Apr. 3rd, 2005

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Had a wonderful time at Minicon, and managed to survive the week afterwards, despite 10 hour work days trying to get caught up. I had experienced a more or less Perfect Storm of bad timing (without any actual bad NEWS) in the month before Minicon. I started a demanding new job at the beginning of February, one where I was in charge of a test project that had already been under way for a while and was already behind because there was no one to run it. Work sent me to training for most of the week before Minicon, and to San Jose for a customer visit the week before that, so I was working 10-12 hour days on the few days that I wasn't out of town trying to get the whole infrastructure in shape so I could start formal testing (which I finally did last week, THREE WEEKS INTO THE TEST CYCLE). Fortunately I had done enough pre-execution of testcases before formal testing started that I have hopes of getting caught up in the next week. I'm really enjoying this job, except for the timing, which kinda sucks.

And then there was Minicon. Except that I never got it together to make up a programming database, I was mostly on top of the programming chores until the last month, when everything hit the fan. That, of course, is the point where you realize what a very good idea it would have been to have put all this information into a database instead of a spreadsheet. I had vowed to let every single programming participant know what their schedule was before the Con, but didn't quite make it. Lisa and I did, I think, contact everyone who was moderating something and everybody on more than two items, but I know we missed some of the panelists. I hope that most of them at least knew they were ON a panel before the con, if not exactly when it would be. Almost all of them did, I think. But we were definitely Behind during those last two weeks.

Still, Minicon 40 was a huge success, and I think Programming went off really well. There were a few times where panels that should have done better got starved out by too much competition, and maybe we over-used the same moderators a little too much, but for the most part it seemed pretty balanced. Sorry about the misspelled names in the Pocket Guide. It got thrown together at the last minute with no time for proofreading. Yes, Beth and DavE, I do know how to spell your names. It wasn't I who typed it up, but if I'd had the schedule finished a week sooner I could have proofread it, so I guess it was my fault.

Anyway, now it's SPRING!!! I'm bouncing off the walls, throwing open the windows and engaging in random bursts of spring cleaning activity in between trying to answer email, look for some comics somebody ordered, return phone calls, fold laundry, unpack from Minicon, and at least think about doing my taxes.

Got out my bike yesterday and pedalled slowly around The Lake (which, for me, is Lake Harriet). Did it again today, and it didn't hurt much. It's time to start guessing when the ice will go out. I'm guessing TUESDAY.

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