Work
I have done so many things in the last two weeks that I have never done before.
1. Wrote an api surface for a form
2. Set up a database and worked with Prisma
3. Set up a Zap
4. Worked with webhooks
5. Worked with some version of TDD
6. Worked with micro services. This one was the hardest thing and broke my brain a little bit ngl
7. Set up a slack bot
8. Git rebased 42 commits over 216 commits in a codebase with broken builds, tests, and everything
Things I have done before that I did again
1. API calls to llms
2. Used ngrok
3. Set up swagger UI (But I was under the impression that it was auto documenting? Is that only with specific languages? Given that TypeScript is... well, strongly typed, wouldn’t that give swagger more information to work and auto build with? Why the over-reliance on jsdocs? Need to investigate.)
Things I learnt about
1. OLE date format
2. Git worktrees
3. !fixup command (and the flow in which to use it)
Concepts I learnt about
1. Server-client architecture
2. Dependency injection
Things I need to look up
1. Understand evals better
2. Figure out why localtunnel was crashing when I used it to execute api commands via swagger
codegen practices
I’ve found that I have significantly better results when I ask the llm to create a plan in an .md file than to use the plan mode. For one, it’s much easier for me to go in and edit the file than get the llm to understand exactly what change I want. Then, I can keep clearing context while holding important state in the file.
It’s also been easier to do TDD if I describe the feature, spec the file, THEN write the test and implement the feature (rather than the other way around).
I went in to the office all week, after about 5 years of no physical space. I really enjoy the energy I get from building from the same space as other people. The face time, the quiet understanding you build with your team over shared fruit etc is unparalleled. I just wish I didn’t... have to be there physically.
Health
My biggest issue with the office has been ergonomics. Some of this is fixable: I took in my monitor, I’m getting a desk converter next week, I might have to buy a new (higher) chair. But my biggest issue has been movement. I gave up on spending chunks of time in the gym a few months ago because it just didn’t fit with my lifestyle, but I still get in lots of movement during the day. This is because I am a fundamentally active person - I move a lot every day, I do chores that require bending and effort, I work when standing, and when I feel like it I move! All my friends’ living rooms have footmarks from my handstands. I will break out into a down dog if my body needs it. Except now I work in an office filled with people in finance, with completely transparent walls, and I feel horrible about even stretching! The desks are small too - 1.5x3 as opposed to the 2x5 that I’m used to at home. And this means that I feel conscious of myself even when I’m standing and rotating my shoulders. I feel awkward about taking up the space I need to fold my body. I hope that as I get more familiar with my colleagues, and my workmates, I will feel better about taking up the space my body needs.
The result of the last week on my brain has been incredible. I am not very thrilled about my speed (even though I did so much!!!!), but that’s a micro adjustment I will make in the course of knowing my client and their priorities better (and being able to decipher better what they say vs what they want) but physically I am exhausted. Apart from the minimum eight hours I am spending in office, I am spending two hours in commute, and at least two hours pre-and-post commute. The kittens are BIG MAD, and they have every right to be!
My life feels very full, and there’s barely any time for anything else I want to do outside of work. But it doesn’t feel hectic. It doesn’t feel overwhelming. This is what I signed up for, and it’s glorious.
Life
Outside of work? Mum had a birthday, and it was nice to spend time with her. I haven’t been able to head back to RC Tuesdays (and I don’t think I will anytime in the next month or two, big sads) but Tuesday evening dinners with the subset of RC folks has still happened this week and I’m grateful. Despite the packed schedule I’ve been able to have a conversation or three with friends. I continue to slowly make changes to the home. I still haven’t potted the plants I made naked ten days ago but it feels like I have a handle on the house.
Media Diet
My only media consumption has been albums listened to in the office or via commute.
Listening
- I didn’t like the new Sabrina Carpenter on first listen, possibly because it was someone else’s car and I was distracted (and also there were skips). I deeply dislike looking at the album cover (enough ink has been spilt on the optics of it) but the album itself sounds decent to listen to and hilarious to sing along to.
- The new Lola Young album I’m only F**king Myself feels like the breakup album I didn’t know I needed. If you only know her via her megahit single Messy, you won’t be disappointed with this latest offering - and you might even find that you recognise a bop or two in there.
- Aly & AJ were Disney twins who appeared on the popular TV show Phil of the Future, as elder sisters to the eponymous Phil. As a preteen, I enjoyed their role in the quiet unassuming way it was impossible to enjoy Cyrus in Hannah Montana, or Gomez in Wizards of Waverly Place. As a teen, the lead single Potential Breakup Song off their album Insomniatic was perhaps the first instance of breaking the fourth wall (“This is the potential breakup song/Our album needs just one”) that I remember. Their latest EP, More Silver, feels like a decent outing with more country than punk influences compared to their usual, but a smooth 16 minutes nonetheless.