Hey gang,

Wanted to apologize for not getting back to some of the personal posts, but,
as I said earlier, I'm under an incredible amount of stress right now.  I
need to vent, too, and you guys have the best ears in the business!

Anyway, we've been "re-aligning" (laying off) some staff because our court
docket software is moving from an IBM mainframe to  a Windows server
platform.  I won't comment on the wisdom of this decision, except to say
that it is a done deal and nine people will be gone in July.  My job is
secure as I moved from mainframe support to client services (help desk) in
April 2000.

There is, however, one colleague who is causing problems for the entire
staff.  I won't bore you with detail, but the bottom line is that he has a
rage problem.  So serious, in fact, that he has assaulted two co-workers in
as many years.  He is still here because the two individuals were
intimidated and did not press the issue.  Due to our "civil servant"
hiring/firing guidelines, unless they make a complaint--he's good to go.  In
fact, because he is medicated for anger issues (and, ostensibly, migraines)
he maintains he is disabled under ADA guidelines.  Our management is too
naive/frightened to question his stance.

His reaction to the re-alignment caused him to be suspended, with pay, while
he undergoes counseling/psych eval.  He called me here at work last week,
from his home, to tell me--in intimate detail--his "side" of the story.
Note that we don't have/have never had any sort of friendship, and the total
extent of our relationship has been commiserating about the lack of
"handicapped parking" in the courthouse garage.  I politely listened to his
story and was prepared to hang up and forget the entire conversation when he
said something to the effect that I "was the only friend he had" and that
"this was a private conversation and I was not to tell anyone that he had
called me--especially our management.  You know what I mean.......right,
Kyle?"

Well, the red flag went up and I high-tailed it to the director's office and
repeated every detail of the conversation.  The director and HR rep. replied
that this was just the ammunition they needed to "help the process along" of
letting this man go--all I had to do was sign an affidavit repeating what he
had told me.  I replied that I did not appreciate being placed in the middle
of their war, but I could see how this man could be a threat.  I said that I
would document the call, but I would need time to chew on the "signature"
issue.

I called a friend--a local cop where I live-- after the kids were abed, and
discussed the situation.  On the QT, he found that my colleague had been
"sectioned 8" from the Army, mustering out as a Captain.  He had seen action
as a company commander in Iraq, and had also seen combat in Grenada, the
Balkans and Panama.  In addition, he is a handgun collector and is legal
because he was not "dishonorably" discharged (the "medical discharge" is the
loophole).

He called me again, at home, Friday and invited me to go fishing in his
pond.  This struck me, immediately, as odd in that fish native to Ohio are
not active until the water temperature is at least 65 degrees.  Maybe I am
making much ado about naught, but there have been several sleepless nights
at the Clevelands' in the last week.  We've kept it from the kids, of
course.  Still, I'm not letting them play outside, alone, until this whole
thing plays out.

-Kyle