TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE BETA
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 Twas the night before beta and all through the house,
    Not a program was working, not a keyboard or mouse.
 The programmers stared at their tubes in despair,
    With hopes that a miracle soon would be there.
 The users were nestled all snug in their beds,
    While visions of QIOs danced in their heads.
 When out in the playroom there arose such a clatter,
    I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
 And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
    But a super programmer ( with a six-pack of beer ).
    He turned out great code with a bit-pusher's flair.
 More rapid than eagles, his programs they came,
    And he cursed and muttered and called them by name,
 On Update! On Transfer! On Build! On Delete!
    On Batch Jobs! On Closings! On Functions Complete!
 His eyes were glazed over, fingers nimble and lean,
    From weekends and nights in front of a screen.
 A wink of his eye and a twitch of his head,
    Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
 He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
    Turning specs into code; then turned with a jerk.
 And laying his finger upon the "ENTER" key,
    The system came up and worked perfectly.
 The updates updated; the deletes, they deleted;
    The transfers transferred, and the closings completed.
 He tested each whistle, and tested each bell,
    With nary a bomb, and all had gone well.
 The system was finished, the tests were concluded,
    The users' last changes were even included.
 And the user exclaimed with a snarl and a taunt,
    "It's just what I asked for, but not what I want!"

               -- Author Unknown