---
title: "Vibe Check #7"
date: 2022-11-06T08:26:11Z
slug: 2022-11-06-vibe-check-7
author: Thomas Wilson
---

I got a Steam Deck in September (huge flex), and so October 2022 saw the resurgence of video games into my life.  

As a teenager I spent the normal amount of time playing games (thank you) and took a lot of pleasure from it.  I wasn't a gapital-G-Gamer, but I have vivid memories of playing *Onimusha*, *Halo*, and others way past my bed time.  I think for a while I imagined a career in games journalism.

I slid off gaming when I hit 16-18, and for about a decade, never really had the urge to go back.  Before the pandemic (early 2020) I got a Switch.  Playing *Mario Kart* and *Overcooked* online with friends when we couldn't leave the house was excellent.  Playing couch co-op games with my partner in the long winter months... also pretty cool.  But I never got *into* gaming on the Switch.  I poured some hours into *Breath of the Wild* and *Hades* (obviously), but it never felt like a thing I kept doing.

For some reason, the Steam Deck has made games fun again for my brain.  Maybe it's because the Steam library is *huge*, and I can find the games I love to play (*Stray* and *Deaths Door* were two great first discoveries).  I'm taking delight from playing them, from the vibe they create, and also from the challenges they bring.  I think I like games again now, and coming into winter, I suspect that will be very useful.

## Wedding Chat

I'm now planning a wedding.  Or more accurately, I am a member of a committee of two people that is planning a wedding.  This month we made a lot of viewings, some fantastic and others awful (looking at you, *Martin*, who started the tour by saying "do not interrupt me or ask questions while I'm showing you around").  

We have a venue and a date for our wedding (Oxfordshire, summer 2024).  This is very exciting.  But also, this is very nerve-making.  There's a lot of things to prepare for the day and then there's the rest of my (our) life after the day.

Still, that feels cool.

## Sewing chat

I've started making my first *real* shirt (after three muslin toiles).  The folk over at [freesewing](www.freesewing.org) have done a good job at making a (completely free and open source) tool to help me, a very novice tailor, draft and re-draft a pattern.  I love the internet.

I picked up some certified sustainable fabrics from [Offset Warehouse](https://www.offsetwarehouse.com/) which turned out to be a little more summery than I was expecting.  Perhaps not November-December style dress.

I'm taking a lot of joy from seeing a garment come together, and while I'm still definitely far from being even an adept sewer or tailor, the thing I'm making is definitely a shirt.  It's got a collar and cuffs and everything.

## Work chat

In October I celebrated my second anniversary at my current job at Oxwash.  This is the longest single job I have ever had.

I spoke to a few mentors about the kind of work you could do at two-years, that you couldn't do earlier.  It's inspired me to start digging into some of the *deep* problems in the codebase, and also within the organisation in general.

Oxwash in late 2022 is *very* different to Oxwash in mid 2020 when I was interviewing for the position.  The day-to-day operations of the business, the technical complexity, and the vision are familiar but not identical.

So my thoughts go to how we can pull-out and clearly describe some things that seem "just the way it is", and then make them better.  If you do this right, you help the whole business, not just engineering.

