Monday, June 10

Monday promised to be intense. The calendar entries on the supply chain architect s Palm Pilot read: Meet with architect @ home 7:30 a.m., All day meeting @ Building 1 8:30 a.m. start, Dinner @ home 8:00 p.m., Call team in Singapore 10:00 p.m.

The house renovation was going to be spectacular! He and his wife had decided to spend some real money, gut the interior of the kitchen, and rebuild it to suit their life style.

Tom, the house architect, arrived right on time with a tray of three cups of steaming coffee. Good morning. I ve brought the coffee. It s going to be another great day weatherwise. I wanted to show you and your wife the layout for the new kitchen space.

Thanks, Tom, come on inside. I wouldn t know about the weather. I ll be stuck inside in a conference room all day, he said. Taking a coffee, he would have burnt his hand had it not been for the corrugated cardboard wrapper Starbucks always placed around its cups. My wife won t be joining us this morning.

That s too bad. Tom spread fresh blueprints over the old table. The table and two chairs were the only furniture left in the gutted cavity of the original kitchen. The back of the house was exposed, with only a sheet of heavy plastic keeping out the elements. I think you re going to like this design. It really meets your wife s needs for more cabinet space without the added cost of extending the room beyond...