Friday, November 09, 2012

We also walk dogs

I read Robert Heinlein's short story "—We Also Walk Dogs" when I was in high school.   While the idea of General Services, where they could do arrange to do anything from walk the dog to convince a reclusive misanthropic physicist to develop an antigravity chamber, was fascinating, what really captivated me at that point were the characters. The high maintenance socialite, Mrs. Peter Van Hogbein Johnson, and Grace — the smoothly competent operator (I remain in awe of her ability to delegate), economically, yet richly sketched out.  I haven't read the piece in years, but I can still remember some of their lines ("I wasn't the blond he was weak for.."  "I was thinking of making you my social secretary...") and imagine Mrs. Hogbein's alternating whiny and haughty tones.

So when I got an email offering a trial for a company very like General Services, my curiosity was piqued.  I wondered if I could delegate a few of the tasks on my to-do list.  They won't walk the dogs themselves, but they can arrange it — and more to the point, they will schedule appointments to get my hair cut (and put them on my calendar) or other short well-defined tasks that can be done by someone with a phone and Internet connects — and time.  I signed up.  It seems more reasonable than to hope for a timeturner in my Christmas stocking.


1 comment:

  1. As our business grows we ponder help from outside this two studio row

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