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I am tired. I am working too long without taking a break. I need to start taking breaks again. Every 1:30 to 2 hours. I do it before lunch. But after lunch, I need to take a break at around 4 and then at 5:15 or 5:30. I am staying until 7PM, so I have to use my time wisely so I can work at the highest efficiency.
Design patterns is what I am currently reading. I need to be able to know at good level of detail how each GoF pattern work. I need to be able to dive in and actually develop a pattern. That’s how I’m going to remember design patterns. I also need to learn architectural patterns. I have read an excellent book on the subject. I need to re-read portions of it and start playing with it codewise.
I noticed that I like to create things in software. I don’t like to sit idly and just add a thing here or there. What excites me is building stuff from scratch.
I also notice that I might be a good leader. It excites me. I like to teach people. I like to drive them so they can improve. This is my future. I need to set my goals clear and work agressively towards them. This might be possible at my current job, or I might have to move somewhere else. I should know as we go along in Toastmasters which provides great training for me.

I learned two important lessons today. First is about my child and second is on leadership.
I think my son is starting to respond to happy faces. He is starting to smile when I smile to him. This is a great feeling. He is such a sweet boy, it’s amazing. So far, he seems to be responding only in the morning. I will try to see if this is in fact a start of something new.
The second thing is a hard lesson. I believe that by voting for MVT during our meeting will enhance the meeting. It will make it more exciting. I sent an email to all about this new inititiative. One response, from Bill H. was harsh. He does not like the idea and he is leaving the club becase, as he said it, he does not want to compete for the coolest person in the room award. This is an issue for me. He is our best member (or one of the best). He has a history of not being favorable to new initiatives. What do I do? I would hate to lose him, but on the other hand, I believe that the changes will make our club better, more exciting. A true leader is, “when the going gets tough, the leader keeps going towards his vision.”

I learned a good design principle. When creating a domain model, there is an issue of how you pass values between layers or different project. Do you create a DTO object and transfer the values? I think creating a DTO is a good aproach, one which probably suits me the most. However, the idea that I got today is to make your domain object create an interface and share the project through an interface. That might work. I have to look into this a little more. I should probably re-read the DTO pattern from PAAA.
I love my son Fabian. He is so cute. I love spending time with him.

I am going to adjust my schedule. I come in at 9 am but I actually get here at 9:20, 9:30. That’s not good. I spend a lot of time in traffic. I don’t want to do that. Talking to Chris, he said he is flexible as long as I leave from 6 to 7. That’s actually better, because I will actually spend less time in the office.
I reread the Command pattern today. The pattern is simple, encapsulate a request into a Command and execute it.
Thinking about my son, I get a smile on my face. He is so cute. He is such a good boy. I don’t know what we would do without him. Oh my got, just a thought of that scares me.
My longer-term goal is to become a manager. I am giving myself time till the end of 2008 (preferable in the middle). I got asked whehter I have the skills. I think that I have what it takes. I would love to coach. I would love to make the guys around me better.
Or maybe I should try to become an architect or senior designer? Maybe, but I would get to do that as a manager.
One of my biggest issues in getting there, I think, are my communication skills. I need to be more open. I need to be bold and not afraid to talk. I just need to be more outspoken.

I am becoming more and more certain in what I want. I want to be a manager here at IAC. I am giving myself a deadline till the end of 2007. If it does not happen, I will have to find a place somewhere else. I am prepered to have a talk about this soon. I am prepared to announce my goals to my manager and let him know what I think and what my plans are.
It would probably be the best if he said that it’s not possible. Then I would just start looking. There is a job that looks very interesting inside the IAC in NY. It’ s for pronto.com. the one thing that I liked about that company is that they seem to have the right process to develop software. It looks better than what we have over here.
Why do I want to be a manager? Because I love to help people. I love to have a good influence. It’s just what I discovered while being a VPE at my toastmasters club. He might not agree but I am determined to do so.
Another way I can go is become an architect. That’s a possiblility but I think for me it’s more exciting to be a manager or at least move into that direction.

