Conference 7.286::digital

    
    I don't known about the rumor but it's "Rumor du jour" ...  I know
    it's just semantics...
    

   Re:     <<< Note 1869.1 by ELMAGO::AHACHE "Too many books too little time" >>>

Somebody inserted a note with a reference to a Dow Jones News
Service article stating that.  I can't remmber which note, but
if you seek all will be revealed.

Dick

    
    
       We can add to this rumor. I just read (while eating lunch) Charlie
    Matco's colume in the latest Digital Review (The National Enquirer for
    DEC equipment). It seems the lastest "buy DEC" rumor is EDS. According
    to the colume, it would only cost them (EDS) $2.9 billion to take over
    a majority holding. At that rate there are a lot of others that could
    "buy" us.
    
       Oh well, just thought I'd throw a little gas on the fire. ;^)
    
    
                                          Phil...

    Scary....I can see it now....Maynard corporate offices shut
    down...pieces moved to Dallas...
    
    So, how many of you have been to Plano, anyway?
    
    

Aw, the only thing wrong with Plano is that it is Sooooooo flat.

    Actually, I'd rather see Perot Systems buy DEC ... if anyone can
    straighten out this company in short order, it's Ross IMHO.
    
    Of course, Bill Gates could merge DEC w/Microsoft as an alternative out
    of his own personal checking account ....

    Not quite...he'd be able to get an advance, though :^)
    
    Mark.

    Who is Thomas Gerrity??? Rumor central has it he could be KO's hand
    picked successor!!!!! Rumor has it Dean of Wharton School of Finance.
    Well at least he deals with money!!!!!

RE:      <<< Note 1869.4 by DENVER::DAVISGB "I'd rather be driving my Jag" >>>

>    Scary....I can see it now....Maynard corporate offices shut
>    down...pieces moved to Dallas...
    
That would be the best thing that could possibly happen.  If I were DEC
president for a day that would be my first official act.

    well, if we are in the moving mode, and will take the trouble to move
    our offices, why not go all the way, and move the office to the country
    of Hawaii ? i heard it is very nice over there, much nicer than
    Dallas? Dallas is too hot for my head, plus i think that heat
    coupled with JCL is bad for your health.

    just my 2 cents offcourse.
    
    thank you,
    /Nasser

    
    I vote we move to Uncle Kenny`s house so he could charge rent to his
    account..Think of it..Take a tax drop for business use of the house.
    Do you really want to go to Hawaii.??? Do you think you could get your
    work done in a place like that.??? REALLY NOW !!!
    

       I've got a PLANO tackle box!
                                     Denny

    I couldn't agree more .4 and .9 ----- that would be the first really
    serious move to turn this company around, i.e., get it the hell out
    of that mummifying New England atmosphere.  What a ray of sunshine!!
    
    Then if we could also get some real big company managers, God knows
    what we could accomplish.
    
    Sure hope H.Ross takes over rather than Billy-Poo.  Last thing we need
    is another software guy.

    
    	re .13  LENNARD
    
    	Why don't you knock it off with all the slams against New England..
    	it's because of a couple of New England guys that you enjoy the
    	luxury of being able to spout off in this notesfile anyway.
    
    	If you're so damned disenchanted with DEC why dont' you take a
    	hike? Do the honorable thing and turn in your badge, get the
    	hell out and go play curmudgeon somewhere else.\
    
    	John Sobecky

Layoff has been taken placed in Asia region. About 10% of us will be out in May
including me.

Chak Lee.

    
    	re .15 by Chak Lee
    
    	Do you have any more details as far as numbers to be laid off, 
    	which units will be affected, etc.?

    re 14 SOBECKY...
    
    And if it weren't for an extremely parochial management style developed
    in New England, we wouldn't be in the Doggie-doo that we are now.
    
    We need Note-Curmudgeons. They bring some sanity back into the "Sky is
    falling" mentality of the rest of the corporation...
    
    q
    known to Curmudge from time to time...
    

