Dude. Chill. This is what I do for a living.

I said this to my boss this morning (he's new and very anxious) as he fluttered around my desk, questioning everything and wondering about this and that, and hoping that something else hadn't fallen through the cracks.

Dude, I said. It's all right. This is my core competency and, though I've been known to make a minor error or two, it's not falling apart by any means. Here. Let me show you how it works....

I suppose when I was younger I would have taken all the questions as threats and challenges to my competence. Now I realize they simply stem from his nervousness and feelings of ineptitude, lack of confidence. Partly he's asking for reassurance.

New managers get sent to work with me for a year or two. I'm used to this. Beginning to think I should write a manual.

The last manual I wrote for my company, I was castigated for putting my name on it. Supposedly it was written by a committee, the members of which remain a mystery to me to this day, but included I'm sure the head bigwig. I wasn't going to give him credit for my work!

I can be pretty determined at times.