(I Can't Get No) I.T. Action

The name of the Information Technology focal, Lorne Ipsum, is alluding to what is known as “Lorem ipsum.” Lorem ipsum is commonly used to visually demonstrate the appearance of how something is supposed to look without actually communicating any sort of meaningful content. Sounds very much like I.T. to us. Lorne is essentially the 21st century equivalent of the man in “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” who’s “…tellin' me more and more / About some useless information / Supposed to fire my imagination.” The only difference of course is that Mick’s “useless information man” came on the radio, not on a PC.

Our H.R. hicks are named after football stadiums. Jordan, the Talent Acquisition Specialist, is named after Jordan-Hare Stadium, the home of the Auburn University Tigers football team in Auburn, Alabama. Legion, the H.R. Director, is named after Legion Field, the former home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team in Birmingham. The Tide moved to Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa in the 1990s.

A member of our troupe grew up in Montgomery, the capital city of Alabama. If you ever decide to visit Montgomery, he recommends visiting the weekend of the Auburn-Alabama game, otherwise known as the "Iron Bowl." The Iron Bowl takes place the last weekend in November. Half the town is decked out in Alabama school colors, the other half in Auburn colors. Quite a sight to see. The blinkin’ bright red and green strings of street lights in the Christmas carol “Silver Bells” ain’t got nothin’ on crimson, white, burnt orange and navy blue.

One of our troupe members worked at an office that had a “casual Friday.” A tradition exercised by some former Navy personnel at the office was to always wear Hawaiian print shirts on casual Fridays. Not to be ones to break such a fine tradition initiated by our outstanding men and women in uniform, our equally salient (in a diametric sense) red tape rednecks ditched their neck ties, belts and dress shoes (as well as shoes in general), and put on nice Hawaiian shirts underneath their bib overalls.