Programming insights to Storytelling, it's all here.
In 2017, I set a new goal. I wanted to read. I wanted to read every book I could get my hands on. I started small with the Alchemist, and the next thing you know I was deep in the Game of thrones series, reflecting on Xaro Xhoan Daxos's story line. I loved every book I read, even the ones I hated. They gave me new ideas I never thought off. Reading is like living, but on steroids. You travel far and wide, through time, through history, and even into ideas, all from the comfort of your couch. I really enjoyed reading. But when I looked through my little online library this year, I found that I hadn't read a single book in 2022.
Every time I hear someone complaining about how much CSS sucks, I have one question: Did you ever learn CSS? The words want to burst out of my lips but I stay silent and keep to myself. When I was much greener in this field, I used to ask the question. What I noticed is that no one was willing to change their mind. CSS sucked, it was designed by some terrible people, and now we have no choice but to maintain it. The reality is, you can say that about pretty much every programming language. Though people like to point out that CSS is not one. But do we ever set time to learn CSS?
“Everyone in the office agrees, you are pretty cool.” That's the text message I got after the call. At that point, I had the confidence to work for this fortune 10 company. Sure, I had already failed the technical assessment 6 months prior, but this time, it was going to be different. We exchanged phone numbers, we sent text messages and memes. We communicated in the off hours. This was not your typical recruiter interaction. But I did not expect it to end like a romantic break-up.
What's really cool is an AI you can have a seamless conversation with. What's useful is a service that can answer your questions.
When my wife goes out with the kids, she usually texts me when she arrives at her destination. But this one time, she didn't. I knew everything was fine, but it's a force of habit. I waited a bit then sent her a text: "You guys made it in one piece?" I got no response. Again, I knew they were fine but... what if? I waited a half hour and called. The phone rang and went to voicemail. Again, they often go out and it's not like she always texts right when she gets there. Plus she is meeting her friends, maybe she just forgot. But... What if?
It was already March of 2019, I had promised myself I would do my taxes early this time. When you try to file your taxes on your own, you can see the invisible hand of Intuit making sure the process is as confusing as possible. This time though, I'd hire someone. No more confusion.
On July 1st of 1941, wealthy American families gathered around their living rooms in New York city. They could afford to drive down Ebbets Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies were to face off in a game of baseball. But on that day, these hard working Americans chose not to. Instead, they decided to watch the game in the comfort of their living room. A luxury we take for granted today.
As a web developer, I am proud when asked about my work experience. I worked with a dozen programming languages and I can fairly quickly learn a new one. I use them both for work and privately. When I have new ideas, I open up vim, write code, test the idea locally. If it works I then quickly spin a digitalocean droplet to validate the idea with real people. All this just for fun. But from time to time, I am asked about Artificial Intelligence and my answer is not as enthusiastic.
When the pandemic hit, most businesses closed their doors. From the 405 to the 3rd street Promenade in Los Angeles, not a soul was in the road. The only brick and mortar in town were grocery stores. People invaded those stores and snatched every last roll of toilet paper. Other businesses awaited quietly while they bled through their remaining cash. Even the online world was not spared. Customers were not sure how things would play out, so they saved their money. Or reserved it for toilet paper delivery.
In 2017, I worked for a large conglomerate. When a company grows a certain size, change is never welcomed. “If it ain't broke, don't fix it” is the motto and software is the first victim. That's how you end up with core products still running on COBOL or FORTRAN. Microsoft still offers customized support for machines running Windows 2000 Server. But not in my company.
