I'm supposed to be working on a bit of volunteer programming at the moment, which involves migrating a client to the next version of an open source software package, and shaving some of the corners off the proverbial square pegs.
Except I'm not coding tonight. I'm mainly waiting for the second iteration of a massive folder/file upload to finish and hoping that the permissions are right this time. Not the most edifying or entertaining aspect of a coder's life, to be sure. But the recipient of this work wants to see the customizations in context of the existing version before we take a single step toward the actual "upgrade."
I'd be lying if I denied that I'd really rather be coding, but it plays up the fact that I'm not, technically, in the same business as I've been for 40+ hours/week. When there's a layer (or more) of team leads, account managers, etc. between you and the clients who use your code, you're basically in the Functioning Code Business. However, when those layers disappear, you're officially in the Warm Fuzzy Business. Big difference. So that fantasy about spending more time coding by going freelance? Weeeeeelllllll...I suppose that's the kind of thing fantasies are good for...at least until you can afford to outsource most of the warm fuzzy production.
For now, I think I'll stick to fantasies of a quiet, white sand beach with a big umbrella and a stack of books and someone to bring me cold fruity drinks with paper umbrellas. At least that fantasy might one day become reality.