    The management style may be parochial, but it is certainly not typical
    New England, so don't blame it on New England.  I think the best thing
    to blame it on is 30 years of success with essentially no set backs.

    Yes it's true, the official internal announcement was made on April
    14th in a prepared letter by the Asia VP, Bobby Choonavala, to all
    effected countries (Digital PRC, HK, Singapore...that I know of) that
    Asia business is down and that measures are being taken to reduce
    headcount.  That the DEC PRC and DEC HK sub's will merge into DEC
    CHINA.
    
    Singapore started informing effected employees last week.  20 have left
    so far.  That's not alot for Digital but represents about 10% to DEC
    Singapore.
    
    Not only will there be staff reductions in the countries but Asia
    headquarters is included.  I do not have exact numbers but 10% sounds
    about right.
    
    I suspect the restructuring that is taking place in the U.S. will move
    rapidly to Asia real soon.
    
    The once and unstoppable economic powerhouse in Asia is slowing down.
    
    Growth is still being projected in the 5-8% range for most of the
    countries but the NIE (Newly Industrialized Economies, HK, Taiwan,
    Korea, Singapore) are definitly slowing down.  In contrast the small
    NIE's are doing relatively well (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia,
    Phillippines).
    
    Lester

    Re .14 .... well excuuuuuuse me!!  As a New Englander, your clearly
    don't recognize how superbly you validated my point.
    
    I still think that a move to anywhere the hell out of New England
    would really be the beginning of the New Digital.

    	Well, where do you believe the new corporate headquarters should be
    - so we can start making fun of that location. I'm not picky. It
    doesn't even have to be anywhere in this country.
    	If New England was the problem, then all the other companies in New
    England would also be failing...Hey, wait a minute!

    Could do what de Castro has been threatening for years...pick up stakes
    and move corporate to North Carolina (Research Triange Park). Cost of
    real estate, buildings, etc much lower than NE. 
    
    Of course, cost of moving thousands of people down there would have to
    be taken into account. But, in the long run, probably a great cost
    savings venture. 
    
    In addition, lots of access to universities (UNC, NC State, Duke, Elon,
    Wake Forest), close to growing metro area (Raliegh-Durham-Greenboro),
    on the move airport, intersection on interstates (I-40/I-85).....
    
    Lower taxes, lower utility rates. Public education getting better in
    area....
    
    Rich
    

   Well...
   
   Due to large downsizing over the past decade, and the recent takeover
   by AT&T NCR has a very nice World Headquarters here in Dayton, Ohio.
   
   Nice golf course, park, etc.  Lots of other buildings as well.  I'm
   sure Dayton would be more than happy to give Digital a break to
   entice them here.

   Re:                  <<< Note 1869.22 by DCOPST::POOLQ::BRAKE >>>

>    Of course, cost of moving thousands of people down there would have to
>    be taken into account. But, in the long run, probably a great cost
>    savings venture. 

Better, move only those who personally touch product or deal
with customers.  Everybody else in New England is overhead.  If
you want to keep your job, pay your own relocation.  THAT would
keep the numbers down!  (and eliminate the need for TFSO)

   (only partly in jest!)
   

Dick

    I would take a serious look at Minneapolis.  Only so-called drawback
    might be the cold weather....but even that is preferable to the
    weeks of overcast and rain typical of New England.
    
    Might also consider Dallas, Oklahoma, Kansas City....hell, anywhere
    in the REAL United States.

Let's not forget Colorado Springs.  We already have a good presence out here,
plus we own property where the new headquarters could be built.

The view of Pikes Peak is good, and the weather is pretty nice most of the time.
Plus, for all you ski buffs, we're only a few hours away from some of the
best ski areas in the country (world?).  And if you like the big city life,
Denver is only 1 hour north.

Property prices are still reasonable (though I understand the housing market is
starting to tighten up some with MCI moving in to town).

