Work
Late by three days this week but for good reason; I jumped on a contract and was immediately swamped. I learnt a bunch from this contract despite how short it was; primarily that I really really need to write my playbook, but also that the last few months of playing around and working on my skills have been excellent.
I am very comfortable with the way I use llms to augment my dev flow, and it’s surprising to me how differently people do it (or choose not to). I’m unlocking different offerings for myself in the work I can do in this difference.
I am very glad I’ve been doing weeknotes, and generally more writing. svs, on being asked for advice on how to become a better engineer, apparently said “read more fiction”. I agree, and would like to add: consider writing some.
Health
Nearing two months of flare? I need to test my inflammation markers to see if the diet is making a difference (it’s not). I also need to start the doctor rounds again. It’s been long enough since I last presented that at least half of my symptoms have changed shape, or resolved themselves entirely (touch wood!!!!) so it’s best to get another set of eyes on it. But the process is inhumane. I hate the very prospect of it. Send hugs, not advice, thanks.
I drank three glasses of alcohol on Sunday night, and I basically lost all of Monday. The hangover resolved itself in 45 minutes, but the back knots went full ham possibly because of the vasodilatory effects of the drink.
Life
Spent 1:1 catch up time with: AA, AK, RR; all close friends whom I had been neglecting. Now the timer has been reset! Everybody came home and hung out.
I am also appending to my weekly Tuesday RC at UC ritual a Cooke evening/dinner. I am now meeting at least ten people a week. This feels like a reasonable amount of friendship to keep my extrovert heart recharged and healthy.
The Cooke evening/dinner has to be scheduled now because I am spending so much more time at home. I am pleased with how my relationship to home has changed. I feel so comfortable. I remember feeling like this and writing about it in October last year - I think that was the first time i spent the whole day by myself at home and actually had fun. This feels longer term, more permanent.
I did piece off this weekend and came 6th despite arriving 15 minutes late (!). I did a surprisingly large number of puzzles last month despite not thinking I would, because Pranav and I did pairs speed practice at least once a week. This month it will probably decrease, because the demands of work are getting higher which means I’m not sure about the state of my Monday evenings any more.
I still haven’t figured out when I should take the car and when I should call a cab, in time sensitive situations. \
I was telling mum today about how glad I am that I don’t have debt so I can make decisions on work mostly focusing on what kind of work I want to do, and I references my savings and a financial decision I didn’t make a few years ago that is turning out to be a good thing now. She agreed, but also explicitly told me for the first time that even if that wasn’t the case, I have a solid cushion of all kinds to fall back on in them. To hear this coming from the same people who pushed me to financial independence (and very bad decisons!) when I was very young was... something else. I am glad my relationship with my parents has changed shape so much. Now in my late twenties I think I can appreciate more of how their own relationship with money has changed in the last fifteen years or so, and let some of the resentment from much earlier go.
I also told her that she needs to tell me she loves me more. She laughed and did so. :)
Learning
I am afraid I’m going to become one of those people that talk constantly about llms. But I am fascinated by how they can be used to augment tool building! If you know of any kind of interesting conversations people are having around this (especially small closed groups etc) please let me know.
Media Diet
Reading
I finished listening to T Kingfisher’s A wizard’s guide to defensive baking. It was excellent. The tropes were a little tired and it wasn’t groundbreaking, but familiar enough to be comforting while being novel enough to be compelling.
This audiobook was narrated by Patricia Santomasso. She was incredible. She seems to narrate a lot of YA fantasy and mystery, so nothing else in her catalogue stood out to me; but I’ll be watching! I wish there was a single place I could follow all the audiobook creators I love (and no, not twtr).
Made some progress on The Wall. It was hard going back to it from AWGTDB. The writing seems even more flimsy, the situations even more strangely set up. But the story is compelling, so forge on I must.
I started rereading Agha Shahid Ali’s The Veiled Suite again. So much has changed since the last time I read it from cover to cover. Such a different set of poems appeal to me now. I suppose that is the point of poetry (and broader literature) you read repeatedly throughout your life. It acts as a warped mirror, reflecting all parts of yourself back to you.
Listening
Renee Rap’s new album out! need to make time for it.
re-listened to a bunch of 100 gecs again. man what bangerz. money machine has such a strong intro man I want to write like that.
re-stumbled upon some playlists Dee shared with me when we were first getting to know each other. No you aren’t getting them. But. So much love in there.
Around the web
- Been thinking about this announcement of Toad - but specifically about the issues Will says exist with attempting to build cli interfaces with javascript. I want to sit down and think about what it will take to fix/circumviate this in javascriptland.
- Vibe Code is Legacy Code. It’s true.
- CSS Masonry is coming! I spent significant time trying to build an adequate one last year (and didn’t do a very good job) so I am looking forward to this.