Troy McClureI wear a lot of hats these days and normally I don’t think about it much. Sure I have three different business cards, but rarely does it dawn on me what that means because rarely am I wearing all three hats at once.

Well, a few days ago, I was over at the PalmGear offices meeting with a few folks. As is usually the case when I’m there, I get introduced to other people that I haven’t met yet (the place is really hopping). That’s when it gets a little confusing. First off, I’m most known there as the guy who runs InterPUG. Not that that is a big deal or anything, just that’s how I’m normally introduced. However, I normally bring up that I also run NPUG because these guys live in Nashville, so I’d love for them to come to our meetings – not as PalmGear employees per se, but just as fellow Palm OS enthusiasts. Then if any of the folks I meet are in their IT department, I usually bring up the fact that I run a small IT consulting firm, because I’d love to support their Intranet. There’s even an occasion or two where I’ve brought up the Palm OS User Council, so you might imagine how confusing it is when it’s time to beam someone my business card. 😛

The other day though, I was introduced to Alan Hecht for the first time and both of us were kind of searching for where we knew each other. That’s when I suddenly had a flash of the Simpson’s character Troy McClure. “Hi, I’m Michael Ashby. You might know me from such web sites as InterPUG, the home of Palm User Groups, or NPUG…” If you know the character, you know what I mean.

Turns out Alan, up until recently, was the co-chairman of PhilaPUG and we quickly put two and two together. He now works at PalmGear, but I didn’t catch in what capacity. It was just so funny to me though. Normally I relate more to Homer than any other character on the Simpsons. To find myself suddenly channeling Troy McClure was a real hoot.