AZDonna

Today was supposed to be the close date for the Intel – Marvell deal. It didn’t happen. We were notified yesterday at about noon that the deal would not finalize on the first, but possibly on the second. Today they told us we would have a minimum of 48 hours notice. That means it won’t be closed by the end of this week. They claim they are still negotiating certain business aspects and some third party agreements.

We have seen in the news rumors of a leveraged take over or buy-out of Marvell, by a few different companies. Texas Instruments is named as one. Whether the rumors are true or not remains to be seen. And if it happens, what it will mean for the 1400 Intel employees going to Marvell remains to be seen also. Only time will tell.

In my last week at Intel, I happened to get a pretty good story. I got stuck in the elevator.

I came in early on Monday (because, as you remember, I’m working all those overtime hours). It was almost 6:30. I stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the 4th floor. It started up and … BANG!! … bump! … jerk! … stop! I tried to make myself as light as I could. You know, I stood on my tiptoes. 🙂 I didn’t know how high I was and didn’t want to make the car fall. Silly me. I was only around the second floor, but I was stuck! I picked up the Red Phone, and in a few seconds a lady answered, “Security. What’s your emergency?” I explained that I was stuck in the elevator and she dispatched someone immediately. Then she kept me on the phone like 911 dispatchers do until they got me out. It took about 15 minutes, and I was free.

I went on to my office and got to work. I got up a couple times to go get coffee, and go get rid of coffee. Then at about 8:30, my lower back started hurting. I felt an intense muscle spasm coming on like I had last summer. For a while I didn’t link it with the bumping in the elevator, but eventually it did dawn on me. I went down to the nurse, and she put me on ice and made an appointment with the occupational health center at the local hospital and sent me over. They diagnosed a lower back strain and sent me home.

Lying on an ice bag along with taking a muscle relaxant helped ward off a severe episode, and I went back to work the next day. It has been slowly improving day by day, and I think I’m well on the mend now. Good thing, since I have to pack up my office on Monday.
Wednesday is the day we become employees of Marvell.

Yes, I think that’s a pretty good story for my last week at Intel.

We had a “Leaving Intel” party this afternoon. All the employees who are going to Marvell were invited. The strange thing about it is, it was thrown by the people leaving Intel for the people leaving Intel. In other words, we threw a party for ourselves! It was supposed to be for the purpose of relaxing and reminiscing about our years at Intel and anticipating our upcoming adventure at Marvell. But, of course, there was a lot of lamenting going on, too.

The anticipated close date continues to be November 1. We will begin to pack our offices next week and turn in our laptops next Friday so Intel IT can wipe them clean of all proprietary information and software for which they own the licenses. We are supposed to get them back on Monday, November 6 with Windows, MS Office apps, and our saved data files all reinstalled. Most everyone is backing up their data to DVDs as a safeguard. Wouldn’t want to lose all those emails and internet bookmarks!

I’m continuing to work lots of hours as we near the close date. Most weeks, I’m putting in close to 70 hours a week. My paychecks have been looking awfully nice, but I’m sure ready to get back to a normal schedule and have some time to relax. The project people I’ve been putting in all those hours for have told me to call if I ever want to come back to Intel. It is nice to know that my work is valued and appreciated. I’m still optimistic about working for Marvell, but it’s sure great to have those contacts if I ever need them.

And speaking of overtime, I better go get back to work now!