Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There’s a land that I’ve heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream,
Really do come true.
Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

I had a minor breakthrough at work today. A week ago, I had requested some computer files be transferred from Point A to Point B. The fact that points A and B are only fifty yards apart shouldn’t diminish the importance of this effort in your mind. The important thing here is that I bent the bureaucracy at work to my will. Yesterday, a week to the day after I had requested the file transfer, they showed up at Point B and I set to work.

In the intervening week though, doubt had crept into my mind. Had I selected the correct files? Had I rounded up all of the files that I would need? The possibility for failure loomed large in mind, while I twiddled my thumbs, waiting for the wheels of industry to finally turn. Failure meant revisiting this transfer process again, waiting another week and all the while trying to dodge my boss, who’s most common refrain these days has been, “Do you have any data for me yet?” He can be most annoying in this way.

I ran a test case with my newly reacquired computer files. The results were close, but not quite the same as the results that I was looking for. I selected a few different files and tried again. This time things matched up perfectly. I now have a baseline case, upon which I shall proceed to build an edifice of data. As any data architect will tell you, you cannot build until you have a good foundation. Now I can tell my boss, “Yes sir, I do have some data for you now.”

I saw the pictured rainbow on my way into work. Anne saw it too; she was already on the playground at school. I didn’t find any pot of gold after I made it to work. I shouldn’t have expected to, because pay-day is not until next week.