Tonight I realized that I'm good at something I've decided to dub "adrenaline focus." Case and point: tonight at work, one of our freezers died (again. There have been at least a dozen freezer and/or cooler deaths this year. Those hamsters on wheels who run the dang things apparently get awful tired). It was the end of the night, so, in addition to the fact that the majority of the staff were already gone for the night, there was the fact that those of us who remained were trying to pack up and get home.

So half an hour before closing, Tom notices that the thermometer in the freezer is way too high, and tells Coconut Joe. Water was the only stock person left, so he and Coconut Joe set to putting the contents of the freezer into bins and finding room for them in the walk in freezer. Coconut Joe quickly enlisted my help as well, and we three got everything packed up and moved in pretty good time -- we had a good flow going taking turns packing, moving, and finding more bins.

When it was all over, I felt like a kid at a birthday party -- totally over-stimulated, and ready to jump back in and set to work on the next crisis. Truth be told, it's part of the appeal of being a manager to me.

And it is true that it's been a constant in my life. I've always been the one to call 9-1-1. I was always the one at Antioch to ask "do you want me to call Maples?" I got Bob out of bed and to the hospital when he developed endocarditis. I've talked people through overdoses, and helped keep iffy trips from turning into bad ones. "Adrenaline focus" really is a good name for it. The adrenaline kicks in and I become laser beam focused on what's going on now, where we want this to end, and how to get us there using the most direct route possible.