Ya Know What I Was Thinking?

Shooting at a Moving Target

Early start this morning.

I have a big presentation today for an app I developed. That makes me sound a lot smarter than I am. I'm learning the language as I build the thing. It's like inventing the wheels while rolling down a hill!

So, funny thing happened on the way to this point. I'm putting this thing together, and I say "Hey, I got what you asked for!"

"This is great," "they" answered. "But can it do this...?"

"Okay, give me a little while."

...

"Okay, here's what you asked for!"

"Great...but can it do that...?"

...

"Nice so far. Now can you make it do this other thing...?"

...

Ugh! It's been like shooting at a moving target. Don't get me wrong, I love this stuff; it's another form of creativity for me. But each development iteration meant the underlying structure had to be bent, broken, or overridden to get this or that done. And now I have it ready for demonstration today!

But yesterday, I was doing some last-minute QA. "Hmm... How can I try to break this thing to find its weak points. What if I try this...?"

SHIT! First try, I found the weak point! The ensuing scramble of yesterday to try and address the weak point made my stomach turn. I got it done, but not without a significant amount of genuine anxiety, today's presentation no longer able to be rescheduled.

So here I am today, a bit past five in the morning, getting ready to run some more last-minute quality assurance tests. (I'll start as soon as the new version propagates through the system, which is why I have a few minutes to blog).

I'm praying I don't find a thread that unravels the whole damn sweater again. Because if I can find it, you know damn well that's the first thing users will accidentally try to do in demo. Pray with me folks. Or at least pray I have a job at the end of the day!

Alright: break time's over; back on my head! (If you know the joke to that punchline, you'll chuckle a bit, I hope. Also, you're as puerile as I am, at which you should probably not chuckle.).