Please do the impossible some more.

The short version is my "dream job" isn't dreamy.

While there are aspects of it I still enjoy, they are far outnumbered by the times I have to surmount Amazonian obstacles, make do without sufficient resources, and perform tasks that the guy the board fired last year used to do because they still have to be done by SOMEONE.

At the moment, the finance committee is putting together the year-end fundraising appeal--the one that needs to bring in enough $$$ to keep us open through the end of the year.

The letter is still being revised. The donation form/premiums doesn't exist on paper yet. And the schedule on which the board expects the staff to print, fold, assemble, label, stamp, and mail this puppy out is beyond unrealistic. By November 10? Riiight.

This is the most demanding week left this year. I'll be out of the office at a conference Thursday & Friday of this week--and gone Thursday and Friday of next week to run a regional symposium in Seattle. There's major symposium prep work yet to do. Do I forgo the outreach aspects of my job to do the board's bidding instead?

Success also depends on whether we can line up volunteers to help. Without existing documents or a mailing list, it's hard to say exactly how much help we'll need or when.

It's times like this that make those late-night ads for truck driving school sound rather appealing.