A late night before an early morning.

I worked late last night in preparation for a pitch to save a piece of business. I won't go into the details here, they would only get me in trouble. There's no use talking about the hair-trigger panic responses, the puffed up pomposity and the ill-tempered ingratitude that got us here, the fact is we are here, and now's the time to do something about it.

Besides, as un-called for as I think this effort was--I look at is as akin to being asked to take a "loyalty oath," there's something fulfilling and rewarding about a pitch.

At their best, they're about people working hard together for a common goal. There's a goodness in that--akin, I suppose, to when we hunted in groups wooly mammoths.

Last night surrounded by cheap Chinese food, bad powerpoint and reams of color xeroxes, the good people emerged from the group.

Those on the periphery wished us luck. Others had the great good manners to remove themselves from the fray and not interfere. Fewer still sweat in the non-air-conditioned office on a warm Spring evening, working into the night, tweaking, printing, collating and collecting thoughts.

Of course, I want to prevail in all this.

I want to "win."

But regardless of the outcome, I know we have done our best.

And if our best isn't enough to carry the day, well then, they didn't deserve us in the first place.