Burned Out

I know I haven't really written anything substantive in a couple of weeks but things have been pretty hectic at work lately and I've been left feeling quite spent.

We just finished putting together an electronic version of a client's annual journal/yearbook. The way we planned to create it led to a number of issues when combined with the client's desires and the limitations of using two particular programs together. Every day we would work through one issue and be faced with another hiding right behind it as we tried to reconcile the project based on the solution to the previous problem.

Then, on Wednesday we had a "Eureka" moment and figured out how to basically start building the journal over again in a slightly different way that made all the issues disappear. Then, at the end of the day on Friday - just before we were to drop the sample into FedEx to the client - we go to print the face of the CD and the alignment is off and we spend a couple of hours banging our heads against the wall trying to make the new printer do what we want, perfectly. (And my level of frustration that had been building for the past couple of weeks and my total burn out left me feeling so wasted that I almost had nothing left.)

Long story short, I calmed down, we worked through it, and the final product is on its way. Assuming everything checks out - and it should, we tested it enough - over the next few weeks we'll be in the process of duplicating, printing, and packing 3,000 copies of this thing. We timed how long it takes to copy and print and we figure it will take us about 100 hours to do it with the two of us working pretty steadily.

All I can say is thank God for the long weekend to try and regain some semblance of sanity after such a stressful week.