Ode to My Mechanical Pencil

Mechanical pencil, o mechanical pencil
Where fore art thou fine pencil
Always ready -- forever sharpened
Never requiring a pencil sharpener
O' my mechanical pencil, I miss you so much!

Today, was my first day getting "to work" at the Grameen Foundation. Imagery of non-profit work with people in the back-country, without running water, sketchy electricity, and badly in need of a bath -- and city non-profits run on a shoe-string budget, scrimping and saving every donor dollar to achieve an elusive goal of granting a better life to people in need -- is being replaced with the realities of getting "work done" at a non-profit.

Today, the rubber hit the road & I embarked on my first tests as an official non-profit, office dweller. A creature, much like the Loch Ness monster, that has had speculation of existence but little proof; has had no sightings on Dilbert; nor any references to its unique habitat in The Office. This second day, I was left to wander the natural environs and be challenged on the names & faces introduced on day one, now who wear new fur hats, larger scarfs, and much redder noses. I meandered through the maze:

• Decoding messages that my print jobs are sent to a mysterious printer queue labelled \\gfprintserver\HP LaserJet 4345 (what programmer thought this sort of convention would relate to a floor plan in an office?!?)
• Searching for a woman whose name I can't remember, whose position was never mentioned, and whose office I vaguely recall being in a back corner beside the Phenomenol Piles O' Paper wall
• And ultimately, embarking on a quest for the infamous master supply closet -- home to pencils, pens, post-it notes and other fine goods from the local office supply store

To which after this adventure, I penned my Ode to My Mechanical Pencil. For lo and behold, the pencils found in the master supply closet were wooden and required sharpening. Sharpening I dare say! ** cure the scary music**

An Actual Recount of the Day

In reality, my first real work day at Grameen was great. Through the encouragement of Mary Jo, I was able to unlock the multiple meanings of "PPI." This magical tool, methodology, and framework for measuring and tracking a client's progress out of poverty is a multi-faceted acronym with great meanings to help social investors look at the double bottom lines of their investments. (enough jargon for you?) In addition, I began to take a look at "Safe Harbor," a 3rd party travel agency used by Grameen to arrange travel for their employees. I will be analyzing whether this agency provides the added benefits they claim without too many hassles.

An Aside

With the stock market crashing, banks failing, and companies going bottoms up; pundits are having a field day talking about the end of the US. But consider this, the water we use in the US to flush our toilets is cleaner than the water many people in third-world countries have available to drink. I believe we still have a long way to go before we are arrive at "the end."