Unprecedented

I’ve been working as a support scientist for three and a half years here at Goddard, and in those three years I have assisted with four different proposals, including the one that’s due Friday. In all of the other cases, the proposal has been furiously edited and re-edited until the last possible moment. I’ve found myself making the required 15 or 20 copies at 10 AM on the due date, frantically trying to find a working copier or searching offices for a working stapler. This only works because we are located in Greenbelt Maryland, a mere 15 miles (or so) from NASA Headquarters in DC where the proposals must be delivered before 4:30 PM on the due date. Someone from the lab would take the proposals for several people down to HQ, squeaking in the door at 4:20 PM.

Let me just say that I’m the kind of person who likes to have things done early. This last-minute-scramble drives me crazy. I would rather have the proposal in the bag with a day or two to spare, and send it FedEx overnight so that I don’t have to worry about navigating downtown DC.

This time around, I finally got my way! The only reason this happened is because Kim is out of town (left on Monday, so her contribution had to be finished by then) and Chris is busy working on his own proposals (though he, too, seems to be out of town, so I’m not sure how that’s working). So, I was able to finish the proposal yesterday with a couple careful read-throughs (and proofreading by Andrew), and a half-hour in front of the copier. The proposal is now away! And it’s not due until Friday!