Jeff

annual resolution post

So every year, I try to come up with some big resolutions for the new year. Every time after that I begin to fail at most of the resolutions, but the key here is most of them. This past year, Kim and I decided to try to overhaul our diet by limiting our intake of beef to once a week. This was a mix of both diversifying our diet and decreasing our red meat intake. We stopped paying attention around September, but overall (I, at least) have continued to eat red meat only once a week. My efforts of reading became secondary as I have spent more of my train rides coding, but I continue to read to some degree. I got married, which pretty much blew everything else that happened this year out of the water. I will probably write a 2012 wrap up post in the next day or so… I really need to write on this more. I have a recoded version of the admin side which should make it easier for me write more (since it is a pain to auth with the current system).

So anyways, onto the resolutions for next year. Every time I begin to think about the next year’s resolutions, I often put some through a sort of trial. In toying with some of the ideas, I think I have ironed out a few to stick with (for now). They are:

  • Keep a “lab notebook” This is something I have been trying for the past month, I am keeping an electronic journal of notes and daily work done in my professional field (both for work and for fun). I have been noting information related to various projects or technologies and keeping a daily summary of what I have accomplished and various thoughts on what I am working on. I hope to continue keeping this going, to track my progress and document my thoughts on stuff.
  • Take care of my photography I have written and worked on gallery uploads and taken pictures, yet none of the pictures have made it onto my site. I am debating switching from self hosting to something like flickr, but am not sure (they have a free 3 month trial of their pro service). I will probably take that for a spin and decide whether to trash or modify my current gallery code.
  • Finish some projects I have a good deal written for two of my projects (tamari and cimera) but have yet to finish them to a point where they are feasible. I also have a project related to work that is fairly far along, yet I have all but abandoned at this point. I really need to bite down and get these to a state where I can call them something other than alpha. I also need to put my admin page code up (it has been done for months and I have yet to stamp it down and start using it). I may also try to rewrite the site code at some point, as it has become more and more bloated and I have become more and more unsatisfied with messing with it.
  • Diversify my technology stack I have become fairly complacent in the languages and technologies I use. I could use for a change in window manager, major language(s), try to improve various application set ups, etc. I am becoming lazy when it comes to trying to improve the tools that I use, it makes me more and more dependent on a single application and not the knowledge I have in doing the task (example: I have been trying to write an application using pure JS, i.e. no jQuery, and it has been very tough).
  • Read I need to push the habit of reading more fiction and emphasize reading non fiction. I spend more time dicking around on my computer or watching TV when I get home, there is definitely room to improve that. (Maybe we will cancel our cable subscription ?)

So overall, a bunch of random efforts, most will probably not see the light of day. But my main goal is really just for me to adopt 1 or 2 of these and make them real habits I continue to follow for years to come (previously: giving up soda, diversifying my diet, switching to Linux, or giving up fast food). Maybe I will even write about my progress (and other things going on in my life.)

positivity

I was thinking about how difficult it is going through a tough day at work (today was really not my day) and how so much of that comes from a generally negative and hostile attitude towards my own work there. When something goes wrong with something I have worked on, I become instantly defensive. When someone brings up a point I don’t agree with, I feel like I must defend my opinion on it.

This usually stems from the need to control the amount of work generated by optimists outside of the department (this is a constant struggle for software people). Marketing people love to promise features and due dates to make sales, but then developers are the ones who need to work through a weekend to make the promised date. Developers are also very attached to their tools and work environments. I am not really sure why this is so, but it probably stems from the amount of individuality it incorporates and the personal tweaks everyone makes for their own tastes. But when developers begin debating editors, operating systems, languages, even syntax conventions, things get really heated. All of these strong opinions increase the hostility of the environment and make any criticism or comment a bit more heated.

After my first job, I was incredibly quick to become defensive of my work. This is mostly due to the culture at that office. Every mistake was brought forward and usually got you chewed out or ridiculed publicly and every decision was picked apart and analyzed, forcing you to either defend your opinion or be treated like an idiot. Going to my current job, the team is a lot more constructive and supportive (but still plenty of hostility, especially for those of us who use Linux).

I am going to begin trying to bring more positivity to the workplace. I feel like I already do a good job of this in most of the other areas of my life. I think that being more positive can begin to break down some of the natural tension and hostility in the department. I hope that, as I get used to it, I can begin to dull some of the swords that everyone begins to brandish when a topic comes up. I am beginning to believe that having a positive mindset is probably the greatest skill for a programmer on a team. I am not sure how this will go, I will probably slowly begin to change my outlook and attitude professionally. Hopefully in a year, I will be a lot closer to ridding the hostility of the programming community.

cooking

So my holiday weekend is beginning to wrap up. Oddly, I did very little over this long weekend. I visited some friends from Indy on Saturday at a tailgate down town, then came back and hung out with Kim. Then I spent the last two days sitting around the apartment. I did a lot of cooking this weekend. I enjoy making stuff that I can then enjoy. It is a lot like writing software. It is approachable and directly rewarding. I can just as easily try out a new type of cuisine and can select dishes for different diets. I get to try different methods, like timing the parts of a dish or long term marinades or cures. There is a certain satisfaction to exploring new things and then getting to taste the success.

I have gotten to explore a lot of new things. I cured my first slab of bacon almost a year ago. Kim found a place that sells slabs of pork belly and I ordered some of the whole spices and made the cure. Then cured the belly for a week and slow cooked it (I don’t have a smoker… yet). It was awesome, I have cured a number of slabs since then. It adds a new level of flavor using your own bacon for a recipe rather than some store bought thing (you can also cut the slices to your liking, so I usually cube chunks for a recipe). I also tried pickling something this weekend. Kim likes pickled unripe mangos (it seems common in south east Asia) and I had watched a Good Eats episode on pickling so I figured it was worth a shot. The pickling has another day to go (Kim said it didn’t taste fully done today), but she liked it. I will probably try pickling some other stuff down the road, need to get comfortable with it and explore some of the potential. I also would like to try some other charcuterie, I tried corning my own beef, but that recipe turned out horrible, I probably need to adjust the recipe a bunch or look for some alternatives.

I have been trying a lot of different cuisine and using different ingredients. When I first got out of college, it was beef all the time (I absolutely love beef). For my new years resolution, I have decided to only eat beef once a week. This was for both health reasons and to force me to diversify my diet and taste. I have tried to do more seafood and vegetarian dishes and use chicken and pork more. I feel like I have been largely successful in this. This weekend I made a cheddar and garlic bisque (technically not a bisque as there is no shellfish in it) that turned out amazing. I went back from seconds and thirds. Tonight I made a mushroom and bacon rigatoni. I used my own bacon for it and it turned out great. A year ago, I doubt I would have been cooking with mushrooms ever, yet I find myself doing it more and more often. I also made a dessert yesterday, it was a cookie dough cheesecake bar. It is very rich and turned out good. I am trying out some desserts these days, even though I shouldn’t do it too often. I feel like there is a lot of fun in making desserts, but Kim doesn’t eat them much and I really shouldn’t eat them much.

I am continuing to look for new and exciting things to try in the kitchen. I feel like there is so much to learn and try that it will be hard to ever grow bored with cooking. Maybe the mangoes will get me into canning more. Only time will tell.