And now with the news, here's Surly Franz

A quick pencil drawing of me might feature a word bubble: 'yuk!' Or 'sigh...' Or 'marzipan?' But Franz's word bubble can only say one thing: 'harrumph.'

Franz the Surly & Moustachioed Co-worker and I have re-established our working rapport. This is an essential part of working at the mothership. If I don't know where I stand with Franz, there is a real danger that I could spend a significant part of every day cowering before his giant silver handlebars, feeling chastized and tiny. I still treat him a little as though he's royalty - but I'm the jester. I think he senses my fear. But he may also sense, on some level, that I'm ridiculing him publicly in furtive blog entries.