Groundhog Day!

That's right! It's Groundhog Day! I have a special affinity for this holiday because of some personal history. For most of my tenure at my current job, I've been working on the design, development, deployment, and maintenance of our custom software package. Originally, it was scheduled to be deployed in February 2004. As a result, it earned the name "Groundhog". (In fact, it deployed on May 20, 2004, a date which remains branded in my memory.) I have a hard time understanding how people can make a career out of deploying new software. My one experience was absolutely nerve-wracking. After putting it 12-14 hour days for about a month, I went into work on May 19. I didn't leave until end of business on May 20. I didn't even sleep. All that night was dedicated to data conversion and last-minute testing. We went live at 8:00 a.m. on May 20. My programmer and I then proceeded to try to be everywhere at once, making sure that bugs were getting squashed and users were being cared for. At last, around 3:00 p.m., my exhaustion caught up with me. I went into our single conference room, put my feet up on a chair, and fell into a deep sleep. My family came to pick me up, and my wife drove home. As we left the building and began to head home, I happened to glance out the window. There, by the side of the road, was a groundhog. I closed my eyes and slept. Happy Groundhog Day, everyone!