There is nothing left to do, and little left to say. Three years' worth of work culminates in this, a five-day span in which I will work harder at something than most people would ever dream of calling 'fun.'This database has grown beyond what any of our predictive abilities believed it might become. We expected a flat, two-dimensional set of data: names, addresses, phone numbers. What it became, though, was a central point around which everything else revolved. A repository. A tool for building working relationships, building teams, finding potential leaders and making a cohesive staff.

Somewhere along the way, we got organized. There weren't just people based out of different rooms; there were crews. After bribery with donuts, a Regency day crew appeared. Danielle gathered a Centennial day crew to her. The smartasses coalesced in Ops and, if we're lucky this year, the logistically-minded folk will do the same in Harris (our equipment room).

I am still terrified that my system won't work. It doesn't matter that there are months of testing behind it, months of gradual, feature-at-a-time enablement and crash-testing. Nor that I tested the Ops computer last night myself and verified that it worked. No, all of this counts for something, but the moment I'll know is this:

I'll be sitting in Ops, cranking through processing people as they arrive, getting the staffer behind my back to read over his/her information while I make quick corrections. If I have my wish I'll have my two compatriots with me, Chew Toy on my right side and Duckie on my left; one divvying out badges and shift-related paperwork while the other handles headshots and any other administrivia.

If that happens, and I realize we're just alt-tabbing between windows and saving off information and handling shift clock-ins as they happen, then … then …

… the unthinkable: it is done. Truly done.

There will be changes, and there will be upgrades, but this now, with all its particulars, is surprisingly close to the 'future' I envisioned three years ago. If it works as even I have begun to suspect it might, it means that I will walk into my new job next week with a light heart, knowing that I did what I set out to do.

Oh, and if this works, we are throwing one hell of a party.

If you know where Centennial Five is, then you know where you need to be.