It's hard to describe the nature of our work.
In the development world, you try to buffer deployments through procedures and testing, implementing changes through software over software but in every programmers life, the management will need a quick fix. And when they do, they need a fool-hardy geek with nerves of steel and an addiction to danger so strong, he isn't afraid to press that execute key.
The commands lined up stretch on forever, spiraling through the ether of virtual space below the centre fold of our dim small portal into the other world. A world in which our minds move gracefully through the boolean returns of success or failure, and the gremlins of coders gone by lay in waiting to strike our upgrades down.
In the real world, time ticks on... money haemorrhages from the business giant that only hours ago stood so mightily.
Damn the risks! The admin department need that system unlocking NOW!
The F5 key sits... starring... daunting... daring: 'Go ahead - you're as sure as you can be. Run the code. You wont have missed a coma, or added an unknown space now will you? There's no hidden mistakes... unknown errors that will destroy the flow of data and make lost forever the structure on which all things rest. Are there? Come on... press the key. Be a hero.' The voices laugh in sadistic torment. You stare at the function button as if to see down the barrel of a loaded magnum.
A moment of silence that last forever, I look to my reflection in the dark glass wall behind my screen.
Deep within those databases... I am that crazy maverick.
Execute!
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Phil
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