Doldrums

Each semester has a certain rhythm in terms of support needs. A couple of weeks before the semester begins, I start getting showered with support requests as people need resources set up for the beginning of the semester. Once the students are back, they need support as well, and for the first couple of weeks, I'm often constantly busy helping one person, while another person is standing in line waiting for support, and a third person is coming in the door with an emergency. Things slack off just a bit until mid-semester, when everyone who was supposed to get something set up and working at the beginning of the semester, finally gets around to solving their problems. At the end of the semester, there is a similar peak of requests, as people try to get things wrapped up. In between, however, there is a period of time when everything is set up and running and people don't much need me: a kind of doldrums. During these times, I can often focus on actually getting things done without constant interruptions. That's not how its worked out this year, however. There are so many large-scale projects stacked up that, as soon as the regular support needs have gone down, all those other projects are coming up: our need for an authentication system, a calendar server, migrating to specify, the clark website, migrating the servers, switching resources from msql to mysql, the department website, ISB support, etc, etc, etc.

In spite of that, I've managed to put in some time on the Participatory Virus Infection Simulation. You can't actually register for it yet, but I'm hoping that soon it will be functional. I need to build an action for the regcode module so that when people register, it will build 10 more registration codes for them to infect other people with. Or maybe it should make one code that's good for 10 other registrations -- that might work too. Then I need to polish the interface and directions so that it's clear what people need to do.

Today, however, I'm taking off enough time to go have lunch with Buzz. It's good to have friends.