Timecachers Read Online Free PDF

vacation.”
    “Don’t expect to get off too easy, Alice. I’m with you as far as enjoying working outdoors, but this customer wants very detailed notes on our user experience, and I’m counting on you to put all our documentation together for them into a professional report. Can you imagine if they got a look at Sal’s notes? ‘Tried it; broke it. Went hiking and used a compass instead.’”
    “Ha! That’s Sal alright. Don’t worry; I’m used to translating Sal-speak into a professional report.”
    The food orders arrived, and Adam and Alice discussed the challenges of conducting their testing in remote locations. Being without power for over a week would mean that they would have to resort to manual note taking and transcribe them when they returned. They were also both going to have to break out their camping gear, which needed to be checked out after being stored away for the winter. They were discussing whether or not they would need to pack any cold weather gear for this time of year in Georgia when they heard Sal’s voice boom at them as he and Tom entered the restaurant. “Greetings, fellow space-travelers! When do we blast-off for Appalachian galaxy?”
    Adam chuckled. “More like the Chattahoochee constellation.”

Chapter four
    S alvador Lolliman was a wiry, energetic, and talkative engineering technician. A native of Camden, New Jersey, he conformed to the stereotype of a loud, crass, and short-tempered Jersey urbanite. His short stature, barely five foot five, and a receding hairline thirty years beyond his twenty-three years, caused Sal to endure more than his share of harassment which he learned to counter by preemptive attack. He had the aggressiveness of a Boston Terrier, the tiny canine who shows no fear even when confronting dogs several times his size. Sal would say anything to anyone. To him, tact and political correctness were unknown concepts. Fortunately, no matter how many inappropriate or off-color jokes he told, or how many times he flew into a rage at someone for no good reason, he could project enough positive energy to power a healthy amount of charisma. Sal had an extremely sharp mind, and could quickly comprehend even some of the most complex technology. Regrettably, he was not a details man, losing interest with mundane tasks, which prevented him from becoming a truly exceptional engineer. Nevertheless, Adam recognized his agile mind had a lot to offer the team, and his exuberant personality was contagious to the others in the group, including Adam. Things never got boring when Sal was around, whether he was ripping off lousy jokes or ripping off some poor guy’s head for disagreeing with him.
    Tom Woody was almost the exact opposite. He epitomized single-mindedness, and would endlessly analyze the details of a project until no facet remained unexplored, with the stoic resolve of a spider relentlessly reweaving its web each day. Smalltalk did not come as easily to Tom; he was a thinker, a southern gentleman, a modern Thomas Jefferson. He usually sat quietly through engineering meetings, tapping his briar pipe in contemplation until he was asked for details about whatever project he was currently working on. Everyone who knew Tom knew not to do that unless they were prepared to spend hours listening to a highly technical monologue, eloquently articulated in his dulcet, Virginia voice.
    Tom had spent many years as a software engineer until he became disgruntled with what he called the “assembly line” conditions that programmers now worked under. He decided his talents would be better put to use fleshing out software bugs than cranking out code. Adam knew Tom’s engineering talents were more than adequate for this project. He also knew Tom was an accomplished backpacker and rock climber, had a keen interest in American history, and had even had a few papers published on several historical topics. It didn’t surprise Adam that Tom’s background got such a positive reaction