Dear Boss,

You do not understand the technical nature of what I do - nor the amount of blood, sweat, and lack of sleep it is going to take me over the next 4 days to get this nearly impossible task done in time. I know it is not your fault, we have to get the data to the consultant in time to be ready for the huge series of public meetings. It simply has to be done and I will do it. That is why I get paid.

A little more notice would have been nice, but I recognize that you did not know what kind of effort this will require. It sounded simple, but it is far from it. At least you looked guilty when it dawned in you the kind of effort required for me to deliver.

I will, however, not allow this to interfere with my long bike ride this weekend. So who needs sleep? Oh yes, I don't want to hear about how to do quality control, with THIS deadline, there will be no time for it. At all. I like that less than the lack of sleep on the horizon The more tired I become, the greater the chance I make a mistake, and there will be no time for someone to check my work.