[cthonicthulu]

Love this whole thread. I thought I'd add a bit more for those who ended up in the same position I ended up in a little while back: if you're ever stuck in a position where you're forced to use an environment where you iterate so slowly that it takes days to a week to get from one error to the next error: take notes along the way as you go. Take notes about things which could be done differently if they weren't stuck a certain way. Not only does it neatly manage deadline anxieties, but it helps you build a map of friction points that are keeping things slower than you'd like, and it gives you the detail you need to slowly build cohesive and persuasive plans for improving the situation.

Of course, the optimal plan at that point could easily be for you (as it was for me) to leave the situation, but even so -- at least it makes that clearer!