Wednesday - Catching up

Rise at 6:15, morning routine and to work by 8:00. A few meetings today, but they are important, in that we are nearing the end of several projects, and there is significant work remaining to be done.

For one project, we are over time and budget, but these are related to unforeseen technical and security issues. We've managed to work through them, and this week is the new target end date for the work itself, as well as an outside consultant. I had the direct experience in the meeting this morning similar to that point in the kitchen where it seems as if nothing is going to work and we're going to be late, and then it all comes together in one magnificent flash.

For the second project, we began with this being URGENT MUST BE IMPLEMENTED BY 8/31 !!!1!!1!one, but in the kickoff meeting things became a bit more flexible. Another group, whose resources are required, were never informed, and so didn't have available resources. What was to be a production system, became a test system to prepare for another implementation in October. Makes me glad to be on my way out. A discussion with the team leader about resources and other general stuff for the team. I tell him I'm struggling with caring in the slightest bit about how these project turn out. He understands, and says he's be having the same problem, and probably not doing as well as I am. This is comforting; I have days where I feel as if I'm failing to do anything of quality. It is good to have some outside views that I ay actually be doing some good.

Home to a napping wife and dog, so I head out to the deck to grill up the marinated chicken and read a bit of The Starchild Trilogy. The book is by Fredrick Pohl and Jack Williamson, two icons of the golden age of science fiction. I hadn't read much of their writing (I leaned towards Heinlein, Azimov, Cherryh, Del Rey). These books are definitely of the 60s (references to Atomic Drills and computer memory drums), but if you were to edit those reference to a more modern term, the books could have been written today. Still, it's fun to read these classic stories, if for nothing other than the context of the times they were written. And if you've ever seen a movie where there are "criminals" wearing an explosive neck collar to encourage them to follow the rules, this is probably where it came from.

Dinner (the grilled chicken with the last of the corn on the cob), watching some Eating Asphalt, a bit more reading, then to bed.