My Learning Log

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  • lower interest

    I am not afraid of a tough talk. And I shouldn’t be.

    When I need to talk about something that bothers me, I should not stay away.

    I called Rick yesteday and I told him that I think the interest rates should go down and that I don’t want my current deal of 3.625 and no credit. He acknowledged it. But he also said that he will try to get me more credit.

    Will interest rates go down?

    They might. Or them might not. If the goal of the federal reserve is achieved, then they should get lower. If not, then who knows.

    My wife is having it to her ears. She hears the train all the time. Yesterday, she got awoken by it. And then strarted to complain. On and on. She’s blaming it for everything. Though I think yesterday it was mostly because of the fact that it was warm in the room. I can hear it — sometimes. I can live with it. For now, she can’t.

  • doing more work

    How can I perform at the highest level all the time?

    It’s a struggle for me.

    And those distractions don’t help.

    Do I need to change how things work? But what?

    I think I need to be more persistent in how I stay off the bad stuff. News and email drag me away from dev and work.

    Dev and work. Dev and work. Even if it’s only dev, I can take that.

    I am a plorific worker. I am an agressive learner. I am great at avoiding distractions.

  • train noise

    My wife has hit a rough patch with the house. She hates the train. Not the train itself, but the noise it is making when it is blowing the horn. It’s interrupting her sleep. She’s having a hard time accepting it. So she complains all the time.

    I told her to stop. No reason to beat the dead horse.

    Not much we can do about it.

    Do I want to sell the house? No. Not yet, at least. It’s only been a year! I want to live at least 2 more years, more like 4 or 5 to make a decision.

    We’ll see, hopefully we can adopt.

  • back to work around the garden

    Finally started to wake up at 5:15am every weekday. That’s going to be my new schedule for the next week or so. If it works well, I will stick with it. It’s so dark when I wake up at 5, but also dark after 8pm, making this schedule more manageable, as I don’t have to go to sleep when it is still nice out.

    But it is also getting cold! It’s like 45 degrees right now. I think I need to overseed soon. I will try to do it this week.

    Pool is already being drained. I expect it to be done in the next few days, at which point the soil should be soaked with pool water. 🙂 And that’s when I am going to cut it really short, overseed, and cover it with some peat moss.Are 2 bags enough? I am going to get a few more from HD. I always need to have a few lying around.

  • getting moved to another group

    I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept thinking about my new and upcoming position. 

    And the message is clear to me…

    I need to step it up! I need to rise up! I need to start working even harder. Every minute. Every hour. I need to bring something unique to the table.

    I feel the new team is struggling a bit. Mostly due to lack of motivation. I hope to spark it so it works better and harder.

    But I also will miss lots of things from the DSP team. I made lots of improvements that I am attached to. It will hurt to let them go. It will hurt to let go of my baby, reports.

    Time to move on.

    On the other hand, it’s exciting.. I will be working on a new project, with a different group.

    I do have to practice my architecture skills. I stink in that regard. That cannot continue for long. I will improve.

    I will step it up. I will show them that I am a true Pragmatic Craftsman.

  • stepping up

    I have let things slip by. It was vacation. I wasn’t in good mood.

    Excuses. But I will let it slip.

    It’s september now. It’s time to step it up a bit. I might be looking to change jobs sometime next year. It will be my 3rd anniversary, longest ever if I last. We’ll see. If things improve in the economy, there might be some interesting opportunities out there.

    It’s also time to step up my learning rate. I don’t want to stagnate. I have quite a few books that I would like to read. 

    I know myself. I need to constantly read and re-read to stay in shape.

    Plus, I need to find some more time to focus on my blogs. I don’t remember when was the last time I wrote an entry. Not too good. 

    I need to write for myself. Period.

    Starting from tomorrow, my alarm will be set to 5:15. I will try to make it work. If not, then I will reset it to 5am. Stepping up!

