November 2023 Review
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A collection of accomplishments, notes, and observations about November 2023.
Work
The big news is the announcement of my new job.
I applied on August 28th and did four interviews, including a two and half hour coding session (a mix of PR review, ticket grooming, and actual coding exercise). Was given the offer letter on November 13th.
To the people who are juggling multiple job applications at the same time. Yikes. That is a lot of work.
Anyways, with the acceptance of the job offer, I’ve been off-boarding my current clients. The one is pretty much done, though I offered to do a handoff meeting with my replacement in the next week or so. The other client will start looking for a replacement in January as they are trying to resolve some other open company issues. My work there is mostly just making sure the lights stay on, so I do not expect much overhead problems while I ramp up on my new gig.
I start on Monday, December 4th.
Side Projects
StudyHall has been very stagnant. I’m just not finding the energy for regular progress in recent weeks.
Not specifically a side project, but it kind of has that vibe: this month, I attended Philly’s Barcamp event. It was a lot of fun, and seeing so many people I hadn’t connected with in a while felt great. The day flew by. I wish that we had a centralized after-party for more hallway-track conversations, but maybe next year.
Tech Education / Books
Finished Wireframing for Everyone.
Finished Genetic Algorithms in Elixir with the Elixir Book Club.
Finished my second reading of Refactoring UI, though, to be honest, I kind of burned through the end to get it off my currently reading list. It’s one of the better UI books and a speedy read. I started a second reading a few months ago when I was focused on wireframe things for StudyHall, and then it just sat there (virtually, on my iPad).
Still reading Observability Engineering: Achieving Production Excellence,
Started Build a Weather Station with Elixir and Nerves for Elixir Book Club.
Started Myst: Book of Atrus on a whim, looking for something light. It was a book I read almost 20 years ago, and recall finishing it in a single weekend.
Phillies
Well, since looking back at my last journal entry, I have the sad responsibility of reporting that the Phillies did not win the National League Championship series and did not return to the World Series.
Baseball playoffs are about staying hot, and the Phillies just got cold. Losing two in a row at home to close it out still seems unthinkable. How did that happen?!
Video Games
Finished my playthrough of Red Dead 2. Anxious to start Red Dead 1, but I’m playing around with a few other games first.
I got both Mario Wonder and Mario RPG. Both are fun. I only played Mario RPG once (I rented it at Blockbuster back in the day), so it’s a pretty fresh playthrough for me.
Curiously, I have gotten back into MLB: The Show. I took off during set 4 (post all-star game) but have been active during set 5 (finishing most programs, including my first BR program). Set 6 starts December 21st, and that will unlock all the set cards, allowing you to build a team with anyone, which should be fun.
I bought Sea of Stars based on some friend’s recommendations but have yet to play it.
Walks and Exercise
It’s pretty low activity. I am tracking about one good walk a week. Sadly, it’s getting colder, so if I want to return to form, I’ll probably have to start walking indoors at the YMCA like last year.
Following up on the Ring Fit, I did it for about two weeks but found the leg strap did not stay in place, which was frustrating. If I want to find an in-house cardio thing, I might have to look at my old Quest VR or some Apple fitness things.
My journal entries averaged about once a month, so perhaps this new monthly recap format might be a better fit. We’ll see.