The Dow Is Up!

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted. I didn't realize that. I've got to stop slacking off so much. Because my 2 readers are just dying for more posts.

This goes back a few days, but Mrs. David Brent is at it again. I'm in a group with one of my friends doing investment research. Mrs. David Brent is in another group, annoying the piss out of them. Since I have the worst luck in the world, our two groups merged to do a project.

Last Monday, Mrs. David Brent approached me before class. She wanted to confirm that we're going to be working together. Then she tells me that Joe is their team leader and would I mind if Joe led our bigger team. I said I didn't care, but I also didn't really understand. What the F is a leader?

She goes on to say that the leader assigns tasks and makes sure that all projects get done on time. I told her that with the teams I've worked on, these things are done by consensus. She then told me that Joe would be in charge of making a consensus. I looked at her and told her that that goes against the very definition of consensus.

So Mrs. David Brent told me that she doesn't know me or my friend, so she doesn't feel comfortable trusting us. I told her that we had worked on several projects, and in fact run a student organization together (I'm president, he's VP). At this point, Joe chimes in and says that he doesn't even really want to be a leader of 5 people anyway.

With that issue resolved, we meet with the professor. We're doing research on emerging markets, and we decided to go with Eastern Europe for no apparent reason. The professor told us that Eastern Europe has little data, which will make things difficult. Would we mind doing Latin America? We all say "no" except Mrs. David Brent.

Mrs. David Brent goes on to explain that she'd like to continue working on Eastern Europe on her own if we're going to do Latin America. The professor explains that our group really needs her help. So, Mrs. David Brent says that she doesn't want to do Latin America. Why? Because she has no desire to go there. AND her husband won't let her go there. I look at her and say, "What does that have to do with INVESTING there?" "Well, if I just want to research a place that I want to go visit." I almost just smacked the crap out of her.

The professor agreed to speak to her after class. I then got an email from the professor asking us if we'd mind Mrs. David Brent working with a different group. It was a unanimous "nope." So the good news is that I probably won't have to deal with her on a first-hand basis anymore. The bad news is that it's really going to limit my stories.