My "ER"day

Do you remember ER? That show about emergency room doctors that were all earnest and deep and performed superhuman feats of medical derring-do while simultaneously looking really, really good?

Do you remember how that show captivated the nation, back in those days where Friends was still on (and still worth watching), back before CSI dominated the drama? Back before J.J. Abrams and Aaron Sorkin were household names?

Well, if you remember any of that, then you might know something about what I am going to tell you about the day that I had yesterday. I call it my ER day.

Back when ER was good, back before helicopter rotors maimed doctors, back before every episode was a must-see ER event, back before Noah Wiley grew that crappy beard and was still a young actor . . . back when the show was captivating, it did it with rapid camera moves, rapid medical dialogue, tense soundtrack, and a tense situation.

I didn't have all of those things in my own ER day, but if you put a soundtrack on me and filmed me with a jerky-cam, and made me jump over a gurney or something while I went from one thing to another, then you might see why I am calling yesterday me ER day.

Work was a crisis. Things were not working out (mainly due to poor planning and some mistakes that I had made previously). So, I had to dig a way out of the immediate crisis and find a solution--STAT! With the help of other team members and the indulgence of many friends who didn't tell me to shut up and get it over with, the basic crisis was averted. A fix-it solution was cobbled together and it looks like the basic mistake is fixed.

There are (as my fellow bloggers could attest) more systemic, procedural problems that have NOT been solved at work, but we don't (in my judgment) have the luxury of trying to fix those now. We must simply get stuff done by deadline--whatever that deadline is today.

(Of course, being so rushed that we can't see past our own noses is the root of the systemic problem . . . one that doesn't seem to be getting any better.) But still . . . that is a problem for another day. Hopefully, we won't have many more ER days before we get to a solution to THAT!

[On a personal note, I would like to thank my coworkers for putting up with my problems yesterday. I remember your words of encouragement, friendly support, and your avoidance of telling me to stop being a general nuisance.]

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In more typical, if abbreviated WWYG fashion . . . Lost was middlin' fair (but the company was EXCELLENT) and Alias is back, in its old, confusing state! Wednesday nights rule!!!!!