Episode 32- Hack Something Together

The laughter stops as soon as I enter the Boss's office. He and the Bean Counter look like guilty school boys caught with a copy of Debbie Does Didcot.

'Joe, good of you to join us,' the Boss tells me, waving me to the chair in front of his desk. The Bean Counter is sitting to one side, red-faced but trying to recover some decorum.

'As if I had any choice,' I mumble.

'We've been thinking,' the Boss continues regardless.

'Yes,' the Bean Counter chimes in, 'we've given this a lot of thought indeed.'

'Indeedy-doody,' I say, 'thinking about what exactly.'

'Stationery,' the respond together.

'Stationery?'

'Yes,' the Bean Counter explains, 'it's costing us a fortune. There's no central control, ordering is all over the place.'

'Is that why we've never got any pens or paper in stock?'

'Well…'

'On the other hand,' I continue, 'we do have half a million paper clips locked in a cupboard somewhere because your PA got air miles for every order…'

The Boss gives me that pleading look that suggests that what I'm talking about is news to his Bean Counter pal. 'Without central ordering it's easy for there to be blips in supply,' the Boss squirms uncomfortably. 'Which is why we've decided that we'll create a little stationery order app. Nothing fancy, just hack something together. We can distribute a copy to each department, they can place orders which go to a central database.'

'Then what happens?' I ask.

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Continued at TechBookReport