We all knew we’d be back. It was always going to happen.

So today was a day of “what ifs” and constant replanning. Moving dates around and wondering if we brought in more resources things would fall into place and, magically, everyone would be happy.

All that really happened was that it became more and more obvious that I’m not a project manager and that I really don’t know my way around Project and, perhaps, the plans are as good as we can get and despite all the prodding and pulling these are the dates we are stuck with.

The conference call did nothing to change that view. The Project Manager we have been working with appeared, made some noises and disappeared. We agreed on some way forward and sat back after the call wondering how we would do this and all the other things we hadn’t done all week.

At least lunch went well. A warm, smiling welcome at the Thai restaurant, a table at the back near the bar and close to the family sitting and talking with their children running around happily. Sometimes it would be nice to be five again, exploring a world and having no cares.

This evening it hit me. I crawled, tired, to the sofa and let whatever was on the TV wash over me. Sure, we did some good work and we have sorted out a real mess but at what price ? How long can we continue to do these hours and take on more and more ?