My Learning Log

Blog

  • being ready, preparing

    Should I interview at Google again? I’m thinking about it. Will I get in? That’s another question. Not without preparation. And I’ve started to do that. I have a new energy nowadays. I am working harder lately. And that should pay off. One thing about Google is that if I get in, an option to transfer to Poland opens up. That’s a beatiful thing. At least I hope that the option is there.

    But I’m staying put. I will leave 2013 and probably 2014 alone. I am not going anywhere. In 2015, I might start looking.

    I know my memory is short. I have ways around that. Study, study, study. When I go over things many times, things stick. That’s how I remember things. I know that. 

    What am I doing at night. Mostly reviewing things. Rereading articles, books. Writing some new material, I hope. Organizing stuff. Half an hour at night is enough. 25 minutes. I have that. I can find that.

  • no pain, no gain

    No pain, no gain. No work, no results.

    All great minds have worked hard.

    Nothing comes for free.

    This is the first point in the Wooden’s book that I’m reading now. And it’s a good one. Nothing ever was accomplished without hard work. 

    On a practical level, I need to establish a more hard-working schedule. After work and before work. Like I said before, I need to be down here in the basement before 6am. I need to get a solid hour before work. What do I need to do after work? I should find 25 minutes to work. I’ll take that as a start. Doing what? Something useful. Writing, for instance. Or reviewing what I learned. Something. I can start at 9 or 9:15 or 9:30 the latest. After that, I’m too tired. But I haven’t been doing late-day work for a few years now. So this will feel like a stretch. But that’s a good thing.

  • working hard

    I think my wife is annoyed with me. She’s annoyed that I am not intersted in house work. I really am not. So yesterday, when we had a small flooding in our basement, I did not do that much. Not only that, I did not care that we do something later on. She got upset by that. So I said that if a house requires too much of my work, that we sell it and move into an apartment. That’s a stretch and something I probably will not do, not yet, but that’s an alternative.

    I am intersted in reading and more high tech world. 

    Am I working hard? Am I interested in working hard.

    A great definition of success, is a feeling of accomplishment. Feeling that you got the best of yourself. That I did all I can. That I reached my potential. 

    It’s not about, am I better than X, am I better than Y. DId I accomplish more than Z? That’s not success.

    1. Don’t try to be better than someone else.

    2. Always try to be the best you can be.

    Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.

    Wooden, John; Carty, Jay (2009-08-14). Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success: Building Blocks For a Better Life (Kindle Locations 170-171). Gospel Light. Kindle Edition. 

    But the main ingredient in success is hard work. Nothing comes without hard work.

    Am I willing to work hard? Am I working hard? Am I able to work hard?

    That’s something I need to ponder.

  • all hands

    During our company meeting day before yesterday, I got a nice surprise. Jenine, who is our 8th floor mgr, told me that she pitched our weekly learning program to Mary, HR. Isn’t that cool? Do I want recognition. No. Is it good that others hear about this program. Why not? We’re unique in a sense that we’re doing things our own way. But it’s good to know that other people know as well. 

    I heard one another thing. We’re no longer media6degrees, we are dstilery. Yes, that’s our new name. We’re dstillers from now on. It’s actually easier than I thought. It’s going to take time to sink in. But it’s a good change. One thing that worries me, though, is that Penry is leaving. THat’s a huge loss. Huge loss. He stabilzed things. He was a good, humble leader. I had a lot of respect for that guy. And now he’s leaving. 

  • changing stuff at home

    What are my goals for this week? It’s a new school year. Same for me. It’s a new start for me. I want to start over. So this week, and from now on, I”m planning to wake up on time and don’t waste time in the morning. I woke up early today, but took me a bit of time to get started. After all, it’s not always that I’m cancelling my cell plan. I did with verizon. And I”m without a service for the next day or so. My phone is scheduled to be delivered today. So hopefully I do receive it and can set it up.

    Lots of changes in terms of entertainment in my house. I cancelled optomum, got polsky.tv. Then cancelled optimum online internet and got verizon fios.

    Then I cancelled my verizon wireless phones. All 4. 3 went with page plus. And I have mine waiting for t-mobile. I am curious to see how it’ll work. Should be fine, but we’ll see.

  • keep digging

    With swat stories, you just have to keep digging. Keep digging. Keep digging. Until you find something.

    To me, that workflow is stressful. It’s not working out sometimes. At least in those cases when I feel like I’m not getting things done. It sucks when there is no clear culprit. But what do I need to do? Keep digging!

    I am getting frustrated with the architecture book. It’s just not getting to my head. What am I going to take away from it? What am I learning. Not sure yet. I have to re-read some of the patterns and perhaps they will get into my head. It’s not happening. Not yet.

  • polish tv

    My sons will be billingual. We now have setup polish tv at home. Just the polish tv. Nothing else. Well, I still have amazon prime movies. But for the most part, we will be watching polish TV at home. But it’s a great TV. It’s got recorded shows so I can watch what I want when I want. It’s got discovery and animal planet. It’s got a lot of sports. It’s got all that I want! Actually, more!

    But we also implemented a rule of no TV during a weekday. I intend to make sure that happens.

  • getting frustrated

    I don’t like it when I work on something and I don’t get anything accomplished. It’s not a very good feeling. I am a go getter. I like to see when things are happening. I like to see when things are flowing. It’s not the case with the issue I’m working on. I have different ideas, but no good solutions. Systems that don’t offer very good debugging are a pain to work with.

  • few things

    My son had a first sleepover yesterday. Actually a big day. Now, after I woke up, I miss him. I miss his presence. Strange feeling.

    We’ve adopted a no tv during a week policy. I think it’s the best thing we can do for our kids. They don’t have to constantly think about it. They have other things to do. And they can still watch it with us.

    But from now on, it’s going to be polish tv. Yes, I canceled cable. I cut the cord. And I don’t think I’m going to sign up again. There are other ways to watch it. There are other entertainment options. Plus, I want my kids, if anything, to watch polish tv. More of it. If anything, just polish tv.

  • do I want to wake up early?

    Do I want to be an early riser? Do I want to efficiently use the time? Then I got to have some sort of a reward system in place. 

    How? For every 2 times I shower first thing in the morning, I get 20 minutes in front of the monitor the next day. Sounds like a good plan. I will have to earn my right tomorrow. 

    Why am I doing this? I have gotten off track. I wake up early but don’t accomplish anything. So why do I wake up early then? 

    My goal is to collect a pomo at home, two if possible. I can do that only if I stay disciplined.