:-)

--Scott

    I bet office space is real cheap in Downtown L.A.
    

RE: New England

The problem is not New England itself but rather tha fact that Digital
has over the years put almost EVERYTHING in such a small portion of the
world that the corporation has no perspective on what's going on outside
of that area.  Digital has completely lsot touch with its customers.

Take training for example.  You'd think that a multi-billion $$$
corporation would be able to put its main training facility in a
location that is readily accessible to most of the country. (A few miles
west of O'Hare would be the perfect spot.)  Digital puts in in Maynard,
a town that not only is hard to get to, but also has a distinct lack
(absense) of Hotel space.  

Take corporate identity.  A big problem out here in the field is that
Digital is unknown.  You go to do a presentation to a bank and the
peopel you're talking to don't know what company you are from.  Tell
that to someone who works in Marlboro where there are about 20 Digital
facilities and they think you are crazy.

What about the market.  You'd think that the people running marketing
for various industries would be located in the vincinity of their
respective industry; not Digital.  We have almost all of them sitting in
Marlboro.

What about new blood?  In other major corporations there is movement
among people between field locations and headquarters; not Digital.  In
fact Digital encourages in-breading.  If you are a sales rep. and you
wanted to do a two year stint in marketing you're SOL:  just try to find
such a job with relocation.  If you're located in GMA no problem you
just go to another building.

I could go on.  It's not New England's fault but Digital's fault.  It
could just have well happened in Mississippi but it didn't.  The fastest
way to clean up the corporate mess would be to move the HQ to Memphis.

John

    
    RE. -1
    
    How about running your new hotel business in Maynard area? That should
    help a little bit.
    
    Speaking of reality, there will not happen to move anywhere in U.S.
    I dont think Ken would want to give up the headquarter where Digital
    was born.
    
    Kevin

    Since I started this and could not spell correctly, should be de jour
    as someone corrected earlier, I want to raise a point as a segway from
    -1, it seems that we tend to do business the majority of the time with
    a company who is within 30 minutes driving time of the office in the
    greater Maynard area. A notable exception is Microsoft but maybe that
    exception proves the rule.
    
    Also, we seem to consolidate to Maynard. For example, closing the West
    (left) coast complexes and telling our Unix types they can move to
    Maynard. Right! We need to distribute more of the functions away from
    the greater Maynard area, as they did with telecom which is now in
    Valbonne.
    
    A relocation to NC would be interesting. I wonder how many would move?
    
    Johnse
    

As a native New Englander, I can say that there is nothing wrong with
locating headquarters there.  But as an employee, I see many issues that
lack perspective because of the GMA inbreeding.  And it does start at the
top.  Remember Jack Smith's famous "Virtual Office"?  Or the example in
an earlier reply about locating training in PKO?

H. Ross had the same comment about GM when he was first put on the BOD.
Every company can have the same problem.  If you listen to each other
instead of the customers, you will never know what is happening in the 
real world.  Look to Xerox.  They thought that they were in great shape
when they were growing at 3% a year. Then they found out that their market
was growing at 25% and they were losing market share big time.  They fixed
their problems but it was painful.

Bottom line is that a quick fix like moving headquarters to another 
location will not fix our problems.  What you are describing is a symptom
of the real problems.  Now if only I had the real answers.

Lee G.

    
    	Re: .28
    
    	You are correct in your opening phrase: "The problem is not New
    England".  All those things you identified as corporate problems _are_
    problems, but are related to corporate philosophy instead of corporate
    location.  If the entire Digital headquarters operation were to be
    moved to Memphis without there being a change in centralization
    philosophy, it would be an exercise in futility: ten years from now
    people would just be complaining about the "we're Memphis and you're
    not" attitude.  If the philosophy changes, then it doesn't matter if
    Digital is headquartered in Maynard or Memphis.
    
