It's ten thirty on a Tuesday night, and I'm at work again. Why? Because somebody (who shall remain nameless) decided to use his eyeball to block a soccer kick.
Said somebody is supposed to be doing what I'm doing right now - updating and testing this software that was scheduled for completion last week. I'm supposed to be technically leading the Systems Group, not putzing around with code til all hours of the night, trying to make it do things it really wasn't designed to do.
It wasn't supposed to be this difficult. And it wouldn't have been - for me - if [insert name here] hadn't been so aggressive on the field. Must've been trying to impress someone.
But this is debug code inserted into a special build of the operating system to diagnose a problem that occurs intermittently during all-night testing, which means even after all this work, this code will never (theoretically) see the light of day. It's throw-away code, destined for the dung-heap when all is said and done. Assuming it helps us pinpoint the source of the failure which is keeping us from completing our overall Qualification mission.
Not only is it debug code, it's kludged debug code. The developer hijacked an unused function and rewrote it to peek into the innards of the software and provide a gateway for the application to see what's going on deep down in the bowels of the computer. In effect, it's the patient with the scalpel.
Yikes! Reminds me of poor [insert name here]. So young, so talented, so suddenly bereft of sight. His doctor made him sit in a dark room for three days with the damaged eye all anesthetized; couldn't watch TV, couldn't work on the computer. About the only thing he could do, was to listen to the radio.
I'd feel much sorrier for him if I was at home with my feet propped up, reading a book and sipping a soda.
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