  • in the zone

    I have my groove back at work. I am “in the zone” at the moment. What did I do? I have a goal to focus 110% on work and dev related items. And it works. I want to be a top performer and I can only get there and stay there if I give all I have. As simple as that. There is really no other way around. And I know that for a fact. Once I start snoozing and fooling around, my motivation goes way down, I am distracted by little things, I waste time.

    There is no time to waste in this field.

    I do not take that lightly. 

    That’s not who I am. I will never be like that.

    My piece of bread is different. Driven by hard work. Making little improvement here and there. That’s who I am/. And that’s who I will be!

  • getting back the groove

    I need to rest from time to time. I need to take advantage of vacations. And it really needs to start from this year. My son is starting real school. He’s going to 1st grade! It is really exciting, challenging, and crazy. He’s ready to start school. Unbelievable.

    And when he’s in school, that means our vacation options have shrinked. Shrinked to the times when Fabian is out of school. And that mostly leaves summer. 

    My waking up hours have changed as well. I am finding it harder and harder to wake up at 5. I don’t remember the last time I got a tomato. I think that has to change. Right now! At least half. 🙂

  • mateusz

    Mateusz,

    Musze powiedziec ze mnie troche zasmuciles…

    A tak naprawde, walac prosto z gory, nie podoba mi sie twoja decyzja o skonczeniu studiow (dowiedzialem sie o tym od brata Jozka). Ale rozumiem ze to Twoja decyzja, i masz prawo robic jak uwazasz. I nie mysl ze bedziesz przez to gorszy czy inny. Robisz jak uwazasz.

    W kazydm razie ja mam nadzieje ze to nie jest ostateczna decyzja. Powrocic na uczelnie ta czy inna mozesz zawsze. Po pol roku, roku, dwoch czy nawet wiecej. Ja znam juz kilka przypadkow co zrobili tak jak ty. Czesto jest tak ze ktos wybral jakis kierunek co mu pozniej nie pasowal. Ale na innym radzi sobie duzo lepiej. Nie wiem dokladnie jak jest w Twoim przypadku, ale przypuszczam ze napewno nie jest to zakatek bez wyjscia…

    A po co Ci studia? Studia prace nie daja. Ale po studiach, spedzonych w mlodym wieku pozostaja niezapomniane przezycia. Po studiach zostaje nauka i satysfakcja ze cos nam sie udalo zrobic. To jest cos co nie ma ceny.

    A po co Ci praca? Pytanie bez sensu, no bo wiadomo. Ale Mateusz Ty masz na prace jeszcze czas! Po paru latach pracy pewnie bedziesz rozmyslal wstecz…

    Mateusz, ja Ci radze (tylko radze), daj sobie troche czasu (od Ciebie zalezy ile), i pozniej zacznij myslec o powrocie na jakis kierunek co wiesz ze cie interesuje — i nie pytaj sie innych, studiuj to co naprawde Cie interesuje. Daj sobie czas do namyslu, spokojnie… i zrob jak serce podpowiada.

    Napewno nie bedziesz tego zalowal…

    -Stas
    P.S. To sa tylko rady. Zrob jak uwazasz. Tylko zeby cos osiagnac w zyciu trzeba cos z siebie dac. Ja wiem ze Ty potrafisz i jeszcze mnie i innych zadziwisz. Trzymam za Ciebie kciuki! Odezwij sie jak masz jakie pytania. I sorry jak Cie troche wkurzylem.

  • giving 110%

    I have a new way of doing things at work… I give 110%. And that means 0% of news. 0% of email checking from my browser. Any leisure/news reading I do from my phone. Simple, yet hard. Easy, but works. Resistance, but pays off.

    I have a fairly big problem to solve. Improve how inventory latcher works. Complicated problem. I am thinking of ways to improve it. it is not going to be easy. But after working on it for a day, I think I will know more. Way more. And that’s exactly why I have to give 110% at work.

    It’s about time that I get into the grove of being agressive in my learning. About time. Enough said.