    							-craig

    
    	re .17 and .20
    
    	Curmudge-ing is fine from time to time..everybody does it.
    	Lennard does it all the time, however..it gets old after a
    	few years. The East coast can do nothing right, according to
    	him. 
    
    	re. 20 by LENNARD
    
    	>your (sp?) clearly don't recognize how superbly you validated
    	 my point.
    
    	What point? You had no point. Just your typical, predictable
    	negative reaction that comes about as a result of your own
    	personal bad experiences in Merrimack or wherever. 
    
    	re  .others
    
    	CXO would be a real nice location for headquarters...nice views,
    	decent weather, room to move..
    
    
    	John

    Eight or nine years ago, there was an alleged moratorium on new sites
    in the New England area and the concept of "mini-maynards" in such
    places as Atlanta, Sacramento, Seattle, Oklahoma City, and five or six
    others.  Wonder what happened.  There have been a large number of new
    buildings built or leased in New England since then!
    

I hate to interject reality here, but relocation runs into major moolah.
DEC's in no condition to relocate thousands of people.

    I say we move to Portland, Oregon.  Great place to live.  Very
    beutiful scenery.
    
    Glen.

    
    Why can't we create division headquarter like IBM does or some other
    big corp did ?
    
    There are two fold of benifit out of this. First, each division
    responsible more for their own line of product's P&L, if the division
    V.P did do the job. They are doomed. Secondly, each division can
    take advantage of local labor market talents for their product
    development.
    
    Just my two cents, and I don't see this company will do it, either.
    
    Michael... 

    re.35 The ones who stay behind are worth getting rid of. The ones
    that go with you are the ones you want.
    
    See Townsend, Robert, "Up the Organisation", specifically on the
    topic of moving company HQ

    re. 38
    
    Too true, loosing the  talent and  keeping the  mediocre is also a
    problem with enticing Early Retirement and/or offers for voluntary
    departure. I went through this at Esso Canada (read Exxon) and it
    compounded the problems with moral and productivity. 
    
    Steve -- in the Great White North 

If there was to be a new corporate HQ, why would it be in the U.S.?

/Dave.

re .38:

Are you claiming that the people worth keeping would pay for their own
relocation?  Would *you* pay for your own relocation?

Re: .39

There are many reasons why an employee may choose to accept or not accept the
early retirement program, including age, health, family responsibilities,
finanancial situation, geographic location, job enjoyment, and others. It is
an individual situation, unique in each case.  

It is insulting, inaccurate, insensitive, and just plain wrong to state that
the best employees are leaving and the worst are staying. 


Bruce

Editorial: Simplistic explanations to complex situations often indicate
simplistic minds. Unfortunately, this seems to be endemic in Notes.

    ref .-1
    >It is insulting, inaccurate, insensitive, and just plain wrong to state
    >that the best employees are leaving and the worst are staying.

    i agree with you, plus it is just not true, look at me, iam still here!

    >ditorial: Simplistic explanations to complex situations often indicate
    >simplistic minds. Unfortunately, this seems to be endemic in Notes.
     
    humm.. it depends , sometimes the most brilliant explanations are the
    simple ones that makes thing clear and simply explained. after one
    explains things in simple terms, one can go to advanced stages and gets
    complex, but at first it should be simple. as in KISS principle.
    
    .. now, if i just knew what are we talking about here ... !

   thank you very much
    /nasser                                                                            

    

Re: "the best leaving"

I think that come July you are going to see a lot of people who stayed to 
support digital, deciding that staying is not worth the hassel ! 


That is when you will see the good people leaving...they will be the ones who
will still be able to find work despite the various recessions.

    re: .-1
    
    "the best leaving"
    
    this remains to be seen.... I don't believe this to be entirely true
    yet i do have some personal friends of mine whom i consider to be folks
    that DEC ought not to lose, that have left on their own relatively
    recently. I think that KO ought to approach this downsizing nonsense
    from a different point of view. By letting the "good" people know they
    are valued and wanted and then the rest having to fight it out. This of
    course is predicated on the basis that one can accurately identify
    "good" people through whatever means that doesn't favour apple
    polishers. But it's worth a try I think. Again, it really isn't the
    Digital logo that produces successful goods and services. We need to
    be able to articulate and implement a way to keep our core intact.
    Throwing the baby out with bath water I would suspect is not in our
    best interests.
    

