Despite all odds, I survived the worst week of my working life. For various reasons, it’s inappropriate to comment in detail, but let’s just say I spent over two hours at a lawyers office Thursday morning, and another one today.

A key shift in the conversation:

Lawyer: Look, you dont’ have to be scared by me because I’m a lawyer.

Sam: No, sir. I’m scared because you are a Marine.

At this point everyone in the room laughed, including the hard-ass 600 dollar an hour solicitor who lobbed bombs at me.

Later I was told there had been real concern among the higher-ups as to whether or not I could handle the intensity of the questioning. But the bosses and legal beagles are happy now.