Pythonic Y2K

[Rich Shepard]

On Fri, 18 Jan 2019, Gene Heskett wrote:

>> I had one client, a hedge fund, that I fixed literally 1000's of Y2K
>> issues for. When Y2K came and there were no problems, the owner said
>> to me "You made such a big deal about the Y2K thing, and nothing
>> happened." --

> I would quite cheerfully have bought a ticket to watch and hear your
> reply, Larry.

My response would have been, "That's because of all the time and effort I
devoted to fixing all the issues that would have put you out of business.
Perhaps a bonus is due me?"

This is a common situation for all consultants, including environmental
scientists such as I am. Clients don't know how to fix the problems they
face, nor have that capability in-house, so they need external assistance.
This lack of knowledge means they don't understand why the project took so
long nor recognize the effort put in by the consultant.

People tend to take for granted when things work smoothly but notice when
there are glitches. Ask any major conference or annual meeting director
about this. :-) A similar situation is faced by those of us who are expected
to "prove" a negative.

Carpe weekend, all,

Rich