    Who are the good people indeed? Several of the people who have been
    seen good have actively led DEC into this present state. This can only
    happen when multiple layers of organisation are willingly pursuing 
    similar things with similar values.
    
    I believe that we all agree that DEC needs both technical and
    organisational rethinking / new capabilities / new priorities of values.
    Or should we say return of some of the old values? Of course the most 
    common excuse has always been: "I didn't want to do it but I was ordered.
    What could I do?" Most of us do this but should we be more courageous? 
    Do the right thing even when it damages our careers?
    
    Ritva

    I think .40 is the only one with an interesting view.  Why the US
    indeed?
    
    At this point we do more business in Europe than in the US.  Why not
    move closer to the customers?
    
    Of course, there are a few reasons not to go to Europe.
    
    	a) Labor costs more there (US is now a "cheap labor" country)
    	b) It may be hard to find an old mill to renovate into HQ
    	c) HQ is just a state of mind anyway; we have bodies everywhere.
    
    But relocation is just a costly way to shuffle the DECchairs.

    You know, I have a real hard time believing that our current malaise is
    caused by an exodus of good people and rampant carreerism by a bunch of
    losers.
    
    I was peripherally involved in both the Argonaut and VAX 9000/Aquarius
    fisacos.  By any objective standard some of the best and the brightest
    individual contributors in the industry worked on these projects.  Cost
    seemed to be no object - gigabucks were flushed down the toilet.  
    
    I learned that project cancelations (even the very expensive and very late 
    ones) aren't necessarily the biggest money burners. The aborted
    Argonaut was a much better deal than the Aquarius for the corporation
    -- probably only wasted half a billon on Argonaut.  The VAX 9000 went
    to completion, and we'll probably lose three times that much on it before
    someone finally drives a stake into its heart.
    
    One of the famous bits of DEC folklore is the Gordon Bell "No-Output
    Division" memo. Just think how much we could have saved if we had
    transitioned the entire VAX 9000 product team to this mythical entity
    back in 1987.  Or, better still, maybe we should have set up the
    "entrepreneurial" divisions described in Note 1852.  Anybody wanna buy
    some stock in Argonaut, Inc. or Aquarius Limited?  Have I gotta deal
    for you!
    
    What's the point of all of this?  Maybe the root cause of DEC's current
    troubles has less to do with the lazy, the incompetent, and the
    crooked, and more to do with some really bone-headed top level
    strategic decisions.  And yet, when the witch hunt begins...
    
    Larry_who_bought_the_Rogers_family_a_LOT_of_groceries_off_of_Argonaut

    
    It makes me ill that this company is laying off engineers and 
    technicians, while corporate executives that make multi-million 
    dollar mistakes are given new jobs.  Sigh...
    
    Mark

    Why not sunny FLORIDA as future headquarters for our beloved company.
    There's a ton of land down here, and hey, lets make our own city,
    complete with malls, theaters, our own football team, ect. We can
    call it DECTOWN. Just think, you wouldn't have to come to Florida
    just to take a vacation.
    
    
        Just a thought!!!!
    
    /PC

re: moving HQ

I don't understand why we (and other technology industries) aren't looking
at Western Massachusetts as a location to expand/redeploy into.  There are
plenty of universities around, real estate is cheaper, and you can't beat
the quality of life/environment/scenery.  Close to Hartford and NYC too!

								paul

    I kinda like the Florida idea, but hell, we wouldn't have to build
    DECTown....we could just buy DisneyLand.  Could rename it
    DizzyLand.

