Project Madness

So much for my resolution to get out here and post more!  I picked a bad time to return to trying and posting regularly. Things at work are extremely busy (even at this moment I am way behind the curve).  I've been working sixty plus hour weeks and it is taking it's toll.  I did manage to get some recovery done over the weekend by taking a pair of long naps (three or four hours) each day and making the effort to just simply relax.

It helped, but Monday is always a trying day and I ran out of motivation about six hours into the day. I've got about sixteen interrelated projects running right now, all in support of a much larger project.  No project in and of itself is that vexing, it is just the sheer volume.  One of the challenges we face is trying to hit a constantly moving target - as an organization we struggle to get requirements locked down and have to constantly redesign as we move.  It makes for agility, but as a company we're not appropriately staffed or managed for that level of agility.  It is primarily the fault of upper management, who is rather clueless on what is required to integrate software platforms.

Well, I must have needed that little vent.  Outside of work everything is going well enough - granted it is because there isn't a lot of "outside of work" right now. Each day I make some small headway in personal things, so it counts.

All of this has me contemplating retirement sooner rather than later.  I was just daydreaming of sitting on a porch somewhere in South Dakota and sipping a cold beer.  It would be nice to have control of my days again.  Of course, the way it works, once I get through the project madness and things fall back into some semblance of normality that urge to retire will recede somewhat.  Realistically speaking I'd like to keep working for a year or two more to build up my cash cushion for unexpected events.  Income wise, I could go now, and I do have a cash cushion. I'd just like for it to be a little more cushiony!

I keep thinking about starting a new blog, a little more focused then this one.  It's an idea that I have been toying with for a while.  I reckon I will keep toying with it.