All of us at my new job know that it is morbidly unhealthy to keep track of the latest catastrophes taking place at our previous place of employment, but since we all share this feeling of literally having escaped from a cult, sometimes this is hard. I mean, we enjoy hearing about the grandiose speech the owner/boss gave at one of the interminable all-company meetings about an event that took place at "one of [her] many residences" or how her carefully planned weekend was ruined by her nanny having to bail (which set in motion a chain of events culminating in owner/boss tragically spilling nail polish on her "marble bathroom floor"). We also like how the HR lady condescendingly reassured yet another departing employee during her exit interview that "When you realize you've made a mistake in leaving, your job will be waiting for you."

One of the largest recent scandals was when the head of IT left. He was basically the only one capable of running the computer network, so things went downhill fast. From one come to Jesus meeting to the next the owner/boss was reduced from making elaborate multi-colored Power Point presentations to scribbling in pen on a paper easel.

Next stop: smoke signals instead of e-mail . . .