Once upon a time there was a poor Programmer Apprentice named Cinderella, who worked for the Big State Agency (BSA). Cinderella had been hired by a Nice Boss, who promised to give her interesting work and to promote her if she did it well. But the Nice Boss was fired when a new governor was elected, and Cinderella had to work for a wicked Step Boss and his Incompetent Lackeys.
    "Please put me on the Neat New Project so I can learn the New Technology," Cinderella begged.
    "No way!" said the Step Boss. "It's COBOL for you! And get me my coffee!"
    "Write my status report for me!" said the first Incompetent Lackey.
    "Fill out my timesheet for me!" said the second Incompetent Lackey. "And be quick about it!"

   Cinderella was crying over some documentation she was writing for the Incompetent Lackeys when an unearthly light shone from her monitor.
    "That must be really boring stuff," said the monitor.
    "Excruciating," said Cinderella.
    When she looked up, she saw the face of a kindly-looking old lady on the screen.
    "What's going on?" asked Cinderella. "I thought they weren't going to give me an Internet connection."
    "They didn't. I'm your Techie Godmother," said the old lady.
    "Oh, Techie Godmother!" sobbed Cinderella. "I'm so unhappy! I can't get a promotion! I can't get any training! They won't let me work on any of the Neat Stuff! And they won't let me go to the first Joint Application Development session for the Neat New Project. Prince Consulting, Inc. will be there, and everyone wants to impress Prince Consulting."
    "Never fear, dearie," said the Techie Godmother. "I'll get you into that JAD session."
    The monitor screen crackled with static, and Cinderella's ballpoint pen turned into a pointer. Another crackle turned her legal pad into a flip chart. Subsequent crackles changed her clear plastic pocket protector into a whiteboard and her jeans and tee-shirt into a dress-for-success get-up.
    "There you go," said the Techie Godmother. "They'll never know it's you. Off with you now. The JAD session has already started."
    Cinderella hurried happily off.
    "Hmm," mused the Techie Godmother. "Seems as though I've forgotten something..."

    The JAD session was drifting aimlessly when Cinderella arrived. The snores were becoming audible. Cinderella swept into the room and assumed control. Everyone was in awe.
    "Who is the Mystery Facilitator?" they whispered. "She must be a Great Consultant."
    "How come no one has ever seen her before?"
    "We have so many consultants, no one can keep track of them all."
    Everything was going splendidly until Cinderella's digital watch beeped 5 p.m. Then something awful happened. Her pointer became a ballpoint pen. Her flip chart became a legal pad. Her whiteboard became a pocket protector. And her fancy clothes became a tee-shirt and jeans. There was a collective gasp.
    "It's what's-her-name!"
    "She's not a consultant!"
    "She's not even a certified facilitator!"
    "Tacky clothes!"

    "Techie Godmother! Techie Godmother!" Cinderella was pounding on her monitor. "My wicked Step Boss has fired me! I was lucky to get back to my workstation before they purged me from the system!"
    There was a faint crackle.
    "Actually, they have purged you. This is the best I can do right now."
    The voice was faint, and the screen was dark.
    "I guess I forgot to tell you the magic was only good until 5 p.m. We Techie Godmothers work a strict 8-hour day. But don't worry. I'll just turn that cockroach over there into an attorney and get you reinstated in no time."
    "What happens if a hearing goes past 5, and he turns back into a roach?" asked Cinderella.
    "Don't worry," said the Techie Godmother. "No one will know the difference."

    The Techie Godmother was right. No one could tell the difference. However, the roach was no match for the BSA's eight roaches, so the dismissal held up. The roach went on to fame and fortune in the legal profession. The Neat New Project was a catastrophic failure. The wicked Step Boss and his Incompetent Lackeys were fired, and the BSA's entire data processing operation was contracted out to Prince Consulting, Inc. Prince Consulting, charmed by Cinderella’s performance, tracked her down using the clear plastic pocket protector, which she had left at the scene of the JAD session, and offered her a job. She returned to her old agency as project manager at eight zillion times her former salary. The fate of the Techie Godmother is unknown.