My Learning Log

Blog

  • improving life

    I learned something very valuable. My wife and I will have to work on improving things. It’s not just going to work out by itself. It is hard work to make both of us happy. I don’t see a way around that. I will set up a weekly reminder: How am I improving my family? As simple as that. Or something a bit less personal. Can I do that? And then have a list of the things I can do. I think I am due for a book on marriage. Yes, I think so. I will either re-read the one I read, or find a different one.

     

  • family is important

    Sometimes I forget that I don’t live alone. I have a wife. I have kids. I love them. I need to share that love with them. I really do. I know who I am. I know what makes me tick. But when I live with others, that goes out a window. I don’t live just for myself.

    One of my bad sides is obsessing about the little things. Like house cleanliness. My wife does a great job keeping the house clean. She does. And I worry about having it clean after I come from work. That is not accpetable. I can do better than that.

    I had a few disagreements with my wife yesterday. I made her cry. I feel awful. All about the little things that don’t even matter.

    She takes things personally as well. But I can only control what I do and say and I could have done better.

    But the takeaway is bigger. We need to be talking about our differences and how we resolve that. We need to spread our expectations. I need to be more supportive as well. Time after work is for me to spend with my kids and wife. Nothing more is more important.

  • tech debt

    Tech debt is good to talk about. It is much harder to act on it. I have a few things I am working on, so it is easier to “cover” them under that umbrella. But it is much harder, at least for me, to work on tech debt entirely. It’s really hard. Having those eyes “on me” and not knowing if we will deliver is scary. It requires a lot of strenght. Sometimes it is easier to just skip it.

    But under right conditions, with support of other PBIs, it is right and just to do that. 

  • limiting myself

    I am having a hard time controlling my hunger for sweets. As a result, I’m having a hard time controlling my weight. I’d like to lose a few, but I’m struggling for that reason. What do I do?

    About the only thing I can think of is to try to change the habit. Instead of eating candy, I will limit myself to only one. Same with ice cream. Limit myself to a single cup.

    We’ll see how these will work out.

  • listening and proving feedback

    I have my influence at dstillery. People seem to listen to me. They pay attention when I have something to say.  

    Lately, I’ve been asked questions. By a lot of people. That shows that I’m respected. That is really good.

    How am I learning as a result? I should listen to those people. What are they asking. Why? Am I able to provide valuable answers. Document that. Learn that. Master that. I have to start doing more of it. I will benefit as a result and everybody else as well. win win.

  • thoughts about skis

    I bought skis, now I am wondering whether I did the right thing. Well, we’ll see. Damage is $135. Probably overpaid by $20 to $30 bucks. They are old skis. But that’s OK, I think. Plus, I think I can return them if I don’t like them. We’ll see. Most people love them. They are old skis. They date back to 1999. But do I care? If they’re awesome skis, they’re awesome skis. Bottom line.

    Activate my verb. Plus many other tips. I am reading a lot about them.  Learning now to write better, how to improve. That’s a constant thing. I need to be improving all the time. 

  • learning

    Once again, I am falling behind. When I wake up in the morning, I will head straight to the shower. That’s the only way it’s going to work. I will attempt to head down at 9pm every night so I can spend 5 minutes or so writing. Writing about what I learned througout the day. Writing to get better. Writing to learn.

    I have a big helper in that regard. I picked up a book on writing. It’s a short book filled with 50 excellent tips. It’s a kindle book so I can read it anywhere. I like that.

    I also think I will do a deep dive with python. I need to refresh my knowledge of data structures. What better way than to do it with python?

    Lots of learning to do.

    But it’s also a lot of fun. I enjoy teaching guys. I enjoy making sure they improve. I think that makes me a leader. But I need to keep getting better, I need to keep improving. So I can then pass that along.

  • sking and working from home

    My son is into sking. All he talks about lately is skiing. He cannot get over it. In a way, that’s good. But he might get over it. Who knows. I don’t mind either. I will buy skis for myself soon. Probably after the season. 

    It’s good to work from home from time to time. It’s a change of scenery. I can focus on different things. Things move a bit different. My motivation is different. And I don’t have to travel. Lots of positives. And the amount of work I get done is the same. I think it’s a win win. I will continue that from time to time.

  • docker and peopleware

    I think Docker can help us a lot. It can help us with our environment setups. For instance, I already have an idea. A docker container that comes pre-loaded with mongo db and data to get compaign-api running. I think that’s cool. That would work very well. I should go ahead and try that.

    Other than that, what can I do with Docker? Good question. I am not really sure. And that’s my opportunity to learn.

    I am also reading about peopleware. Yes, people are not units. I am really glad that this is coming for me naturally. I think I am a catalyst. I have the ability to create good team environment. But I have to keep learning, keep getting better.

  • learning new and fighting back

    Knowing exactly what to develop is critical. Being vague in requirements, moving back and forth is just not going to work. Let’s be honest about that. So when that situation happens during planning, we’ve got to do something about it. That most of the time is a game time decision. I had to do some of that yesterday. It’s hard to do. It’s hard to keep fighting, but we have to do it 

    I am cruising with reading books lately. I’ve read several in this quarter. That’s great. But I have a new challenge now. Yes, I am finally reading peopleware! I heard that’s a great mgmt book. I will read that.

    But I have to dig deeper into Docker. It’s on my to-learn list in the upcoming 2 to 3 weeks. I will master that sucker!