Well, at least something went the way it should have this summer

The F&Gs of my book came back today. I got to see it in almost finished form—the cover is light green with a swirl pattern and grass-green trim, like all of our other books. The insides are neatly ordered, and the pages smell like fresh ink, a little metallic from the press.

The tabs are in the right places, the signatures are in order, the edges of the pages are neatly trimmed. As soon as my boss gives the go-ahead to bind, we'll be in business. My name is in the introduction as the production manager, complete with professional-looking middle initial.

I have accomplished something. I was in charge of the project for five months; I put in hundreds of hours, and now I have something concrete and interesting to show for it.

I like this job.