2001-12-18 - 1:14

Still got it, Donkey Kong

Work, work, work. Sunday, I stayed at the office for less than two hours, which was long enough to figure out that I had something significant to fix with my code, to get it half-straight on paper, and to decide that I wasn't in the right frame of mind for going at it that day. Instead, I played PS2 with Frank and watched The Simpsons (but the latter was a given, wasn't it)?

Today was dominated by work, since I made up my mind that I was going to finish implementing what I started to figure out on Sunday. I ended up staying until about 9:00, but I got it going in the end, so life is good. It felt like being back at school, staying late grinding away on code, with two notable improvements: the absence of other people and the ability to have some music going on the speakers.

If I put music on while working, I usually go for the quieter material and the instrumentals when I'm planning things and the aggressive music when I'm into the coding. Tonight's work soundtrack fell on the aggressive side of the equation: Rollins Band, Nashville Pussy, and Sage Francis (with Public Enemy for the walk home).

I'll freely admit that I have stretches at work when I lose interest and don't move very quickly; but I felt good tonight, after hammering down and getting things done. Sure, I'd be content if I never had stretches like the last couple of weeks, when I've been stressed out and putting in a lot of extra work. At least when these times arise, though, I'm reminded that I'm able to kick ass when necessary.

It was satisfying to have everything come together the way that I thought it would, after having to backtrack and rethink my approach at several other points on this project. Of course, I'm the type to get started slowly and figure out as much as I can before getting down to business, rather than diving into something, so I expect that things should proceed according to plan (as much as anything does, with this type of work).

If you haven't guessed by now, you're not getting anything else from this entry. Work, work, work, as I said up front. At least I have a positive reaction, this time. My day can be summed up in the image of me walking home through a light snowfall tonight, with the combination of "Shut 'Em Down" and the satisfaction of a (long) kick-ass day of work making me feel ready to take on the world.

I'm only twenty-four, so I'm expected to have some swagger, right? Next entry, I'll try to make up for it by aiming for self-deprication.

J.