Busy morning today. I had an appointment with the oral hygienist this morning so started working from home at 6:30. We have a new mini project coming up and an inistal estimate was required. I hate doing those. If you have a 2 month project for 2 or more people then you can be out by a couple of days, or hit slight issues and you still come out around on time.
If you have a project which is going to take one person 2 weeks then 1 day extra already equals a 10% overrun. Hohum. It's nice to know that I was doing the erstimate knowing who was going to do the coding, only to find out yesterday after my chat with my boss that it's all change. I have no idea if the estimate is sufficient now... We'll find out in a couple of weeks I guess.
This afternoon I have to get back to trying to complete a project that was semi completed by a colleague before he went on vacation. He owes me alcholhol when he gets back - it's terrible... (Technically brilliant, but coding practices are largely non existent and I've had to rewrite 60% of it so far to get it working in a manner that I don't mind my name being attached to too much...)
And the hygienist... Ow. I spent most of the time trying to medidate using breathing as the electric shocks from where she was scraping my teeth were flying down my body. And she found two possible holes so I now have to make a semi emergency appointment to get the dentist to check, and if need be filled. And a car full of special dental care products to try and stop the ceiling climbing next time. And a 130 pound hole in the bank balance for the pleasure.
Oh well only 3 and a bit hours and I can hit the road again... I was supposed to be skating tonight, but seeing as my foot / anckle has not stopped hurting (well that's not true not using it and - weirdly - wearing my stilletos stop the pain but neither is really doable at work or whilst skating) since I ran 6kms on Sunday I may just go for a cycle instead.
Ah, moving goalposts on project estimates, know it well. Why I shamelessly overestimate when asked.
ReplyDeleteReading your description I am glad my teeth are in rude health.
Before I retired, I planned electrical and instrumentation projects. Estimating material costs was easy, but estimating labor was not. I never knew if the job was going to be assigned to someone conscientious and efficient, or to an incompetent laggard, so I always added at least another 30% and sometimes 50% to the estimate to avoid overruns.
ReplyDeleteIsn't going to the dentist fun? Just kidding of course. I need to have a broken crown replaced, and I just found out that my cheap insurance company is only willing to pay $400 of the $1100 cost. An unbelievable sum to repair a measly little bicuspid.
Melissa XX
I always overestimate - but again on short projects you can over estimate and still come unstuck really quickly. Oddly enough people complain more with a 50% overrun on a 5 day project than a 10% overrun on a 100 day project - even though there is less time lost.
ReplyDeleteActually I don't mind my dentist too much (though not looking forward to the fillings I may need), but the hygienist visits are always nasty. I joked in the office this afternoon that hygienists and S&M mistresses must come from the same type of people. Someone pointed out that if you ask an S&M Mistress to stop she will - that doesn't work with the hygienist :)
If she starts asking, "Is it safe?" while probing those sensitive nerve endings, it will be a safe bet that she is a genuine sadist. :-D
ReplyDeleteMelissa XX