For the first time this week, I worked from the normal offices - meaning a chance to rescue at least a couple of hours of sleep. Judging by the difficulty I had scraping myself out of bed at 8am this morning, I have no idea how I have been rising at 6am for the last few days.
Today was a nightmare.
The cold I have been carrying for the last two weeks has worsened - so much so that I considered not going to work today. The thought that my absence would cause a number of people significant extra stress got me out of the door.
You could say that the mission of the day was one of rescue. I returned from the client site yesterday with the smouldering wreckage (figuratively speaking) of a project that had taken months to build, and hoped to end the day having pulled the wreckage back from the abyss.
It’s difficult to explain software development of this magnitude. I recently wrote about “imagining the tree” as a means of picturing the complexity and scope of a large system. Where a botanist might study one leaf and understand it, today I spent most of the day with a small forest lifted into my arms, attempting to cure a peculiar cancer that had afflicted all the trees.
I’m not making much sense, am I.
By the end of the day I had put out most of the fires, and could probably be imagined stamping out the last few smouldering piles of leaves. I have noticed a few broken branches in the process, and once they are dealt with tomorrow I will be able to relax somewhat.
I did finish work on time today though, which is a new and interesting experience. I have arrived home and the evening is my own. A world (well… a house full) of possibility extends out before me…