This meme is spot on about my expertise in HP/Agilent/Keysight Infiniium Oscilloscopes. It might take me 30 minutes to put on the automation I’ve created to fix a specific issue, but nobody with just one non-functioning unit in front of them can figure out the right steps even if they worked on it for months. Writing the automation itself turns out to be the least of the bulk, and it’s still more time than one is willing to spend writing the scripts or performing the undocumented procedures manually.

Many of my know-hows were acquired to be used once or twice. I solve problems that are not seen before. I always start with doing due diligence researching what has been done, rather than jumping to reinvent the wheel. If I confirmed that it’s an unsolved problem, I’ll start inventing.

Once I figure out the details I often automate the workflow, document it, and move on to something else.

That’s why for consulting, I often quote high hourly rate for the first few hours and taper it down for more complex projects (keeping the project short). It’s to make sure we don’t have incentives to waste each other’s time and focus on solving your problem as fast as I can figure it out.