Thursday, June 15, 2006
Things are Getting Worse
Egad. I keep getting stuck with Rick as a work partner. It gets frustrating because Rick isn’t what you might call the most “enlightened” person in the world. Currently, we’re working on a project for a client that’s owned by 2 men, both in their 60s. One of them has decided to leave the business. So he’s going to sell his half of the business to the other owner. Our job is to tell them how much that half is worth.
One of the steps of our valuation is to do an on-site interview. We get to meet with management and find out some important info about them and their company. Rick and another manager interviewed the two owners a couple weeks ago. Today, Rick was relaying me some details about their meeting.
Apparently, the two owners have never been married. And they jointly own a piece of vacation property in Montana. So clearly, according to Rick, they must be gay. Not only that, but they must be partners. (And in more than just the business sense, if you know what I mean. And I know you do.)
The problem with that line of thought (other than the sheer homophobia) is that it doesn’t make any sense. I can’t for the life of me figure out why one “partner” should sell his half of the company to the other “partner.” Unless there are some tax reasons I don’t know about.
The Wife and I encounter this problem all the time whenever we try to make bets with each other. If we bet $20, what does it change? It goes from one pocket (hers) to another (mine). But since it’s all in the same big pocket (ours), nothing changes. It’d be the same thing with the “partners.” (By the way, this is why The Wife and I have resorted to betting other, more serious things. Like who’s going to wake up with Luke on the weekend or who has to clean the litter box.)
Oh, and of course, Rick told me all of this at my cube in his not-so-quiet voice. Seriously, it’s only a matter of time until he’s fired. Must… distance… myself….
One of the steps of our valuation is to do an on-site interview. We get to meet with management and find out some important info about them and their company. Rick and another manager interviewed the two owners a couple weeks ago. Today, Rick was relaying me some details about their meeting.
Apparently, the two owners have never been married. And they jointly own a piece of vacation property in Montana. So clearly, according to Rick, they must be gay. Not only that, but they must be partners. (And in more than just the business sense, if you know what I mean. And I know you do.)
The problem with that line of thought (other than the sheer homophobia) is that it doesn’t make any sense. I can’t for the life of me figure out why one “partner” should sell his half of the company to the other “partner.” Unless there are some tax reasons I don’t know about.
The Wife and I encounter this problem all the time whenever we try to make bets with each other. If we bet $20, what does it change? It goes from one pocket (hers) to another (mine). But since it’s all in the same big pocket (ours), nothing changes. It’d be the same thing with the “partners.” (By the way, this is why The Wife and I have resorted to betting other, more serious things. Like who’s going to wake up with Luke on the weekend or who has to clean the litter box.)
Oh, and of course, Rick told me all of this at my cube in his not-so-quiet voice. Seriously, it’s only a matter of time until he’s fired. Must… distance… myself….