    I heard from a coupla places that the voluntary buyout might
    be coming back.  Anybody else hear that one?
    
    Mark

    
    > I bet office space is real cheap in Downtown L.A.
    
    Why?  There was more "activity" in downtown Atlanta than there was in
    downtown Los Angeles.  Los Angeles is a big place -- look at a map.
    
    - David
     

    Things are pick-up in those places..
    L.A. is about 4 times bigger then Allanta...People and area.
    Mikkenson..Put me on your insurance policy,I need the money.(GOOD
    PERSONAL HEADER)
    

    re.41 (re.38) Even if ther company pays for relocation, some would
    elect not to move, Those are the ones you _don't_ want.

    re.49 Agreed.

    re.51 Shhhhhh! Western Mass. don't need no 30000 Deccies messin'
    up the scenery!!

    re: 57
    >>    re.41 (re.38) Even if ther company pays for relocation, some
    >>     would elect not to move, Those are the ones you _don't_ want.                     
                 
    I disagree, vehemently. Does not wanting to relocate somehow make one
    a less valuable employee? Doubt it.
    
    In the past I have relocated. Today we have strong family reasons to
    stay right where we are. Relocating at this point would be very
    difficult to our family. I'm still (IMHO) a valuable employee, very
    capable of doing good things. I'm not being obstinate - I just can't
    move. 
    
    /Tim                                                

>       <<< Note 1869.57 by SA1794::CHARBONND "shanghaied by the wind" >>>
>
>    re.41 (re.38) Even if ther company pays for relocation, some would
>    elect not to move, Those are the ones you _don't_ want.

<flame_on>

Oh really!
Let me ask you, Are you married? Do you have kids? how about a mortgage?
If you are married, does your spouse work outside the home? If you are
paying off a mortgage, how would you handle the need now to have two homes
given the economy and the problems around selling your house?

So, I may answer 'Yes' to all the above and can not relocate but, may still
be a valuable employee. If it were up to you, you would let me go....

Go stuff it!

<flame_off>

- George

    Just ask those who volunteered to relocate for COD.
    
    Mark.

>              <<< Note 1869.62 by RANGER::LEFEBVRE "PCs 'R Us" >>>

>    Just ask those who volunteered to relocate for COD.
    
Have you a list? or maybe those that opt'ed for COD and are still here
would answer for themselves.

    I was agreeing with you.
    
    Mark.

    The May 7 Boston Herald reports in its Business section:
    
    	DEC expert Glenn Rifkin says he's hearing rumors that Ken Olsen
    	is threatening to sell the company to General Electric.  Rifkin
    	made his disclosure on "Talk of New England", on New England Cable
    	News.
    
    	Rifkin said the CEO is supposedly telling employees that if they
    	don't shape up (as if they were to blame for DEC's problems), that
    	he will sell DEC to a firm that WILL ship them out.  And make no
    	mistake, GE, besides bringing good things to life, can deliver
    	a pink slip with the best of them.  Indeed, its fearless leader,
    	Salem native Jack Welch, is often referred to as "Neutron Jack"
    	(like a neutron bomb, he can clear all the bodies out of a building
    	while leaving the walls standing).
    
        

    This sounds like nonsense to me. How could this possibly happen without
    word getting around? The Boston Herald is only to be believed when it
    writes on the one subject it really knows about: sex crimes.
    
    Hillel
    

    What makes them think GE would even be interested?
    
    Mark

    The hardest part for me to swallow is the thought that he'd feed DEC to
    GE knowing that it would be chewed up and possibly spat out in pieces.
    
    I don't think he'd want to see his lifetime work fed through the meat
    grinder before his eyes.  Now, maybe he said this to someone to wake
    them up, but...
    
    Somewhere recently (here? ASKENET?) there was a discussion on the
    number of shares KO holds.  I don't remember the outcome exactly, but
    most figures seemed to indicate he has only about 10%.  Now, he could
    lead the negotiation of a sellout and with the stock performance as
    poor as it is, he might get enough backing to sell the place.
    
