I remember the moment clearly. I got on the elevator and one of my co-workers was already on the elevator."Did you hear?" they asked, "AOL just bought Time Warner."
For reasons I didn't understand, they then got off the elevator. There were two people behind me in the elevator. Ignoring them, I said aloud "I could never work for AOL." and jabbed the button a few times for my floor.
I was pretty sure they weren't from AOL or Warner Bros., but I really didn't care. AOL was evil. Well, still is.
Turns out, I wouldn't need to worry about that, I wouldn't be working for them too long at all. To make the merger work (it didn't), some cutting would need to be made to realize the efficiencies of the synergy or something like that.
But, what happened instead, at least for me, was the series of events that I could never imagined, all of it -- ALL OF IT -- uniquely positioning me for where I am today. When I think back now, I am amazed.
But at the time, it was very frustrating. So in some ways, I've been bemused by the failings of this merger and so cheered when I learned Dec. 9 would be its undoing. AOL had bought itself some time, but in the end, it was being tossed to the wolves. And I missed cheering on Dec. 9 because I've just been too swamped. But now, the AOL death watch can resume.
Cat image courtesy of http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/pda/2009/nov/23/digital-media-aol-reactions-to-new-logo
And here's an article about their new logo(s): http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10403346-93.html?tag=tvjames.blogspot.com