Today is a Dunn Bros. Day...

...or maybe it's a Dunn Bros. Week.

Ugh.

I like to treat myself when work is hellish.

At work we're fast approaching our release date (December 21; it's announced so I can talk about it). Now, my manager's the technical bigwig for the product line (he's chief architect) and as such he gives pitches to conferences and customers telling them what's great about the new release. Usually he gives a PowerPoint and a VMWare demo. The last few weeks two co-workers and I have created the demos. What a pain.

Seventy-hour weeks, working a regular day on Saturdays (and sometimes Sunday).

Time to vent/rant. I'm stressed out, exhausted, and burnt out. The only vacation I have left is the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas eve, and the day after Christmas. I can't leave early any day this week because we have another demo due next Monday. By the time I get home at night I have just enough time to feed the dog, eat some food, and go to bed before I do it all again. If I do leave work early I need to log on from home and do some work there, too. I didn't sign on at all yesterday and now I'm paying the price. There are approximately 30 emails from my manager and one of my coworkers discussing problems, workarounds, possible fixes, broken features. Argh. I'm starting to wonder if this is what I want to do for the next few years. I haven't been to a movie in months. I rarely have time to go grocery shopping. I eat out all the time (that's what she said). I've put on the ten pounds I lost a few months ago. I like being busy but this is extreme.

We just finished creating a demo Saturday for my manager to take to Vienna. We're performing triage and answering his questions. Then we have seven days to get a new version ready for next week when he's off to give the demo to some customers in Canada and New Jersey.

We're gonna need a miracle.

And I'm gonna need some more coffee.

And I better get a hella bonus next year...or some kickass compensation time off in December.

*EDIT*
The first demo is away!
The demo my boss gave in Vienna today worked like a charm (after some hand holding late last night). Whew. That feels goooood.