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Subject:Someone who reads the manuals From:Garret Romaine <GRomaine -at- MSMAIL -dot- RADISYS -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 12 Aug 1996 16:28:00 PDT
In honor of Gen. Colin Powell (ret.), whose autobiography I am tearing
through, I thought I'd pass on his take on manuals as regards his favorite
hobby, Volvo automobiles:
"When something went wrong that I could not figure out right away, I would
retreat to my study in Quarters 10 and pull out the manual. I would sit
there, schematics of the fuel and electrical system spread out in front of
me, and through the process of elimination trace the problem. When I had
eliminated every explanation but one, I would go back to the garage and say,
all right, you little SOB, I've got you. I cannot exaggerate the
satisfaction it gave me to analyze and solve a car problem by reading the
book. For me it was like hitting a hole in one or bowling 300 for other
guys."
For what it's worth.
Garret Romaine
gromaine -at- radisys -dot- com
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