Some analogies....

On the one "hand"...I feel like we are playing Hold Em sitting on a premium hand in the hole but it's not a slam dunk and it's finally down to the River.  Will the River give us the nuts and we crush the table or will it expose our weakness and crush our stack?

Or...perhaps some magic for you magicians...first stage is the pledge...or in our case the science.  Second stage (or in our case years and years of "stages") the Turn.  This is where the "magician" makes a dove disappear or something else extraordinary like shareholder wealth for example.  Things seem dire, uncertain, hopeless.   Finally, comes the Prestige...the "magician" pulls a rabbit out of the hat!  

Ironically there are similar terms when it comes to playing hold em vs doing magic, or, I suppose, advancing science.  

No matter the outcome...I remain mesmerized by the science in the hole, yet frustrated by the how the game is "turning" out, yet still hoping that the little white bunny mafically appears and runs away with all the chips!

LongAndStrong,

10BagR