Monday, February 8, 2010

5:45AM

And I'm getting ready to put on a show. Because I know that there is nothing magical about my being here, no matter how much they want to believe it. No matter how much I want to believe it. The work was completed weeks ago. We saw some of the fruits of our labors last week, but my being here changes nothing, technically. All I can do now is inspire confidence, restore some sense of order, and put smiles on faces again. Today, I am not wearing an engineering hat. I feel like I am wearing the hat of a snakeoil salesman. But I prefer to think of it as the hat of your favorite uncle, who's been there, done that, and completely understands everything that's going on.

I'm going to need a pack of jokes and my wits about me today.



Isabella: You will die. It will be awful.

William: Every man dies, not every man really lives.

Isabella: Drink this. It will dull your pain.

William: No. It will numb my wits, and I must have them all. For if I'm senseless or if I wail, then Longshanks will have broken me.

2 comments:

  1. such a colorful job description you have.

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  2. Being on the road keeps things interesting. Interfacing with the customer when things aren't working, even though they were supposed to be fully working 3 months ago, requires a bit of charm and creativity. Thankfully, these are skills I have tried to develop over the past 15 years. There is no experience quite like being forced to use an underdeveloped product/skill when you need it the most.

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