Dear diary...

It's 3:15 and the accounting office is still buzzing. Phil is compiling financial statements ahead of the yearly audit, I am coordinating the DPAC Director selection process, and Billy is organizing inventory. Earlier, but still late, Shannon, JM, Stacy, KJ, and Dave were helping out entering costs for Billy's project and Pat was doing payroll. There was a Vittles UM meeting before that and Kelsey was settling our accounts with some incredibly uppity vendors. I wrote an e-mail (one of several tonight) to the Corp UM going through all of our active projects, a message that would not have gone through an hour earlier because the internet was down. That one was my fault (note to self: don't go screwing around with router settings you have no business screwing around with).

This is really the peak of summer Corp work - the audit is breathing down our neck, which means that everyone becomes an accounting employee in addition to working on the projects that are reaching an implementation phase or requiring major decisions. And every year, without fail, the server goes down the week before the audit. We'll have a new router tomorrow, but for a while this afternoon I was the ranking IT professional on site, which is not comforting.

Before that, I met with a possible vendor for the DPAC cafe who reminded me very much of a Corpie - loves his job, loves the people there, does it on the side with a more academic pursuit occupying much of his time. Except for us, it's class and for him its a rocket company. Like the kind that launches things into space. At least once a week, I get to do something sweet like meet with this guy, and just because of the Corp.

The meeting before that was less exciting, but not less important - JM and I talked to a paper guy. Sort of reminded me of the Prince Paper Company episode when the sales rep told me he had four kids in college. How much would it take for you to abandon Corp-branded cups and go with Mayorga-branded cups from this company? Probably a lot, right? But how much is it worth to see MUG's logo on the clutch on the cup in the hand of your classmate at 9:20 and think, damn, should have gotten coffee at MUG? What if we could save $15,000? If you think about everything in terms of philanthropy, our mundane business decisions seem more important. I mean, it's just cups. But cups alone could get student groups 50% more money. So someone should probably be looking at cups, right? Along with everything else, absolutely.

And then before that I worked at MUG. Super busy. Burnt the hell out of my hand trying to fill up a coffee while ringing it up at the same time. That's about all I remember. As with many days, my promises to Brad and Phil to be in the office by so-and-so time ended unfulfilled, so my 10a shift was the start of the day. And this is the end...I should probably get some sleep before the UG opener. And what better place to do it than IT+M?