Plus ça change....

One of my famous "numbered updates" today:

1) Isaac has a fever and has been sleepygrumpysweet all day. We've got him on drugs for pain and fever, and he doesn't have much of an appetite. He's been trying to play as usual, but has had to fall back to cuddling far more than is his wont. We are both sad for him, and thrilled to have a snugglebear in the house. Also, another tooth has cut through... oh that poor boy. It's good that memory doesn't stick at that age - we'd never hear the end of the "oh the pain" stories.

2) Bella and I went to BodyJam last night... but she again abstained from dancing. She told me she's happy watching me dance, and doesn't want everyone to see how she dances. I said that's just fine, but she shouldn't worry about how she looks - after all, look at ME dancing! She smiled... and said we could try again next week. Afterward, we got quiche from Patrick's.

That girl will rarely eat an egg, leaves the crust behind on pizza, and won't eat anything green - even Jello. But put her in front of a Patrick's spinach quiche, and you'd better pull the plate away when she's done or she'll take a bite right out of it. She's completely MAD for those quiches. Add it to Burritos and Tacos in the "Bella eats strange things" storybook.

3) So no sooner do things get mellower at work with the departure of my officemate, but things have gotten sticky: Turns out that around 1 year ago, a good 8 months before I entered the picture, a VERY key requirement was quietly dropped by the project manager, and somehow made it through the full contract negotiations and the purchase before someone figured out it was missing.

And this is not a minor requirement: It would require many hours of data mapping and some not insignificant changes to the software. And it's not in the contract, so the Vendor does not have to deliver it. And the affected docs are aghast at the discovery and are talking about pulling the software entirely.

Fortunately or not, my geekiness has kicked in, and I'm trying to pave a middle road - understanding that the vendor is not obligated, I'm offering a third path - a more minor modification that will get the job done, with most of the cross mapping to be done by yours truly. I think that my design is pretty straightforward, and it shouldn't be too hard....

But the Vendor is dragging their heels, not saying yes, and I'm pretty concerned that if they don't get on board, it's game OVER for them... though due to the contract, we'd be out a good 40% of the not insignificant purchase price. Well, I can lay out a path, recommend it, advocate for it... but if they won't meet us halfway, I don't know what I can do.

The doctors are truly happy to have me advocating for them by the way: The heads of Cardiology and the Cath Lab got me alone and asked "where did you come from? You're the best thing that's ever happened to IT over here" - The grumpiest doctors are now smiling and waving at me in the halls, and we have lots of laughs...

Indeed, I'm having a good time with this gig, but boy, it's NOT EASY some days/weeks/months. Stay tuned on this one.