From a chat with my friend Marla, edited for brevity:

Marla: did you work on the paper?
Mike: haha
Mike: a little bit
Mike: I came across a rather excit­ing prob­lem with it
Mike: I hope I can still get it done in time
Marla: :-O
Marla: excit­ing and prob­lem don’t often go together
Mike: of course they do!
Mike: that’s what research is all about, silly :P
Marla: >_​<
Marla: this is why I’m not a grad student

Yes, I’m hard at work on the paper for FOPARA, still, as the deadline’s been exten­ded. And yes, I have come across a rather excit­ing prob­lem, deal­ing with infer­ring size bounds from safe recur­sions (folds). I think if I can get a solu­tion to the prob­lem, even a rel­at­ively naïve one, for the paper I’ll be happy, though I think the prob­lem as a whole has a lot of poten­tial for clev­erness down the road.

From a chat with my friend Marla, edited for brevity: Marla: did you work on the paper? Mike: haha Mike: a little bit Mike: I came across a rather exciting problem with it Mike: I hope I can still get it done in time Marla: :-O Marla: exciting and problem don't often go together Mike: of course they do! Mike: that's what research ...