Category: Uncategorized

Some of the new guys need some nurturing. They need some help. I need to provide that help to them. How can I do that? I can check in from time to time, but no more than a few days. 

I need nurturing as well. I am starting to feel negative. It appears that others feel the same. I need to get out of it. I need to get out of that type of thinking. 

I need to simplify.

I don’t want negativity in my head. There are positives. I need to bring them out. I need to think about them instead of the negatives.

There have been setbacks in the way we work. Things can be improved. Code can be written better. 

If there is one thing to be learned, one thing to be mindful of when hiring, is that passion/drive is very hard to teach. I’m almost tempted to say that you either have it or don’t.

This is even more important when we take into account a learning curve that’s involved.

Negativity is starting to creep in. I can’t have that. Not at work. Not at home. I will actively battle it and try to replace it with positive stuff, or have actions to correct it.

One of my strengths is that I am a positive person. I cannot lose that.

I am bothered by all the extra work I need to do. I like to stay in tip top shape for my coding skills. That’s not happening lately. So then what… I am trying change things. 

I am going to introduce an hour a day limit. In that hour, I want to dedicate my time to that epic. Make that half an hour. Yes, half an hour a day is enough. 

I keep getting good reviews. Same this time around. But I think I can do better.

Quality. I think we can do better on quality. We have some guys that resist writing tests. That’s not acceptable. I will start to demand it more and more. At some point, I might call it “unacceptable.”

But to be credible, I need to lead by example. I can show and perhaps teach how to do it.

I am a lazy bastard. That’s who I am. Whether that’s good or not, who knows. Some people don’t like it, some don’t care. I am happy who I am. That doesn’t mean I always feel good. Sometimes I wish I could be doing more. But I am who I am. I am changing where I can. But I don’t really want to change in some regards. I am happy being alone. I gain energy from it. If it’s not overblown, of course. My wife likes to be with others. She really enjoys that. So we have 2 different personalities. Sometimes that results in a clash. Sometimes. But for the most part, we have learned how to deal with each other.

In the US, things are overblown. Big big storm coming. Biggest ever. School, libraries, transit are shut down, people shopping like crazy. What do we get? 5 inches. Really, biggest storm ever? Cmon. Let’s get real.

UI work though interesting is not at the same level as back end. Back end is power. Back end is control. Back end is fun. Would I want to work on the front end? Javascript engineer? No. Part time and being exposed to it from time to time is fine, but not full time. 

Eating a lot of food… accumulates it in the stomach. And guess what? With age, it’s harder and harder to lose it. But I need to manage it better. Somehow. Somehow I need to figure out how. It’s a problem I don’t know how to deal with. 

I picked up 12 Elements of Great Managing. It’s a well researched book. But more important, it has 12 excellent tips. Most of them are close to my style of management. So it will be good for me to “back it” up with research.

I have to be innovative. I have to keep pushing for changes. Whether it’s at home, at work, on my team. That’s how I display my strength. 

And that’s what gets me going and keeps things interesting.

Things are slowing down at work. This is a perfect time to introduce changes. It’s a perfect time to make it more interesting. 

Create some leadership opportunities at work. Why not? Why not create a mentoring program. Why not? Why not put more emphasis on learning? Why not?

Why not create some rewards for my kids to learn polish? Why not?

Why not try to find ways to motivate my wife without offending her? Why not?

I have ideas. I come up with new ideas all the time. Put them to use!

My kids are amazing. But I have to keep them engaged. 

I told them that I will reward them of reading in polish and speaking only polish in the evening. Yesterday, after I came back from work, that’s exactly what happened. When I walked in, Fabian and Victor were on the couch reading polish stories. That is great to see. Fabian, by reading and polishing his polish, and earning a few $. Victor, for being exposed to the polish language and then speaking it. And then I benefit, not financially, but it’s such a nice thing to see, so I benefit by feeling good. Win win.

They want to buy an ipad so they are working hard on earning the money. It’s a great thing to see.