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Flash Fiction: The Day After

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Someone kicked him awake. Barely. He opened one bleary eye and saw the TV displaying static.
‘Who did you vote for? Yesterday. Who?’
He looked over at his wife who was peering out through the curtains, knocking over a beer bottle as he turned.
‘What’s wrong with the TV?’ He asked.
‘It’s dead. Radio, Internet, nothing’s working. Who did you vote for?’
‘What’s that gotta do… What are you doing?’
She didn’t answer, just kept staring out the window.
Finally, he got up and walked over, pulled at the curtain.
‘No!’ She grabbed the material out of his grip and pulled the curtain back.
‘What’s got into you?’ He was starting to get annoyed now. He took a firm hold of the curtain and pulled it wide open, glaring at his wife.
She stepped back, into the shadows.
He shook his head and turned to look out, then stumbled back, nausea threatening to overwhelm him. A buzzing filled his senses and from a distance he heard his wife ask one more time: ‘Yesterday, who did you vote for?’

Copyright Mark Anderson Smith 2017 http://www.dragonlake.co.uk/ You may link to this post from http://www.dragonlake.co.uk/2017/06/flash-fiction-the-day-after/ or share on a non-commercial website so long as the full copyright notice and this statement is included.

If you liked this story, or if you didn’t, let me know…

Small Steps

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When you’ve no time, how do you change your life?

One small step at a time.

In 2007 I set out to write a novel. I committed to writing 100 words daily and knew if I persevered, I would finish Fallen Warriors in four years. It took ten, but eventually, Fallen Warriors was published.

Small steps, taken daily, lead to long journeys.

Five minutes tidying a room, daily, will gradually clear the clutter.

Ten minutes pulling weeds, daily, tames your garden.

We can all find a few minutes each day to work towards our goals.

What you will achieve will be amazing!

A final analysis

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While I’ve been working as a software developer, in one form or another, for the past thirteen years, I know I’m still learning.

At the end of the project I’ve been referring to for the last couple of days, I looked back to see what I could learn.

Estimating. Originally I quoted 15 days to deliver the application being asked for. A week into the project I was advised the system being asked for was more complex than originally envisaged.

Estimating is an area I’ve had no training in. At college a lecturer once told us: when estimating, think of a number and times by three… I think there was a fair bit of wisdom in that statement…

I think 15 days was a fair assessment of how long the original project would have taken. With the clock ticking though, I felt pressure to give a quick response to how long the extra work would take. I underestimated it…

If a similar situation happens again, I should add the time it takes to carry out a new estimate to the length of the original project and make it clear that the original project will now be delayed by however long it takes me to analyse the new requirements.

I should recommend that the original project is completed as agreed (if a short term project.) Longer projects have more scope for flexibility and change. Short projects have very little opportunity for massive changes.

I should allow as much time as needed to work out both how much new work is required AND how much time will be required to undo previous work and integrate the new design.

While it is scary to propose an estimate that vastly increases the cost and time, it is better for everyone to be upfront and honest about this. The client can always decide to drop the new requirements. They may have delayed the original deadline and paid for analysis that is now no longer needed, but they would have had to pay someone to do that analysis and it might as well be me (or you if in a similar situation.)

Or they may decide to accept the revised estimate and in that case, as the developer, completing the project will be less stressful if sufficient time has been allocated.

Do you provide estimates for your work? How do you ensure your estimates work for both you and your clients?