I learned several things today. First of all, I learned that some of old books that I thought are obvious are not so obvious. For instance, take Refactoring, on surface it looks very simple and it would imply that it is not a worthy read. NOT TRUE! This book contains a lot of practical and good information. I think that by re-reading the books every couple of years I can learn at least something new.
I thought having a one return exit in a method is a best practice. Not really. Not most of the time. Of course, if you have a method that is very long, you’re better off having a single exit. But refactor the method! But most other times, having multiple returns is not such a bad thing. In fact, it makes your method easier to see.
Over the last couple of weeks I’m losing a lot of faith in my current place. Things are not as good for me. I am not enjoying it that much. I don’t feel challenged. I would like to stick around for at least another year. But in the year, I would like to get a clear indication that I am going to become a manager. I should also start preparing my resume. I should look at any opening within IAC. It might be a good place to go. There was a good opening in NYC. It’s a possibility. I should keep my options open.

I need a lot of improvements in social life. That’s an area that I need to explore more. I need to be socially open. I need to be able to call people at random and talk to them. It’s something that I am not. I am a creature that basically does not need any social interaction. Is this true? Not sure. I got a wife. She likes me. I like her. Thus, I need to have some social skills. I think I’m just complacent and she’s great at making friends. She is really good in that.
What I am, though, is a determined mind. I am determined, at a cost of my social life, to become better. I am commited to improving. I know I do that well. It’s great.
One of my goals, and I think I’m going to be more agressive in this regard is that I want to become a manager. I want to lead other people. I want to help other people be more successful. I think I’m going to be a great leader. That’s what I want to do.
I thought of something else yesterday. One of the things that I enjoy greatly is spend time with kids. I love to play with them. I love to teach them new tricks. If, in the future I am going to have a lot of time, and nothing really to do, I might provide free lessons to kids in Kacwin. It would be a 5-kid class and I would teach them about everything.
One of the other things that I am going to do is call my grandmother. I need to call her. She’s going to be happy.
One outstanding issue is Mateusz. I know he’s smart. I know he can do a good job in school. I would like to encourage him to do better. I would like to push him to achieve more. I know he can do it. I am going to try to help him.

There are many school of thoughts on marriage. Some say that you should become half of yourself and take the other half from your spouse and blend into one. For some, this might work, for others, and I think I’m in this camp, this will not. I discovered a different school of thought today.
Be YourselfYou should stay who you are. You should be yourself. You should be authentic. That’s the only way you’re going to be happy. In essence, this is a “1 + 1 = 1” type of school. I agree with this type of thinking.
Where did I learn about this? While listening to Shut Up And Stop Whining. It’s a “in your face” type of book, filled with many good suggestions and thoughts. I like it.
But how would that work? The way it’s going to work is while still being yourself, you find some common set of things that you and your spouse love. You do those things together. You concentrate on them while you’re together. What if you don’t have or cannot find anything in common? Then find somebody else! (He gives a lot of these types of advices in the book.)
ArguingAll couples argue. If you don’t, then you’re boring. I agree. There are times where we don’t argue, but there are times of where we have a “heated” discussion. In that discussion, at times we concentrate on the wrong thing, on cheap shots. What are cheap shots? Concentrating on somebody or bad thing about your spouse. “Because you are….” The author of the book gives great advice: It’s good to argue but always concentrate on the thing not on the person. That’s great advice. Don’t use cheap shots, convince your spouse with solid arguments based on the facts that pertain to the thing you’re discussing.
ReferenceShut Up and Stop Whining

Writing a learning log is very important. That’s why I should find ways to do it everyday. I am going to start doing it at work or at night. I don’t have to keep doing it only once a day. I can do it more than once. As long as I do it at least once.
One idea that came up to me recently is creating a “only the best” items store. I could name it HighRater. The idea is that I would sell only the highest rated items. Only the best. I would do the research and then either buy the products directly or relay the orders to Amazon or somewhere else. The idea is that it would simplify the process of buying products and making sure that what you buy is the best.
I am having issues with my wife. She thinks that I don’t spend enough time with her. I think the issue is that she does not value reading and she does not want to be pushed to read. I keep pushing her. It’s important for me that she does read. I need to find a different way. I need to find a way to convince her that reading is good for her. This is going to be tough. But in order for us to be successful and to enjoy each other more, we both have to read. I am trying to position myself that I will be able to read with my son.

I am learning a lot. I know that I have to still learn a lot to get ahead in the software world. I think I”m starting to get some influence at work. People are starting to realize that I do quality work. I am hoping that they recognize it. I am hoping that everyone will see it. Time will tell. But even though not everyone might find it helpful, I find it helpful. I learn a lot from writing. I learn a lot by explaining what I think.
The best thing that I learned is by waiting an hour earlier I accomplish a lot more. I actually read for the whole hour! That’s great. What I’m learning also that in the hour I read a lot. It’s a great way to spend my early morning.