The Usual Suspects

Mack, Paddy and I started the art tour on Friday night on Santa Fe. We saw a great show at Artwork Network. Karen Roehl’s abstract paintings were my favorites. We also stopped in Michael Warren Contemporary to talk with the guys and see their new show featuring small abstracts by Theresa Booth Brown in the main gallery. We also stopped in Sync to talk to Brenda LaBier. Paddy bought two small pieces at Sync before we headed over to Rule in RiNo to meet up with Perry.

I liked two red prints at Rule but they were out of my price range. Perry had been at Rule for a while so she was able to confirm the rumors the gallery has to move. A developer bought the whole block for $15m to build luxury condos. Hinterland Art Space will also have to relocate since they share the building with Rule. A group show at Helikon was the last stop in RiNo. I had mixed feeling about this show but there was one great piece my Mark Penner-Howell.

The final stops on the art tour were the galleries on Navajo Street. Next, Pirate and Edge all had openings while ZIP37’s show opened last week. Pirate has an installation taking up the main room that consists of inflatable white sculptures. Next and Edge had group shows with some great pieces in each gallery.

Perry left the group after Navajo street while the rest of us went to The Little Devil on South Broadway for a drink. London was picked up along the way. Jacqueline met us there. I was concerned about being around London, given his recent history of violent behavior while drinking, but Paddy said London stopped taking Adderal.

London was on his best behavior but only stayed for one drink. He soon called an Uber to take him downtown to meet other friends. The rest of us stayed for a while before calling it a night.

This award for best art of the night went to Karen Roehl. These paintings range from $5,700 to 7,000.

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Is It Me?

Ferdinand came home last night after being away for four days. He survived the foot of snow that fell this week. He’s a smart cat with many places to stay in the neighborhood. I now know of five households he visits. He stayed four hours before leaving. It’s really a strange feeling when your ex leaves a cat behind who ends up finding a new place to live. The ex no longer wanted to be with me and now his cat feels the same way. How sad is that? I can’t even maintain a relationship with a cat.

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Driving The Bus

I’ve been working ten to twelve hours a day for the last week. A team member was not doing his job and lied about his progress on a key initiative that launches this weekend. Another software engineer was assigned to the project last Friday. He blew the whistle on the non-performer which caused epic chaos.

The non-performer, a man in his late fifties, has always been a stellar employee. Something has gone terribly wrong in the last few months. His behavior shows signs of either substance abuse (most likely meth) or severe psychological problems.

My friend, Double A, is the HR director at his firm so I consulted him for advice. The company has to follow HR guidelines and employment laws. The department’s management, based in the UK and Texas, has yet to address the issue. They have not taken the man off the project, but instead, assigned many additional resources to the project. The additional resources were helpful but caused another level of confusion.

The non-performer doesn’t think he has a problem. When confronted with proof of not doing his job he becomes angry and comes up with excuses that don’t make sense. He comes in late and leaves early. He often disappears for long periods of time. Two employees are afraid of the non-performer so they are refusing to come into the office and are working at home. I’m thankful I work from home and have been attending meeting via teleconference. I don’t want to be involved in a postal situation.

The team has almost recovered from the crisis. The launch will proceed this weekend. The non-performer is involved in five projects in my queue for the next production cycle. I’m not looking forward to working with the man. I may have to be the tail wagging to dog in order to make sure I’m not involved in another raging cluster fuck. I may not throw him under the bus but I have no problem driving the bus he walks in front of.

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Headed To Hell

There’s nothing like starting the work week with a cluster fuck of epic proportions caused by a team member not doing their job. I feel like I’m on a rocket ship headed straight to hell.

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Scenes From A Museum

I snapped these picture in the Hamilton Building (designed by Daniel Libeskind) at the DAM on Friday night. Click here for pictures of the exterior. It’s one of Denver’s architectural gems.

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