    Still, this sounds like the eternal "<large techie company> is about to
    buy DEC" rumor.
    
    -- Russ

Treading a bit closely to violating some policy or another, it seems to me (based
on personal experience) that GE buying the company would be about the best way
to put Digital out of business.  After all, that's what GE does.

Having had more personal experience with GEISCO (GE's computer services branch):
They're pretty hostile towards DEC, even though the rest of GE buys tons of DEC
equipment.

If it would be a GE buyout,... well, I have a hard time believing it.

	... going head-to-head with us after the most lucrative, profitable
part of this business to be "hostile" towards us?

	FWIW, a GE subsidiary in Atlanta, GE Computer Services, is re-doing
their entire "customer care" platform on VAX systems, from Pr1me.  Would
these folks happen to be part of GEISCO?  I thought GEISCO brokered used
equipment, leased, etc.

    Come on people, stop your worring.  If this was not in the Boston Globe
    then it could not be true. (<:}.......

    I heard a rumor that there will be a voluntary package
    offered the first of June, across the board....the
    package consists of 1 years salary, period.
    
    ?????????????????????

    Ken Olsen can't sell Digital. He doesn't own the company. The company
    is publicly owned, Olsen owns some miniscule portion of the company
    (like 3%).

    re .73
    
    You've got my attention!
    
    -sandy
    

No, when I said GE broke businesses, I meant that they buy promising, profitable
companies, and squeeze them dry over the course of a couple of years.

For a company to survive a buyout by GE is the exception, rather than the rule.

    Don't buy the GE rumor. Doesn't the SEC have some rules about public
    disclosure when these things happen?
    
    However, if true, (Yeah. Right.) then tell it to David Letterman. :-)
    
    
    Phil

Now that we're hearing the "GE buying Digital" rumor, it can't be too long
before we start hearing the Mitsubishi one again too.

Paul

GE's month is September, lets not get confused }8-)}

Jan	- IBM
Feb	- CitiBank
March	- Mitsubishi
April	- EDS
May	- ATT
June	- Exxon
July	- Ford
August	- UNISYS
September - GE
October	- Berkshire Hathaway
November - Lane Bryant
December - Chrysler

    You left out Fujitsu.
    
    Mark.

    
    I just heard today that Bill Gates was going to buy it with some spare
    cash he has lying around.
    
    :-)

    re .79  I thought Victoria's Secrets had a month.
    

    re: .-1
    
    Donald Trump and Saddam Hussein bought Victoria's Secrets' month.

    I thought the latest rumor was Toys-R-Us ... I guess we just ran out of
    months.

    RE: .66  by NEADEV::HANDLOFF 
    
    >This sounds like nonsense to me. How could this possibly happen without
    >word getting around? The Boston Herald is only to be believed when it
    >writes on the one subject it really knows about: sex crimes.
    
    Well, if GE were to buy DEC, a lot of people would be [deleted].
    

re .82 re .79

	Victoria's Secret and Lane Bryant are both part of the Limited.
So perhaps November is the Limited's month :-)

Frank

Would we get employee discounts?

	Bob Cohen

     
    Re:.87
    Yea just like the employee purchase for p.c.'s
    

    One years pay....that is what I've heard.  Take it and go.  Hmmmm. 
    That sounds like venture capital to me...:)

    I have another Rumor of the Day to lay on you folks.
    
    Heard in the DCU at ZKO...
    
    Digital will/may close down Christmas week (only a 3-day work week)?
    or maybe it was
    DCU will/may close down Christmas week. . . 
    
    Anyone confirm/dispell either of these?
    
