Affinity

Posted by Joel Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:48:01 GMT

Well, it's been an interesting two weeks. I'm happy to say I like my new job. I feel very comfortable there already and like the management is very smart. The other engineers are good.

Unfortunately, not only have John and Malgosia Green now quit, but Tung has announced he's going to quit as well. I think the move is an odd one and is disappointing. Either way, the rest of the engineering staff seems pretty content with the place, and we're going to hire more soon.

I've been working on some new features and refactoring code in the process. I've actually become an advocate of organization, automated testing, and release schedules; my goal is to avoid the havoc of my last job a bit and obtain a productive work life that is well balanced with enjoyable time off.

There are a few things I've come to realize lately. When you come to work here they give you the book Getting Things Done. I'm reading it now and it's had a definite effect on my stress levels. I really worry much less now. I'd recommend checking it out.

The other realization is that programmers are often timid and this becomes their own downfall. Agreeing to the whims of management, who does not understand what's going on under the hood, is a fatal mistake for your own sanity, and the company. Coders will actually feel guilty when they secretly take time to clean up code. This is where lots of their stress really comes from.

So my new goal is to be productive and stress-free.

I'm also now staying at Aiden's permanently, as he's moved out to live with Gianna. I kinda like this spot.

This weekend I went down to visit my mom, sister, brother, and Ben's girlfriend. Ben recently moved to Colorado to be close to her in an effort to shake his life up and pursue something new.

We went to Montana del Oros, climbed amongst the rocks, watching the waves crash. The sun set. I took some pictures with Julia's camera and now I want an SLR.

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Aiden's place

Posted by Joel Tue, 04 Sep 2007 06:41:08 GMT

The last few weeks I've largely spent fixing up and stabilizing LuckyOliver to the best of my ability. I've also been looking at lots of apartments, primarily focused around the Mission district. The demand is so high that you will go to these open houses and there will be probably a hundred people going through over the course of the day. One of the open houses was only around for 15 minutes and was three hours after the notice was posted at Craigslist. Regardless when I got there it already had around 20 people for a $1250 studio.

So, I haven't found a permanent new residence yet, but luckily I have some time to be picky. I'm presently staying at Aiden's place for a couple weeks. He has two roommates, Megan and Karen. Aiden is staying with his girlfriend Gianna, where he has been living for the last few weeks. Both he and I start our new jobs tomorrow; he's at Publicis Modem. But anyway, if I need to stay longer I have another temporary housing option lined up, and in the last case scenario I would just commute from my San Jose apartment. Having done this a few times, I am fairly comfortable with the process.

As for LuckyOliver, leaving the team was very painful. The last day really brought out a lot of emotion in me. But now that it's over, life is continuing. I'm still working for LuckyOliver, keeping the ship running behind the scenes, as a consultant, until proper replacement(s) can be found. But, I have a new job now so I won't be able to dedicate the same amount of time on feature development.

Mark, a new Zurb employee, is presently staying at my place for the same two week duration I'm staying here. He just got here from Wisconsin and was staying in a hotel since he didn't have a place yet either.

I'm glad to be back up in the city. Tomorrow will be a big day.

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