February 2026

Not everyting is in the manual, Norm

The big boss from Germany was in town to kick the tires and spread the corporate gospel.  I had recently been bumped up to production manager at our little pharmaceutical plant in the Midwest and I busied myself with paperwork while he was talking to the plant manager.

We had been meeting our production targets and the quality was good, so I had hope that this was just a routine visit.  Eventually the grey eminence of Dr. Blickensdorf heaved-to outside my door.  He was not happy.