Old Man and the Sea.

I got a late start on the blog today.

First off, my usual Thursday therapy session, was moved to today. So I got in at 9, instead of my typical 7:30.

Second, I got a three-part assignment shivved on me last night.

First, it was to be done in 24 hours.

Then, it was needed by five.

Finally, the third shoe dropped, and they asked me to have it done by 11.

That's ok.

I like doing stuff like this.

Tough brain power things--like the crossword.

They wake me up and challenge me.

Speaking of which, I got a call last night from my daughter Hannah, who's down living on a sailboat in the Caribbean, where she teaches scuba diving.

They had a storm at sea, and their dinghy broke loose.

There were 40 mph winds and four-meter waves.

She had to jump in and save the dinghy.

She jumped into the sea.

Made her way slowly but inexorably to the craft and strung a towline where the line needed to be strung.

But it broke loose again.

She did it again.

And the lines broke again.

Finally, she judged the risk greater than the reward and returned to her boat.

"That really got my adrenaline flowing," she said to me, my heart in my throat.

I think there's a lot of advertising in that story.

Sometimes, you have to dive in and rescue something.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts it floats away.

I think of all the titles that bounce off the walls in an agency like ions in the Hadron collider, the one that's missing is the one I really deserve.

Chief Fire Putter-Outer Officer.

AJ Liebling, the great "New Yorker" writer once said, "I can write faster than anyone who can write better and better than anyone who can write faster."

I'll concede, I'm not the best creative in the world.

And, to be honest, I don't relish supervising.

But when there's an inchoate mess of ideas and asks on the table, I can usually attach a towline to it and haul it in.

And if I don't, like my daughter says, I got my adrenaline flowing.