There was this reported bug in the software on which I had to investigate and provide an estimate for a fix. After some cursory checks, I thought that the required fix was isolated and rather simple to handle. In the end I gave an estimate of 2 hours for a fix and left it up to the client to decide whether they wanted it fixed. Late in the day they gave me a tentative green light, so I got right down to it.

Well, the simple task that I was expected started to drag on. I spent a good hour just trying to figure out a different issue that was blocking me from making progress on the main issue. Two hours came and went and I still wasn’t finished. Sure, my original idea was implemented, but as I continued to probe things it became apparent that the issue was a little bit more entangled with other parts than expected. When I had put in my eight hours, I actually decided to stick around to continue chasing down the issue.

I was getting frustrated at the fact that things weren’t fully solved. For a while I was determined to get things done. Two hours after quitting time, I thought I had a solution, but I came short. By that time, all of my colleagues were long gone. I felt like I had danced around the issue, dotting the code landscape with snippets intended to fix things without really addressing the problem. Seeing as how it was already mid-evening, I decided to just call it a night and head home.

So, I guess I’m wondering why I put myself through that? While he was still in office, one of my colleagues told me that he had never seen me this excited about code in ages. Well, yes, I was sort of excited, though not in the elated sense. I mean, I was bouncing all of the place in the code just trying to find leads. I was a man on a mission. That’s part of it, right? The other part of it must be the fact that I said that it would only take 2 hours to do. Ha! What the hell was I thinking? Generally my estimates tend to be more accurate. I’ve managed to build a reputation for knowing the system well enough to give a good timing analysis. I don’t think I wanted to indicate that I had made a mistake. That’s why I was determined to finish it off. Well, after four hours of that nonsense I came to my senses. Thank goodness. In all seriousness, what’s the worse that can happen if I tell people that the problem is a little bit more entrenched than originally expected, right? It’s definitely not like I brushed it off. I gave it a good try, however, in the end the problem won out. I really shouldn’t let my ego play into what I do at work.

Anyway, come morning I will spend another hour or two trying to see if I could finish the investigation. Otherwise, I’ll just tell them that it’s bigger than I expected. I don’t need other people’s approval.