March 29, 2012  Usurping the Slurpy Machine  My cubicle was
larger than most, befitting my minor manager position. The cube
was on the back wall of the office, next to the door that lead
to the factory floor. I could see daylight if I stood and peered
over the rows of cubicles and through the glass walls of the
important people up front. Across the aisle was an engineer. A
most cool guy.  It did not take long to learn we shared a sense
of humor -- dry and sarcastic. In a word, we cracked each other
up.  I have always been a guy who knows a lot of jokes. tell me
one and I will remember two. Dave-the-Engineer knew even more
jokes than I did. Most days we started the morning tossing
punchlines over the walls. No need to tell the set-up, we both
knew the joke. Passers-by would shake their head in wonder, not
understanding what was funny.  Later I went through various
different responsibilities and my cube location and size changed
many times. Once I returned from vacation to find my cube was
gone. My stuff had be