I am depressed and discouraged and exhausted. Jeremy literally stayed up all night fixing the forum, including some pre-existing bugs that were going to make it hard for us to get you all back online. It's all fixed, I've edited the FAQ and posted a million little notes everywhere to tell people how to get in to reconstruct their profiles. Ready to go.

Except now we're getting some fucked-up php error when you post, and Jeremy couldn't figure it out this morning and now he's in school and the goddamn board is still broken. I made him late this morning worrying about this, too.

My Supreme Court brief is due in two days (I asked for a two-week extension, they gave me a week), I spent all weekend and most of last working on the fucking board, and I really needed it to be ready to go and off my mind today. Realistically I should keep it down until Thursday, but it's going to keep driving me nuts. It's just one (actually two) little errors, both in files that were not changed and should be fine. Motherfucker.

What's ruining your week?

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Answers

The girlies are having sleep issues and are waking up about every two hours. I am very, very tired.

And it's making me sad that you are so stressed about getting the new forum up and running. STOP! Focus on your brief. We'll still be around.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Beth, we can wait until it's a better time to get the board up. We don't want you and Jeremy to get all exhausted and out of sorts over it. This is supposed to be a fun thing, not a giant albatross.

Take a week, get your brief done, get some sleep. We'll be here when you get back.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

What the Kates said. The board is supposed to help you relax, not add to your stress. The Bethadone is working fine. The new board can wait.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Yeah, what Kate said. We're doing okay here in the campsite, Missy. Don't make yourselves crazy.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Echoing Kate.

I can feel the injustice my of complaining about time suckage, considering how much less others have to begin with, but here goes: I am flexing to bank hours to take vacation in the beginning of September. Either I take a half-hour lunch and leave at 4:30 or my usual hour and work all the way until 5. Usually I'd do the 30-minute lunch, no problem, but I am conscious of savoring every last minute of my last weeks downtown before being shunted to the 'burbs.

Also staff were just told that in addition to moving to the 'burbs-- which we're doing over our dead bodies--we shall be required to move our own dead bodies. Apparently the moving company wants help.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Hey Beth, take care of Beth! We're much more sympathetic than the Supreme Court; we'll give you all the extension you need. We'll even love you in the meantime. You don't have to write your brains out or show us bodily parts, either. Go slay the judicial dragon, and get yourself a nice glass of sweet tea and a yummy dessert. You deserve it.

My gripe: this heat! Mr. News 4 Weather Guy said we're getting a veritable cold snap of 89 degrees later this week. And it might rain on Saturday afternoon, just in time for the Slapmister and I to be camping. Can we have October now?

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

I agree with everyone else, Beth---we can wait. You need to do your brief and Jeremy needs some sleep.

My bitch at the moment: I'm running late. Byeeeee

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Just to keep echoing what everyone else has said, but don't worry about the board. I know that if I were you, I would've just started a new one without worrying about saving data from the old. Luckily for everyone, I guess, you're not me. I also would be kicking serious ass at WestHost.

This isn't really a FUCK fuck fuck-type bitch, but I woke up an hour late this morning. I work from home on Mondays, so I'm just sitting here in my pajamas rather than being showered, but I hate the feeling of rushing around in the morning. I also worry that they won't think that I'm doing enough work so sleeping past the time I'm supposed to be online doesn't make me feel better.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Yeah, what they said. We'll wait as long as you need us to. We all seem to doing fine here.

My week is not starting off well. My very pregnant wife is keeping me awake at night. We're both exhausted and the kid's not here yet. Either she can't get comfortable or she's itchy all over or she's getting up to go to the bathroom or the baby's kicking her in the ribs or...But no matter how much it sucks for me it's gotta be worse for her.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

I would just leave the forum as is until after you turn the brief in and get some sleep, Beth. As much as I want to see it back again, we will make it through a few more days.

My bitch is that I found a unwanted present on my desk this morning. Another associate left a motion which needs a response by tomorrow on my desk and left for a two week vacation. This is a matter that could easily have been put off until after her vacation. Even though I already have more than enough to keep me busy, I wouldn't mind if she had actually spoken to me about it, rather than dropping it on my desk as if she has a right to assign work to me. I also would mind less if this weren't her fifth full week off this year, while I have yet to take a vacation. Covering her ass is very low on my list of priorities. But I'll end up doing it anyway, no doubt, because if I don't, the whole firm will look bad.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Just echoing the love, here. Please don't let this forum become more work than fun - it certainly is more fun than work for the rest of us. I think you should just shrug it off for at least a week. Think of how much productivity you'll be contributing to the world's economy, after all.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

See, you guys just don't know me. I couldn't have rested until I figured it out. And when I did it was too stupid to be believed. Jeremy couldn't figure it out because we have an exact working copy of the board on our home server and we weren't getting the error there.

But we were both too dumb to figure out the one difference between on the online version and the home version, which was that we had password-protected the online version. I got rid of that and the problem went away.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

I fell down three stairs and stubbed three little toes.

They still hurt.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Good thing, Beth - because all this 'go rest' stuff was going to make me cry - I want the forum back even if it kills you!!

(Hey, everyone's thinking it and someone has to say it. Curtis is snubbing us so I figured I would.)

Glad you got it figured out!

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002