Tradeoffs

The downside, of course, to working on a web system with 200,000 (potential) users is that when you screw something up, you get a lot of phone calls.

So, yeah, I'm pretty tired this morning. I've been ironing out wrinkles in a complex notification system over the past day or so. Coincidentally, I'm beginning a project that should overhaul that system, which, since digging into it again, sounds like a wise proposition, indeed.

The good news is that I worked enough extra hours yesterday that I can probably leave work early Friday to drive to DFW. Claudia's coming back from Romania on Saturday, just in time for class to start.

It becomes incredibly obvious when the students arrive back in town at the end of the summer. I was cut off four times by SUVs adorned with Kappa Kappa Gamma stickers, all within a few blocks of campus on my way to work this morning. That's a pretty good sign that the students are here again. Then, of course, all of the nearby restaurants and stores have lines out the doors by 11:30 in the morning.

As for me, I'm craving time off. Is this a big surprise? Never mind that I just took a three-week vacation. People keep coming up with interesting ideas for things to do. Paige wants to hike the Appalachian Trail, but that's a six-month proposition. I've been thinking about South America as a possible trip destination. Chile, in particular, seems nice. Hell, once it cools off, I'd love to take my happy new car on a road trip westward. Claudia has always wanted to see the saguaro cactus, and she was very disappointed that we don't have that kind here in Texas. Prickly pear, yes, in abundance.