September 19, 2019:
I was so proud of my technical knowledge.
It came through struggle.
Deep inside fake-it-till-you-make-it: jobs I was unqualified for.
First accept the gig, then acquire the skills.
Typically through 100-hour weeks,
where I'd stay at the office until 9:55pm, to catch the final MUNI train of the evening.
I studied on the trains, ate and slept with books,
came in over weekends for hands-on with hardware.
Server computers, network backplanes:
whatever was necessary for the next promotion.
Until finally I took a gig on the opposite coast,
following where the promotions led,
returning from there eighteen months later knowing what I needed to know.