« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »

December 21, 2005

commuting vignette #1: slice of life

It was cute to see a couple holding hands all the way through the BART station, not letting go even as they went through neighboring ticket counters.
It was less cute when I couldn't get by them in the stairwell.

Posted by spoof747 at 01:21 PM | Comments (1)

December 15, 2005

always in my mind

Its been a while since we last saw you blogging. What's going on?

Work, work, work. I've been wanting to blog after my product's release, but its been pushed back twice now and it looks like my pre-Christmas week will be toast.

That sucks. Why is it being delayed so much?

Because the client keeps changing justifications for why they don't want to take the product. First its one thing, which we go and address, then its a second, now its yet another thing that they aren't satisfied with.

So what went wrong?

A lot of things. Some of it is the same old same old -- not enough time and too much stuff to do in it. The project is getting more complex, with more clients signing on for our product, so we have multiple objectives in mind.

Did things slip on your side?

Sure, we're trying to just get it together to meet the multiple client needs but as I said, the complexity has increased --

What did you screw up on?

Um, well the overall regression suite isn't in a full state of readiness and the offshore team needs to have more of a structure to work around, since they are on their own during our night with very little support.
Also the various clients want information presented in their specific formats and questions to be answered at the drop of a hat. We're working on all --

So if you had started fixing the offshore process earlier, it would have made life easier for you in this release?

Ouch, yes, but --

And if you had submitted those Requests to your company for additional headcount earlier, they might have been hired by now and helping out?

Hey! What kind of question is this?

I'm you. You can't BS me and I'm the only person you can't hide from or justify or mollify or rationalize. So cut to the chase.

Yes that would have helped. And, according to someone else, I should be delegating much more than I have before I kill myself working 70-80 hours a week. But its hard to do that when the client demands a certain level of quality and you're not sure if the people you have are ready to do that. Also, this is my baby. This is the first time I have been officially a manager, as well as the first time, I've been in charge of this many people. I'm learning on the fly, so cut me a little slack.

Nope. Nice way to answer a different question than I'm asking though.

Damn. You caught that, eh?

I'm you, remember? So lets switch the subject a little: what's next after all this?

Well, short term, I have a ton of personal life stuff to take care of: getting the house in order, getting Christmas shopping done, trying to enjoy what's left of the holidays.

Aren't you still not even done with your wedding thank-you's?

No, but --

And how long has it been?

2 years. But I'm still doing them!

Yeah, sure. And will Naomi be handing them to her uncles and aunties at her wedding?

Very funny.

I try.

The preceding conversation was brought to you by a fractured persona bent on self-destruction, world peace, and free french fries for all.

Posted by spoof747 at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)

December 07, 2005

sums up my holiday season so far

Posted by spoof747 at 03:50 AM | Comments (0)