    -sandy
    

    well, a quick check of the holiday calendar shows:
                             U.S. HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

                                     1992
  New Year's Day      Jan. 1          Day After Thanksgiving     Nov. 27
  Memorial Day        May 25          Assignable Day             Dec. 24
  Independence Day    July 3          Christmas Day              Dec. 25
  Labor Day           Sept. 7         Personal Holiday
  Thanksgiving Day    Nov. 26         Location Choice Holiday

   So, I guess it's a 3-day work week.

    Considering that that week is week one of fiscal January, the first
    week of a quarter end close, the finance and accounting people will
    be here even if everyone else is not. 
    
    Linda

    In the UK, we close from Christmas Eve through to the New Year.
    
    FWIW:
    
    /a

    In years past we had Xmas week shutdowns. Some folks were asked
    to work through, some took vacation time, some took the time off
    without pay. We've been too busy here to do it the last couple
    of years.

>    In the UK, we close from Christmas Eve through to the New Year.
 
	Having worked in the support group in the UK, and being called in
	on Christmas day to help Israel close, I can say this may be true for 
	some, but not all.

	Christmas is our end of half year close, our numbers have to appear
	on wall street when predicted, as its IBM's full year close, getting
	the numbers out is very important.

	So although 25/28 dec and 1st Jan are bank hols, and the three
	in-between days are company holiday, there will be quite a few people 
	working over the Christmas "close" in the UK.

	Heather

                      <<< Note 1869.92 by CIVIC::GIBSON >>>
                               -< Not the FMC's >-

>    Considering that that week is week one of fiscal January, the first
>    week of a quarter end close, the finance and accounting people will
>    be here even if everyone else is not. 
    
>    Linda

My calendar shows it as Week 13 Q2, not Week 1 Q3.

    HLO operates on a real skeleton crew during the week between Xmas and
    New years, since most people here have been with the company for a long
    time and so have enough vacation time to take those days off.  One of
    the two cafeterias usually closes (forcing folks in one building or the
    other to walk a long way - almost the same distance as I walk to get to
    work).  One year I counted three other people out of the ~90 in CAD who
    were here that week - another Jewish person like me and a couple of
    non-US citizens who did not have the necessary redtape to go home to
    visit their families overseas.  I don't care about the cafeteria
    because I always brownbag, but it sure was quiet here - and COLD; I
    guess the heating system works assuming that most of the computers in
    people's cubes are up and running and that most cubes are occupied by
    warm bodies.  It was great for doing coding, but if you needed to
    brainstorm with co-workers, forget it.
    
    I'm not sure if the DCU was open or not - they sometimes close for
    holidays that DEC doesn't take off (Columbus Day, I think, is one of
    them).  Of course they are a separate company, don't forget.  It may be
    cost-effective for them to be closed if most of their customers are
    going to be on vacation - in this wierd state (Mass.) they may even be
    legally required to be closed on certain days because they are a
    "bank".
    
    On the other hand, *I* don't particularly want to be forced to expend
    vacation time to "celebrate" holidays of other people's religion - and
    I definitely can't afford to take unpaid time off either.  I usually
    take care of a bunch of home repair stuff over the Xmas holiday time
    (and often go to a movie, since everything else is closed!).
    
    /Charlotte

    re:96
    
    My fiscal calendar says December 28, 29, 30, and 31 are week 1 of
    fiscal January, week 27 of the fiscal year. 
    
    Linda

                  <<< Note 1869.98 by CIVIC::GIBSON >>>
                                   -< Nope >-

    re:98
    
	Well somebody's is wrong!  Mine shows it as Week 26.

    The FY93 calendar I'm looking at shows day1 of Q1 as
    28-jun-92. It shows 13 week quarters for Q1, Q2, and Q3,
    and a 14-week Q4.
    	Q3 starts on Sunday, Dec 27.
    
    	Dick
    

	Do you really think it only takes one week to close all the financial
	systems and roll them up?

	and even that the countries start to close the systems at the same
	time? and may close some, but hold others open a few extra days to get 
	that extra bit of revenue booked?

	Heather