Am I A Husband Or A Project?

March 4, 2009 26 Comments

So John just posted a new entry titled I’m A Better Web Developer Than Husband. He says that he is not meaning to compare his wife to a “project” but it instantly made me think of the metaphor. Then I flipped it around in the comments and wrote the following.

The project is you, Husband 1.0. Your wife was first attracted to your 1.0 feature-set. She got by with them at the time, and most of them were quite handy, but they’ve become a bit long-in-the-tooth lately. She’s become more and more frustrated that the promised 2.0 features have been delayed and deployment is behind schedule. And who can blame her? First of all 2.0 is going to rock. It will be more like Dad 1.0 in certain ways and less like Dad 1.0 in certain other ways. Second of all, usability requirements and standards have changed since then. Even so, it is important to keep in mind that these new features need to be done right, and that takes time. 

As a husband, though, I can relate to the fact that I often feel under appreciated for the 1.1 upgrades, service packs (SP3), and hot-fixes I have applied to myself over the years as I steadily work on version 2.0 of myself. That’s a real drag. Also, can you really be held accountable for the fact that so many 1.0 features are not compatible with parenthood?? I mean, Husband 1.0 was never even tested for that user base. No wonder it doesn’t behave predictably. 

In the meantime, just remind her that the wait will have been worth it. *If* you can actually deliver.

26 Responses to “Am I A Husband Or A Project?”

  1. dewde
    human3rror March 4, 2009 at 6:42 pm #

    PUAHA!

  2. dewde
    human3rror March 4, 2009 at 6:42 pm #

    you and i have like a blog-dialogue…

  3. dewde
    human3rror March 4, 2009 at 6:42 pm #

    hey, that rhymes!

    • dewde
      Jim March 8, 2009 at 3:38 am #

      i love it when you talk to yourself in other people's comments!lol!

  4. dewde
    dewde March 4, 2009 at 6:57 pm #

    *groan*

    • dewde
      Jim March 8, 2009 at 3:38 am #

      i know, what a card!

  5. dewde
    Chris F. March 5, 2009 at 3:08 pm #

    My problem is I need a better source control system that makes it easier to branch, merge, show diffs, and rollback. Then life would be trivial, I'm sure of it!

  6. dewde
    Lisa F. March 5, 2009 at 5:58 pm #

    you know… you could just adapt a google-like philosophy and just always advertise that you are gHusband (beta). Instead of being a full release, you're always doing little upgrades that increase husband usability and reliability. Plus you have built in chat!

  7. dewde
    John March 6, 2009 at 6:40 pm #

    This is one of the nerdiest things I have read in a long time…and I understood every word! Yikes!!!

  8. dewde
    John March 6, 2009 at 6:41 pm #

    I don't think there are any rollbacks in life…as with any of Chris' software releases!

  9. dewde
    Jim March 7, 2009 at 6:00 am #

    i think she is ready to upgrade…lol

  10. dewde
    Jim March 7, 2009 at 6:00 am #

    scary!

  11. dewde
    Chris F. March 8, 2009 at 2:02 am #

    She'd probably like to upgrade, but there's always a cost in migrating the old data to the new system. Vendor lock-in will save Dewde.

    • dewde
      Jim March 8, 2009 at 3:37 am #

      i'm upgrading my Spirit software with some Scripture Plug-ins

      • dewde
        Chris F. March 8, 2009 at 7:25 am #

        Whah? That crap's malware. I can help you get rid of it.

        • dewde
          Jim March 8, 2009 at 3:19 pm #

          ha! figuratively-speaking…thanks for the offer! we've all got our fair share of malware in our wiring. I also using another tool, ready, listening.

  12. dewde
    Kelley R. March 9, 2009 at 7:27 pm #

    Wow. The only thing funnier than the post itself is this comment discussion…

  13. dewde
    Archiemck March 11, 2009 at 4:23 am #

    Haha, great analogy! I've been through many GUI updates but sadly it seems I'm stuck around 1.4.2 as of recently

    • dewde
      Archiemck March 11, 2009 at 4:24 am #

      (and by analogy I mean metaphor)

  14. dewde
    theschu March 12, 2009 at 4:31 pm #

    Nice. I'm currently floundering through husband 1.0 myself.

  15. dewde
    Tami April 11, 2009 at 2:53 am #

    I am thankful that neither my husband nor I are the developer of husband 1.0 or any future models. I would have chosen to rewrite some of the system to fit my own use pretty quickly after getting married and would have deleted some of the programs that I originally didn't think were all that useful. For instance, one of my rules before we got married was that I would NOT be a pastor's wife. He comes from a long line of pastors, and I do NOT play piano! However several years into our marriage, he decided to get ordained because he was working with a lot of pastors and felt it would give him some credit with them. I was less than excited. MANY years later now, my father died this January. My Dad hasn't been inside a church since our wedding almost 12 years ago so there was no "pastor" to ask to perform anything. So, my husband performed my fathers funeral. The highly religious right side of the family couldn't complain because he is ordained, and the rest of us LOVED that someone who really knew my dad got to do the service.

  16. dewde
    Tami April 11, 2009 at 2:53 am #

    So, if I had done the upgrading, I wouldn't have the husband I have today! Don't count yourselves unworthy boys…your time probably has come already and will come again. I hope your wives will tell you how thankful they are that it's you standing beside them when those times come!

  17. dewde
    Anonymous April 28, 2009 at 3:49 pm #

    You're a husband AND a project, but definitely not a blogger! Get back in the saddle!

  18. dewde
    Mikes July 17, 2009 at 6:45 pm #

    "husband" and all the somewhat technnical terms just make my nosebleed. i'm single and i'm not a project. lol!

    • dewde
      dewde July 20, 2009 at 11:17 am #

      No worries. You have plenty of time to become a project. All you need is a Project Manager…

      peace|dewde

  19. dewde
    Christina December 30, 2009 at 9:37 pm #

    I think that the problem is that husband's may have been designed by the same people who gave us winrar… after the forty day trial runs out, you can still use the program, but the things it says to you are more and more annoying each time.

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