I know we’re off season but I’ve been working 10-12 hour days lately…really I have…and it’s creative work to the point of utter frustration…woe is me! Well, sortta…

This week has been devoted to programming Fiber College‘s relational database in MS Access.  Last year we got 60% “there” and had to live with it because the camping season started and guests and gardens took priority over computer fights.  At some point, when you don’t work for a company that provides a support team, you just have to believe you’ll make it one way or the other…I think the ability to trust the universe is key to entrepreneurship once you’ve done all the work you can…but I digress…

One of the genuine blessings of running a campground is the opportunity to have help from people who start out as strangers and leave as friends.  Last year, as the College approached and it was clear that my first (or second) profession is not computer programming, I started asking every friendly guest who registered for a stay if they knew anything about relational databases.  Yup, there were many, many blank stares and plenty of sympathetic stories that generally ended with “use the computer as a boat anchor and buy yourself a pad of paper!”  But persistence paid off when I stumbled upon Diane who said her husband “knew something about those” and she promised to send him to the office once their motorhome was set up…aren’t wives great!  Later that afternoon, Alan Kurkulonis came up and said “show me your problem.”  After I paused a moment to I figure out which problem we were talking about, I pulled out the laptop.  I described my creative approach to programming at length and then he gave me that look that said…”oh just be quiet for a minute“…so I just walked away and left him to my puzzles…well Alan, bless his heart, spent all afternoon modifying my flawed program enough to get us through the onslaught of last minute registrations.  He made us look professional when we met students at the registration desk.  I could have kissed him on both cheeks if there weren’t so many onlookers that might get the wrong idea (you know, sensitivity to sexual harassment and all).

Jump forward to March 2008.  I’m living the payback of not thinking about the MS Access from October until last week…spinning, beading, cooking, and reading were so much more attractive!  But I’m up to my eyeballs now and I think that there’s a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.  With the help of another guest’s professional contacts we’re going to have a full blown system this year that tracks classes, students, faculty and locations…all in one place for any of the volunteers to access…how cool is that?

I promise to post more pictures of the area and tourism related information by next week…are there any particular places you’d like to me write about?