So here I am, 9PM, sitting at work. I'm upgrading our server (which, of course, means it has to be done after hours). We're going from a 166 MHz 6x86 running Windows 98 to a 1.8 GHz AthlonXP running Windows XP. Fortunately, I brought my home PC along, so I can back up the server's files onto two DVDs as opposed to a whole bunch of CDs. Unfortunately, I'll probably be here into the wee hours: backing everything up, transferring the hard drives into the new case, temporarily relocating the CD-ROM from my work machine to the new server, formatting the hard drives to NTFS, installing Windows XP, getting the network settings right, and finally transferring all the files back from the DVDs.

And that's if everything runs smoothly.

On the positive side, during the format and XP install, I can spend the time playing computer games. Right now, though, I'm sitting here bored because my work machine has absolutely no good games on it. Should've copied MAME over from my home machine before I started the backups...

Update: 12:13 AM — Backups made (redundantly, in the case of the payroll and billing databases), drives transferred to new machine, hard drive reformatting. The floppy drives aren't connected, because they always return an error when the system boots. They're so old, they've got edge connectors. And one of them's a 5¼" drive. Speaking of old, the motherboard only has ISA slots. Which means I can't hook the bill printer back up, since both parallel ports were on add-in I/O cards.

Update: 1:21 AM — Drive formatted, XP installed, copying files back to the server. Hungry, but the only things in the fridge are a tub of Land O' Lakes "buttery" spread, a jar of jam which expired in 2002, five cans of Diet Sprite and a V8. I could make some Otis Spunkmeyer® brand cookies, I suppose. I should probably tell my boss how old his jam is. On the other hand, April Fool's is coming up...

Update: 1:26 AM — Found my boss' stash of Halloween candy. I presume it's from this past October, but given the date on the jam, I'm not quite willing to find out firsthand.

Update: 1:31 AM — Damn it, I know there's a stash of Doritos and Cheetos around here somewhere. He puts out a dish full of munchies for the lawyers before each depo. And there's only so many drawers in this office.

Update: 3:48 AM — I think everything's set up okay. Just a few tests from various workstations to make sure, and I can go home. Wheeee! Never did find the Doritos. I even looked in the filing cabinets.

Update: 4:14 AM — Finally finished after eleven hours and six minutes. I'd say it wasn't even worth going home for a couple hours' sleep, but somehow I don't think the Bluntman & Chronic T-shirt qualifies as businesslike attire.