A few days ago a new visitor arrived in our household, a brown “fancy rat” named Mrs. Frisby. Mrs. Frisby was found inside a Petco, where she was the “favorite” of the store. This “cute” rat would climb up and crawl all over you, and then curl up on your shoulder. With the arrival of “the rat” I have had to rethink my attitude towards rats, try to suppress my prejudices against those “rodent vectors” of disease, and think freshly. My observations of the “rat” have been quite intriguing.
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In observing the rat, I found that the rat is fastidious about cleanliness. Like a cat, the rat spends a good part of his day cleaning himself. Also the rat is gentle. Despite the sharp teeth on the rat, which can chew through wood, the rat will first “touch” the teeth on your finger to check if it is food. If it is food, the rat will take the food with its “hands” ... yes, rats have grasping hands. The rats are very observant, but also nearly blind. As a result, the rat will explore in circles . At each corner, the rat will lift his nose, explore the air, twirl its whiskers.
What does this have to do with document assembly ... You knew I was getting there. The typical document assembly project is one of exploration. Like the the rat exploring his new home, one uses all the senses. One looks at the “boundaries of the software”, exploring for weaknesses and strengths. Once these items are found, they are promptly exploited.
I will continue on the explorations with Mrs. Frisby, and return with her lessons.