The End of the Story

I don't like being so self-satisfied. I know I risk being over bearing when I am.

Recall from Monday the tale of the sketch. I did print a copy of the sketch for Dr. Griffin, as he requested. Rather than getting it ready to mail, I decided to attempt a different approach. On Tuesday there was an all-hands meeting for MSFC employees with Dr. Griffin. I had known this was coming. So, I went to the meeting armed with the sketch, but not with hopes too high. I didn't expect the chance to approach him...but even if the chance was there, I had to try. The people running this were very strict about his time and asked people not to come down afterwards because Dr. Griffin had a luncheon speech and had to stay on schedule. Ah well...

But...a fellow went down anyway with a book for Dr. Griffin to sign; Dr. Griffin was the author. So I thought, what the heck, and down I went.

That's when I ran into the same public affairs lady that had given me a hard time about getting the STS-120 crew to sign one of my paintings. She was shaking her head and waving her hands at me. I told her I just wanted to hand this folder to Dr. Griffin. And that's when he turned to me. I introduced myself and he recalled. He accepted the folder and started showing the sketch to everyone. He was very pleased. Then there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned and a lady grabbed my hand and introduced herself as Dr. Griffin's wife. She said she was so pleased she had a chance to meet me. She loved the sketch, saying that it was next to impossible to get Mike to sit for photos. The two of them were just wonderful, very nice and gracious. So I pushed my luck and asked him if I sent him a copy of the sketch if he'd sign it for me. "Of course I will!"

This is the third run-in I've had with Ms. PR...and her eyes were shooting daggers. Who cares? Nothing can upset me today. :D As Steve said, "he's just a regular engineer like you and me."