I wasn't in the "ORMs suck" mindset, but rather I just didn't want to take the time to integrate it since it was "just a small little project for a few people".

I wasn't in the "ORMs suck" mindset, but rather I just didn't want to take the time to integrate it since it was "just a small little project for a few people". But as word got around, more people got interested in it and wanted their own fields and data added. It was a case where premature optimizing would have been a good idea.