(Cosmos and Damian are the twin brother patron saints of chemistry.)
I’ve been doing Instructional Designer duty on this Chemistry project; that is, I write the instructional text instead of programming the on-line instruction. Last Friday I typed these words:
“When the gas reacts with moisture in the tissues, particularly in the lungs, it produces carbon dioxide and hydrochloric acid:
COCL2 + H2O produces CO2 + 2HCl
The hydrochloric acid then dissolves the membranes of the victim’s lungs.”
Huh, I thought, perhaps I should soften that last sentence. Then I walked around the office gripping my hair and praying for release from this project. The project itself is going great; the soldiers will be on top of any chemical agent they encounter; and as a bonus I learned Chemistry. But the subject is dark. Too dark for total immersion. (And this from the woman with gallstones, MRIs, and colonoscopy photos decorating her guest bathroom. I never thought I could max out on dark science but I have.)
Saint Damien and Cosmos heard my plea and it seems the bosses need me to program lessons more than they need me to write them, so as of the end of the month, I am back to being a soulless programmer. I don’t even have to read the words.
Damien, Cosmos, I offer unto you tributes of potato eyes, bleach, and ammonia.
4 responses to “Thank you Saints Cosmos and Damian”
Just ask the current programmers how much of it they have to read to figure out what the hell the interactions are supposed to be. I’m afraid the answer will make you cry.My one-pass QA often includes “Talk to the developers. They won’t understand it as written.”
And just to clarify, that is not a knock on the developers. It’s a knock on…. wait, you already know.
But bwhahahaha I am developing my own stuff Ive written! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Aw, dang. My fellow developers have SOLD me down the RIVER. They were clever and flattered me and said only I had enough balls to take on the IDs.