Uh-oh, proper perspective
A Daughter's Letter home from College
- Dear Mom and Dad:
It has been four months since I left for college. I have been remiss in writing and am very sorry for my thoughtlessness. I will bring you up to date now, but before you read on, please sit down. Don't read any further unless you are sitting down .... OK?
[If you know this old chestnut, jump ahead to the sequel.]
Good. I am getting along pretty well now. The skull fracture and the concussion I got from jumping out of the window of my dormitory when it caught fire, shortly after my arrival, are pretty well healed now. I only spent two weeks in the hospital and now I can see almost normally and only get three headaches a day. Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory and my jump were witnessed by an attendant at a nearby gas station, and he was able to call the Fire Department and the ambulance. He also visited me at the hospital, and since I had nowhere to live because of the burnt-out dorm, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment with him. It's really a basement room, but it is kind of cute. He is a very fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love and are planning to get married. We haven't set the exact date yet, but I'm sure it will be before I start to show.
Yes, Mom and Dad, I am pregnant. I know how much you are looking forward to being grandparents, and I know you will give the baby the same love and devotion and tender care you gave me when I was a child. The reason for the delay in our marriage is that my boyfriend has some minor infection which prevents us from passing our premarital blood tests, and I carelessly caught it from him. This will soon clear up, thanks to my daily penicillin injections.
I know you will welcome him into our family with open arms. He is kind, and although not well educated, he is ambitious.
I guess that's it. Now that I have brought you up to date, I want you to know... There was no dormitory fire, I did not have a concussion or skull fracture, I was not in the hospital, I am not pregnant, I am not engaged, I do not have syphilis and there is no man in my life. However, I am getting a "D" in History and an "F" in Science, and I wanted you to see these marks in their proper perspective.
Your loving daughter,
Chelsea
DigitalThink Announces Financial Results for Third Quarter of Fiscal 2004
. . .
"We are seeing very positive signs in the custom e-learning business and more importantly in our business," said Michael Pope, president and chief executive officer of DigitalThink.
. . .
That said, we do face a significant challenge in our relationship with our customer EDS."
"EDS is our largest customer first signed under a master agreement in July of 2000," continued Pope. "We have a valid and binding contract with EDS that runs through June 2005. Many times over our three-year relationship we have renegotiated the master agreement with EDS by amending and expanding our service offering, in all cases with the best interests of our customer in mind. EDS alleges that DigitalThink is currently in default under the master agreement. We strongly believe there is no basis for these allegations. The dispute is not over quality of courseware or level of service concerns. EDS, however, has indicated it may attempt to terminate the remaining portion of the contract."
"This current discussion does not surprise me, as we have renegotiated many times in the past. We are currently in negotiations with EDS to provide a business resolution to the matter using the process provided for in our contract. If we are unable to reach a mutually-agreeable business resolution regarding this matter we intend to pursue all breach of contract and other claims we have against EDS. Obviously, a business resolution is our preferred outcome."
"Rest assured, we are not standing still at DigitalThink. Customer concentration risk is not new to this company. As such, we have assessed the situation of what DigitalThink looks like without EDS many times in the past. We have a plan that we believe will enable us to serve our clients and fulfill on our mission of providing outstanding customer service and custom e- learning. Our plan would require significant expense reductions, including headcount reductions and lease terminations."
"In summary, you should understand four points: one, we see positive trends in our business conditions; two, there is an issue with EDS that we are taking all possible steps to resolve amicably; three, we believe we have an extremely strong case should we have to resort to a legal resolution; and four, most importantly, we have a plan for DigitalThink's continued execution for our customers and our shareholders should EDS go away as a customer," concluded Pope.
Posted by Jay Cross at January 29, 2004 09:14 PM | TrackBack
