Death of an Email Chain Legend

It finally happened...The daily e-mail chain that I've relied on to get through the last few years of work came to a screeching end this week.  Long time contributor (and a guy who's contributions around this blog attributed to, like, 3 posts) the Maestro up and quit his old job, which was apparently a joke, and got some new hot shot job where, amongst other things, he's worried about making a good impression and doing work related things that don't include tweeting and emailing his friends all day long. Suffice to say, I just don't get it.

In honor of one of the great work email chain era's of all time I thought I'd share with you his hilarious out of office message he left from his old work on his last day (I've blanked out the actual contact info):

From: The Maestro
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 3:19 PM
To: CW
Subject: Out of Office:

Hi Friends-

As you may have realized, I've basically been using this as my personal email for the past year or two, but now I officially no longer work at (Workplace he hated omitted), and don't know when they're gonna shut this off. 

You can reach me at my personal email at (xxxxxxxxxxxxx).  In the unlikely event that its work related, please contact (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)  in my absence.

Thanks,

Maestro

Cracked me up. Works on so many levels. One last laugh for us on the email chain when we received it, one gigantic FU to his former workplace (those two lines, "I've basically been using this as my personal email," and "In the unlikely event that this is work related," are absolute classics). Brilliant.

But needless to say, I'm having a hard time adjusting, and frankly, I have no idea where to send humorous or interesting tidbits and links throughout the day. Like just yesterday I found a hilarious column I thought he'd enjoy, didn't know where to send it. Sent it to his personal address knowing that he presumably wouldn't see if for hours and wouldn't comment back. It was depressing. I think Red in The Shawshank Redemption summed up my lament best:

 "Sometimes it makes me sad, though... Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend"

Here's to the Maestro, a once great work e-mail contributor.

RIP, Encyclopedia Britannica

HuffPo - "The Encyclopaedia Britannica", the world's most famous print encyclopedia, has announced that after 244 years in print, it is no longer going to make new physical copies of its flagship publication. The 32-volume, $1,395 edition that the Chicago-based company put out in 2010 was its last; future versions will live entirely online. 

Oh, Encyclopedia Britannica, I hardly knew ye. You came into my life at a very confusing time, old world standards for knowledge were still in high regard, and yet there was this new fangled form of information, the CD-Rom.  

Beg and save as little CW might I never could convince my parents or save up quite enough for the full collection of those beautiful leather bound books from antiquity. Sure after saving like, 10 months of chore money I could have afforded a few off-letters, maybe a Q, a V, and possibly an F or something like that, but I was never getting any of the star letters, the S' and T's, and A,B,C's of the world. Those were out of reach, and frankly, with the welcoming of Encarta's CD-Rom based encyclopedia, unnecessary. 

Our chances for crossing paths never came any closer. Yes, I'm pretty sure my high school had a set from like 1978 hidden in the back somewhere, but by then I'd even ditched Encarta, the internet was everywhere at that point and things would never be the same. 

So long Encyclopedia Britannica, and thanks for the years of knowledge you purportedly contain. I may have never read you, but my intellectual curiosity leads me to such claims as, "I always wanted to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica collection." You were also my first career aspiration, as nothing seemed higher than door to door Britannica salesman. Families everywhere spurned door to door Mormons and Jehovahs, turning them and their "literature" away, but you always took time to at least listen to the Britannica man, because you knew the wisdom he held.