October 13, 1993
13:20
I flipped through the planner, spinning it in my hands, started with Seryoga’s questions…
Marina burst into the office with the lease agreements. I didn’t bother listening, advised her to write down her questions and raise them at the evening meeting. Right now I was occupied with strategic planning, not ready to descend to the tactical level… Kostya barged into the office with customs clearance: clients needed certificates… I repeated that if there were questions, then… Never got to finish. Lena slipped into the office…
I remembered I had an important meeting scheduled. Had to head out. Sort out whatever comes up yourselves, we’ll discuss the unresolved stuff this evening. Back in three hours. See you.
I dashed out to the lot, jumped into the Torus.
I had no meeting scheduled whatsoever. Where to go? The Terem? The moment I showed up there, clients would swoop in and whine for discounts. They wouldn’t let me work with the paperwork. Home? Awkward to drag myself there, I was driving the other direction… Where, then?
I was rolling down Kashirka toward MEPhI.
Ha! Instincts!
I pulled into the lot by the «Mechta» cinema across the street. Long overdue to drop by the institute, see what was going on. Veteran students swore that in your fifth year you could skip class shamelessly. Still, a month and a half of skipping was pushing it.
Decided. Off to the institute!
I went in through the main entrance, checked the schedule, headed for the lecture hall. Changed my mind about taking notes on the lecture. Opened the planner, sank into thought. Seryoga had asked how to set up computer accounting. Well, like this…
At sixteen forty-five I dashed out of the institute, jumped into the Torus, and raced off to the meeting.
I started with computer accounting. In five minutes I sketched out the scheme: the database will be one for everyone, but with two levels of access, and only the accounts department may make changes. Seryoga got it at half a kick and reckoned he could manage in a week. He would be installing the newfangled Oracle Database; the rattles from Windowz inspire no confidence!
I ticked off checkmarks next to Seryoga’s questions, moved on to the next ones.
Marina, Lena, and Kostya had settled a few things on their own, brought them up for discussion.
