I see people all around me changing faces

Let me interrupt a little with developments at work. The office manager, a decent person only somewhat prone to hiding out in his office all day to take care of his dog, decided to retire, and within two weeks he did, just like that. He'd figured he had been with the company for 25 years and that was enough.

This was all announced, by the way, with the company owner calling on the public address for everyone to please come downstairs right away for an important announcement. Remember my worries about the stability of the company? Something about his tone suggested that he might be warning about the imminent doom or rapid shrinking of the company. It was a weird relief, to me at least, that it was just the office manager's retirement being announced.

There were some side effects, the most prominent and diet-threatening one being that, since the manager had brought in candy on an irregular schedule for ages as something to put in his desktop candy car jar and draw people to him, he now had his entire back stock of candy with not much to do. So the place saw a steady stream of new bags or boxes of candies as he got through that supply.

For his retirement the gang ... didn't quite know what to get him for himself, but getting things for his dog was easy. As the dog's going blind and getting arthritic a sort of carrier bag and a set of portable stairs seemed like practical things.

The owner, incidentally, wasn't able to make it to the retirement party/lunch/pizza party. This may seem a bit tactless or weird, but it ... had the same stirring morale benefit as the year he gave out packs of scratch-off lottery cards as Christmas presents. The office manager didn't seem offended, though, although he went home right after lunch too and that cheers up most anyone's day.

Trivia: Fred Allen's Hour of Smiles, sponsored by both Ipana toothpaste and Sal Hepatica, was the first dual-sponsorship network show. Source: Fred Allen's Radio Comedy, Alan Havig.

Currently Reading: No Time Like Tomorrow, Brian Aldiss.