on LinkedIn, the responses to my invites are steadily trickling in. I've got 17 connections out of 47 invites. Not bad for a first weekend. And it was nice to catch up with some longtime acquaintances.

- mike lee - wheaton, md

It was beautiful in Tulsa today. I had to work most of the day, but the evening wasn't wasted. Grilled some Sirloins and a little smoked sausage! --Nick Cates Sent Via My SK3

I hate moving. Luckily I know good people. And they juggle.

On Saturday

Interesting take on Boba Fett

Went to the 6th floor museum today. It's in the book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK from. In the closeup pic of the building it's the window in the right corner from which the shot came from. And there are Xs in the street where the shots hit him. It was pretty depressing to look at.

An added bonus....I bought a conspiracy newspaper from a hobo! ...and only a few people here know the deal about hobos...so it's probably not that funny. -sAmI k-