Picture this: we’re developing an application that calculates residential heating and cooling loads, for building code purposes. We’re a week or so away from releasing this puppy after 18+ months of proverbial blood, sweat and tears. For testing purposes I like to use known addresses, my own home, some friends’ homes, and a few addresses from popular culture, say the House of the Rising Sun. I’ve used 461 Ocean Blvd many times because it’s a real house, works good for testing, and it’s in Florida, a big market for us. I’ve probably used the address 40+ times in testing.

Today one of our developer happens to be listening to Melissa on Spotify which has a special meaning for me because an Allman Brothers & Lynyrd Skynyrd concert was the reason I fell in love, got married and moved to Peru.

I’m not all into popular culture but Duane Allman was close to Eric Clapton and together they revolutionized electric guitar playing, 2 lead guitars complimenting each other instead of the traditional rhythm + lead guitar. While “Melissa” was playing in the background our newest developer needed an address for testing. The subconscious works in funny ways.

Developer girl: “Which address?”

Me: “Eric’s house, 461 Ocean Blvd”

Developer girl: “OK. Is this Eric guy like a singer or something?”

Me: “I quit my job, moved to Peru, got a wife, 3 kids and a dog because I went to an Allman Brothers concert and you’re asking me if Eric is a singer or something ?!?”