In praise of a job

I returned to work for Ford in a capacity similar to what I did before I retired, and really, it's been the best:

I work four days each week, about six hours each day. I get paid for what I work - no paid sick days, no holidays; if I take a week's vacation, I don't get paid.

I love my job. I have the best boss.

I work with bright, ambitious, intelligent people. They're different than I am - I don't have excess aptitude in high math, but these guys are automotive engineers.

I can be analytical, and the journalism training and experience has helped me to develop spreadsheets that try to combine data with simplicity, to convey ideas and suggest recommendations. You never, ever achieve the ideal, but it’s out there.

Imagine designing an automobile - thousands of moving parts, which have to operate in all kinds of environments - blazing hot, stultifyingly cold, 10,000 feet above sea level, ascending impossibly steep hills, mountains even.

I think there are more than 300 separate components in an automatic transmission, more than an engine. Imagine designing them to work together through all kinds of environmental conditions.

I admire these engineers - it makes me want to serve them better in my role as reporting how they're doing versus their budget. Sounds banal, I know, but they do care about it, and it's great being able to help them navigate how to get something through the system, or to explain why their travel expense was $10,000 in January, compared with a monthly budget of $5,000.

But hey, you pay attention to this this now, and we'll fix it - together.

I sat in an executive staff meeting on Monday morning, and I'd be willing to bet that the average IQ in the room was 150. They are brilliant.

Today, I got a note from my boss' boss' boss’ boss congratulating me on helping to deliver a key part of the budget, with levels consensed by a dozen different department managers, none of them a bit shy.

In the note, my boss’ boss’ boss’ boss said I was organized and methodical. And I sure try to be.

It feels great to try to get it right. Evanescent goal, I know, but worthy nonetheless. And they pay me for this.