Release

The product manager finally called me back (he'd missed his planned flight), and the product was officially released on time!

Things are still busy at work because I have several smaller releases (plug-ins and such) for the next three weeks, but it's a long weekend, and I've finally gotten back to some fun. Interspersed with the Christmas reading, I've knocked a few more off The List: Catch-22 (deliberately absurd) and two books that have whet my appetite for traveling again - A Room With a View and A Passage to India. I also picked up Ulysses from the library, hoping that I like James Joyce more now than I did in high school. We'll see.

Back by Popular Demand

That phrase might be a little strong. Actually, I got one comment asking where the new posts are. Well, I've been trying to get a release out the door and haven't had much time for writing. As of my morning drive to work, I had logged 48.50 hours on my timesheet for this week.

Today is the release day. I now have official sign-off from all necessary parties except the Product Manager. I am 99% sure he thinks it's a go, but I want to hear him say it before I pull the trigger. He had a flight today that landed at 4:30 PM (2.5 hours ago), but I still can't reach him. I have someone waiting to release the build and another person waiting to release the documentation, and I'm waiting for his call. And waiting. And waiting.

While I'm waiting, I have time for a post. I made two new Year's Resolutions this year:

1. Exercise more. No need to explain this one, right? I made a good start, going to the gym on January 2 and 3, but since then have been too busy or too sleep-deprived. However, considering my back pain has kept me from exercising since September (except for back exercises from my therapist), maybe I can still say I'm exercising "more" than before.
2. Develop a rotation of twenty "healthy" recipes. I love to cook, but my general attitude has always been "anything with butter is better." I'm now trying to augment my repertoire with stuff that's tasty but also low cal/low fat. I'm doing better at this one; during the release push I've cooked a few new recipes each weekend so I have leftovers for lunch/dinner during the week. Some of them have been quite good.

I'll also get back to the "top 100" novels once the product is released and I finish all the fun books I got for Christmas. Mmm, new books. :)

Day one of 2008! Happy New Year!

I slept late today, the result of accumulated sleep deprivation over the past two weeks and the Diet Pepsi I drank at last night's party instead of the proffered tequila shots.

Although I have not officially made any New Year's resolutions, I did walk for an hour on the W&OD today. How dreadfully cliche New Year's resolutions are! Why should you wait for January 1 to make a change in your life? But here I am, jumping on the bandwagon, at least to the extent that I'm making an exercise plan for the month of January.

We'll see what happens...