Release
I've been quite enjoying the outside world the last few days - it feels like it's mine again. I forget every year what it feels like, but that's okay, because it means I always have a pleasant surprise when winter comes around again. I've wondered all my life why it's generally accepted that sunny days are good and cold ones are bad, but whatever the reason, it suits me well. Normally busy places become deserted, cold rain washes the chavs away, and everyone else goes home when the daylight fades, which is early. Then it's my turn to come out. Everything feels more open - heat always seems somehow enclosing, you can feel it around you, but in the cold, it seems like there's nothing between you and the sky. The light is beautiful; the lack of direct sunlight makes all the buildings fade into each other, all dull grey... and then you can really see what's behind them. The contrast between the dim surroundings and the bright blue/grey/yellow/red sky beyond is incredible. I haven't even really been anywhere, except work, but just stepping out into the street feels completely different than it did a couple of weeks ago. This is my season.
I'm happy with work again. We're not going to run any more trials until after Christmas, because it's getting very busy and Darius is understandably worried - I'm confident it'd work just fine, but if my entire business depended on it, I think I'd stick with the known option for another month too. This is good for me anyway - I've been maintaining two separate branches: a stable one that we've been using, and a new one with a much updated core and server. A few weeks break will give me time to merge them and make sure everything's okay, then we can start using it full time in January. The stable branch has had about fifty hours use now, with four tills and two or three phone operators working simultaneously, and we've not had any issues. The server service has been up since the trials started, and has served about 450,000 requests without any problems. I've closed the 'zero meal total' bug, and everything is looking good.
In fact the only thing that isn't 'right' at the moment is my sleeping pattern. My day appears to have shifted to run from about 3pm to 6am. It's not a major problem, but it would probably be good to sort it out a bit.
I edited my last post, because I read it back and realised how awful it was. I kept alternating between past and present tense for no apparent reason, and there were quite a few other mistakes too. So, I corrected all of that, but just to clarify: the meanings of any sentences have not been changed, only the wording, slightly. The comments have got quite interesting. Shanna made her usual comment about how I've got it all wrong, but also like usual, hasn't responded to invitations to correct me. No, I didn't write everything that was said, partly because I can't remember it all and partly because only a small percentage of it is important. I'm happy to add anything she suggests, though; I don't think anything that was omitted makes any difference to the story.
It's coming up to twenty past five now, so nearing the end of my day. I'll probably work a short day today, so I can try and sleep earlier before I get up to go and meet Adele on Friday morning. Suppose I'll make it up on the weekend. It doesn't matter so much now that we're not running Vantage - the pressure is off and I can work at a more relaxed pace. I think I'm done here for now, though.
I'm happy with work again. We're not going to run any more trials until after Christmas, because it's getting very busy and Darius is understandably worried - I'm confident it'd work just fine, but if my entire business depended on it, I think I'd stick with the known option for another month too. This is good for me anyway - I've been maintaining two separate branches: a stable one that we've been using, and a new one with a much updated core and server. A few weeks break will give me time to merge them and make sure everything's okay, then we can start using it full time in January. The stable branch has had about fifty hours use now, with four tills and two or three phone operators working simultaneously, and we've not had any issues. The server service has been up since the trials started, and has served about 450,000 requests without any problems. I've closed the 'zero meal total' bug, and everything is looking good.
In fact the only thing that isn't 'right' at the moment is my sleeping pattern. My day appears to have shifted to run from about 3pm to 6am. It's not a major problem, but it would probably be good to sort it out a bit.
I edited my last post, because I read it back and realised how awful it was. I kept alternating between past and present tense for no apparent reason, and there were quite a few other mistakes too. So, I corrected all of that, but just to clarify: the meanings of any sentences have not been changed, only the wording, slightly. The comments have got quite interesting. Shanna made her usual comment about how I've got it all wrong, but also like usual, hasn't responded to invitations to correct me. No, I didn't write everything that was said, partly because I can't remember it all and partly because only a small percentage of it is important. I'm happy to add anything she suggests, though; I don't think anything that was omitted makes any difference to the story.
It's coming up to twenty past five now, so nearing the end of my day. I'll probably work a short day today, so I can try and sleep earlier before I get up to go and meet Adele on Friday morning. Suppose I'll make it up on the weekend. It doesn't matter so much now that we're not running Vantage - the pressure is off and I can work at a more relaxed pace. I think I'm done here for now, though.