Aloha,
I can’t tell: Was I lazy this past week? Was this break well deserved? Do I care?
I’m wrapping up my time here in Portland and heading back to California. The whole house smells like a casino because my roommate keeps smoking cigarettes in his room. He gets angry and denies it whenever I raise the issue with him. I’m tired of breathing in all this nasty second hand smoke and I haven’t had any luck finding another room in Portland so I’m going to try California again. If all else fails there’s always Mexico.
Like I told all y’all in the last post, this week would be weak. I’m drinking tap water and listening this mix called “you're a dictator planning to rule the world.” Hopefully it works. Read the gist and weep…
Backup Plan
So what are my resolutions? Top priority is to get a dev job or at least generate a livable income through web development. If I haven’t been able to achieve this by end of 2022 then that’s a tell-tale sign that this line of work just isn’t for me. I know it sounds dark and sad but I think sometimes you just need to just face the music. There’s no outside forces that are keeping me from achieving my goals. The jobs are there. I either got it or I don’t. By years end I’ll know.
So what’s my backup plan? I actually haven’t thought much about it. If getting an actual job developing cool stuff doesn’t work then maybe I could recycle my knowledge into teaching other people the very basics of coding. I could probably help people with bootcamp preparations.
Panic button ideas:
Work in the Texas oil fields
Pros — High income, no experience
Cons — Meth heads
Join the Air Force
Pros — Learn cool stuff and get benefits
Cons — Meatheads
Hopefully it doesn’t come to that but shouldn’t we all have a backup plan for everything in life?
Student Huddle
I had a good chat with Andrew, Wytonya, and Budi over the break. We talked about overcoming hurdles, past learning experiences, and project ideas that’ll hopefully make us filthy rich. Although the online learning experience has been surprisingly effective so far, it’s nice to have an in-person chat. Also the student-led atmosphere was a nice change of pace.
One common topic was the fear of asking simple questions. We all need to be humble when learning new things. We might eat shit and lose all dignity in the process but it’ll be worth it. There’s so much to learn and it’s nearly impossible to remember it all. We’ve got to use our computers like a second brain. I personally do really good with checklists and cheat sheets. I know some experienced devs frown upon that practice but it’s been working great for me so far so screw ‘em. The learning experience is unique. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. If you have a kindergarten-level type question, then ask it. We need to eat shit now so we don’t eat shit in the interview.
Would be fun to have these student-led talks on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
That’s the super mellow gist. Yes, I was lazy this past week but I’ll be back in full swing from here on out. Ulnar nerve in left arm is doing better (that’s my scapegoat).
Til next time…
🖖 L L & P 🖖
Perpetual Education: Week 10
"If I haven’t been able to achieve this by end of 2022 then that’s a tell-tale sign that this line of work just isn’t for me." - if you can't get a job / then no one can.