Cory, Steve, and I meeting to decide if we wanted to do a project with the paypod (cash management) stuff and folks. We (mostly me) have been reviewing documentation and making a list of requirements that are needed. We were hoping to do some quoting and making some decisions. We still aren't quite deep enough yet.

We started out the meeting talking about project management and some of our successes and failures. I had just come off another meeting where some things had been going off the tracks a bit. We spent some time going over some of those things and also noting the difference in some of the projects that are coming down the pipeline. Some of our projects are super simple and some of them are deep and super complex. Those two extremes (super simple and super complex) are completely different animals on what is needed and required to get them done and to do them well. I get frustrated sometimes because I feel like things just get dumped in my lap and then we have to figure them out. That technique loses its appeal really quickly. Not very fun.

Switching back to the paypod project. Cory was asking the question, should we or should we not take this project on? Yes, it is a paying project, but it's huge, it's deep, and we will need multiple of our developers to get it done. Because it deals with high level admin hardware integration, it may be over the heads of many of our normal web or cloud based developers. Hardware is a different matter all together. I'm super grateful that she was willing to ask those questions. Good discussion.

Steve wanted us to do some pros and cons to see what we think. Cory took a few notes but mostly we just talked about pros and cons. There are both, goods and bads (pros and cons). It's not just one sided. I like to be positive, but I've been feeling lots of stress and burnout lately. Just overloaded with tons of things trying to grab and/or fight for my time. I was venting and telling both Cory and Steve some of my thoughts and feelings. It may sound weak, but it's real. There are tons of hidden stresses and little things seem to keep adding up. It can be timelines, promises, funding, number of projects, complexity of those projects, and million other things. Sometimes we need to vent and express where we are at and how we are feeling. It may make you feel weak or unable, but it is real and part of life.

One of the pros that Steve was talking about was getting into AI (artificial intelligence) and using some form of robots both now and into the future. Interesting angle. The paypod using is basically a cash management robot of sorts. As we keep going, we may see more and more hybrid type solutions - browser, web/cloud, software, hardware, combos.

We talked about limiting our scope and walking through things one step at a time vs trying to quote out the whole project, which is a pretty big lift, even just to quote it out or give a full estimate. We have to get a little bit deeper first. Another thing that we talked about was letting them (the paypod folks - as a virtual client) help to lead us what they want next vs just our thoughts and ideas. If we were funding this project on our own right now, it would just sit. It's too big of a lift right this minute. However, if they want to fund it, we can and are willing to keep taking baby steps to get it done and chip away at it. We already have 4 phases that we know of right now with this project.

Steve wants the first round, even before we quote anything, to be a quick knock, knock with the machine or simulator. We can then go from there.

These are some other notes from our meeting:

- What about maintenance? Who does what and who will pay for what? We need to define that.

- Go step-by-step and literally take baby steps

- Help to prep the project and dashboards with fake or dummy data. Give our guys and gals a visual of what we are looking for vs just trying to explain it through words.

- Lean on their developer guys - we already have a point of contact that will and should be willing to help us on their side. That could be huge. We don't want to push too hard, but we do want to get their guidance and lean on them where we can. They are the masters of their stuff and they are the ones who want this integration.

- Cory and I (and Steve) will keep working on the project management stuff to watch, control, and manage this project. It will take all three of us on this one. Steve has some vison of what he wants, I've done a bunch of research and initial checking things out, and Cory knows what the the other developers are up to (with their project loads).

- We want to make this a value add on vs a deep dark spot (good job/bad job).

- Making good decisions and it's ok to say no.

- Helping and letting Cory bring in the angles that she is playing at - asking hard questions and being honest about yes, no, possible, don't even think about it, or whatever those angles might be. We are super grateful for her help in that piece of the puzzle.

The last random side note is that Steve is a salesperson or good sales man - He was literally pitching Cory and I and getting us to buy in to his vision and his ideas. I can't tell you how many times he has done that. I will virtually be on the side of a cliff (some crazy gnarly decision) and Steve is able to talk me off the virtual cliff and gives me just enough to keep going or take some other angle on the project or task. That is both good and bad. I'm grateful for his help, but sometimes after the fact, I think to myself, how did I let him talk me into this (again)? Just being silly (kinda). Steve we love you!