I figured it was time to leave the office last Saturday when the temperature registered a sultry 91 degrees. But first I had to snap out of the heat-induced coma I was in all day because the air-conditioning unit decided to shut down.

Since I usually spend Saturdays doing strategic planning and catching up on administrative stuff, I was particularly peeved to have to spend most of the day trying to track down a service person to fix the problem, which was really an emergency since I share office space with an Internet service provider. Those servers were cookin'.

The guy we had a contract with was "on his way to a Yankee game" according to the person who answered the phone. So much for the on-call nature of his business. A few calls later, I was able to get ahold of another company, but trying to persuade that on-call person to come over on a Saturday afternoon was like trying to get him to jump through a burning hoop.

"Now, listen, I'll take a ride over there, but I'm telling you right now the rates are $75 the first half hour and $40 each half hour after that."

"Fine, when can you come over?"

"The other thing is that I don't wanna touch nothin' if your landlord doesn't want us to."

"Don't worry about that. He's cool with it -- I mean, he won't mind. When can you come over?"

"Also, if I have to stay there for more than an hour, it's gonna be a problem 'cause they don't want me to spend more than an hour."

"Fine. When can you come over?"

"Tell me something. Did you check the main switch on the roof? Can't someone over there do that?"

"We're entrepreneurs, we scale mountains every day. But we stay away from rooftops. When can you come over?"

"Well, I gotta O.K. it by the main office, so I'll call you back."

"Please don't hang up. Please. . . "

Well, the guy came over but proceeded to lecture me about filters and thermostat settings and some other thingamajig that not only went way over my hot head but that I truly couldn't care less about either. Just fix the machine and shut up.

It was that kind of week. Several days before the air-conditioning incident, I was at the office till midnight moving furniture with the Internet guys just to make room for a few more people. We share about 2,000 square feet, one bathroom, and about six parking spaces, and collectively employ about 40 people. To say it's tight is an understatement.

As entrepreneurs, we need to keep our heads above the bottom line and keep our hands in the dirt. Only then, when many years from now others are doing the trench jobs, can we look back and appreciate what it takes to just get through one day alive. And I bet we'll all yearn for those days, too.

George Giokas is the president and CEO of StaffWriters Plus, a specialty agency that places writers in temporary and permanent positions with corporate and other employers. It also provides editorial consulting work. His database includes 2,500 writers and editors specializing in more than 60 categories. His Web site is located at www.staffwriters.com, and you can E-mail him at george@staffwriters.com.

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