Patio Furniture / Corporate Culture

Still has silly string stains, Teresa

Every year when the weather gets nice and I get out the patio furniture, I think about corporate culture. 

It starts in Cedar Rapids, when Norand, the company I was working for, was doing some remodeling.  We had an old storage room that we wanted to make into a small conference room.  We got it cleaned out, painted up, and then Leslie in facilities told me how much office furniture cost.  I didn't have the $1xxx that was needed to buy a table and some chairs, so we got creative.   I went to the local store and for less than $200, I bought a patio set (complete with umbrella) for our conference room.  Naturally, we called it the patio. 

After the company was purchased by Intermec, I was part of the team that needed to combine the two IT departments into one.  Eventually, the company moved me to Everett, Washington to take over the IT Operations.  A part of the attempt to change corporate culture in Everett, I bought a patio set and brought it into the office.  We set it up in the middle of the cube farm and it gathered dust for five years. 

When I left Intermec, I brought it home with me.  (The company never paid for it, so it was still technically mine.)  It gets well used on the back deck.  We eat supper outside on the nice days and I remind myself that there are always missed opportunities in life.