catching up.
I haven't done much since Pennsic, mostly because I've been so busy at work, trying to get this software project working.
The last few weeks have been hell. I worked some 14-hour days in there, trying to get this software working and reliable. We did, in fact, deliver the software on Friday -- it was my RDO, and I didn't want to be there, but I worked 7 hours anyway. This is only a partial functionality testing version, but the parts that are actually included work quite well. Which surprised a lot of people.
Having worked until about 3pm Friday, after 2 hours of sleep Thursday night, I got on the PA turnpike westbound. At 5, I pulled off at the Lawn service plaza, which was pretty full, parked as far from the building as I could, cranked the seat back, and fell asleep about ten seconds later. Woke up an hour later .. and there were no other cars in the lot. Zero.
Started the car, merged into .. nothing. No cars on the road, either. In fact, the next ten or fifteen minutes to the Harrisburg East interchange, I was absolutely the only car heading Westbound. After that interchange, traffic was light the entire way out to Pittsburg.
I found out Sunday that there was an accident at the previous interchange (Lebanon-Lancaster) at about the same time I was falling asleep, which explains why things cleared out like that. But it was a surreal moment laid on top of feeling surreal thanks to lack of sleep followed by not enough sleep.
Saturday was shopping and board games with mg4h and spouse, demonlurking and wanderingpixie. Sunday was ...I forget what and BMDL fighter practice. Monday was snuggling and the drive home -- with much more normal traffic. A very relaxing weekend, lots of not thinking about work and letting go of stress and all that.
Tuesday. Ah, Tuesday. I woke up sick and called out of work. If it's the same thing that wanderingpixie and demonlurking have, I got a really mild case. No sore throat, mild fever, BAD earache, and only lasted a day. I also headed over to my colo, where the mail/web server is kept, and determined that it's been down for over two weeks because .. it was turned off. Note that I had asked them to reboot it about four times. Thankfully, I don't pay for this 'service'.
Today, I got to work to find out that our software/hardware delivery Friday was "unacceptable". We went and read that person the riot act and proved that the system worked OK, and explained to them that no, unless you give us money, we are NOT delivering hardware to you that you never gave to us. And, while you're at it, you can't make up new delivery criteria and not tell us about them until we show up with the delivery, then fail us based on this criteria. This is how lawsuits are born.
Thankfully, cooler heads than this idjit prevailed.
The last few weeks have been hell. I worked some 14-hour days in there, trying to get this software working and reliable. We did, in fact, deliver the software on Friday -- it was my RDO, and I didn't want to be there, but I worked 7 hours anyway. This is only a partial functionality testing version, but the parts that are actually included work quite well. Which surprised a lot of people.
Having worked until about 3pm Friday, after 2 hours of sleep Thursday night, I got on the PA turnpike westbound. At 5, I pulled off at the Lawn service plaza, which was pretty full, parked as far from the building as I could, cranked the seat back, and fell asleep about ten seconds later. Woke up an hour later .. and there were no other cars in the lot. Zero.
Started the car, merged into .. nothing. No cars on the road, either. In fact, the next ten or fifteen minutes to the Harrisburg East interchange, I was absolutely the only car heading Westbound. After that interchange, traffic was light the entire way out to Pittsburg.
I found out Sunday that there was an accident at the previous interchange (Lebanon-Lancaster) at about the same time I was falling asleep, which explains why things cleared out like that. But it was a surreal moment laid on top of feeling surreal thanks to lack of sleep followed by not enough sleep.
Saturday was shopping and board games with mg4h and spouse, demonlurking and wanderingpixie. Sunday was ...I forget what and BMDL fighter practice. Monday was snuggling and the drive home -- with much more normal traffic. A very relaxing weekend, lots of not thinking about work and letting go of stress and all that.
Tuesday. Ah, Tuesday. I woke up sick and called out of work. If it's the same thing that wanderingpixie and demonlurking have, I got a really mild case. No sore throat, mild fever, BAD earache, and only lasted a day. I also headed over to my colo, where the mail/web server is kept, and determined that it's been down for over two weeks because .. it was turned off. Note that I had asked them to reboot it about four times. Thankfully, I don't pay for this 'service'.
Today, I got to work to find out that our software/hardware delivery Friday was "unacceptable". We went and read that person the riot act and proved that the system worked OK, and explained to them that no, unless you give us money, we are NOT delivering hardware to you that you never gave to us. And, while you're at it, you can't make up new delivery criteria and not tell us about them until we show up with the delivery, then fail us based on this criteria. This is how lawsuits are born.
Thankfully, cooler heads than this idjit prevailed.