blog: vibecheck#18

src/content/blog/2024-03-10-vibe-check-18.md

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+---
+title: 'Vibe Check #18'
+date: 2024-03-10T12:12:04.807Z
+slug: 2024-03-10-vibe-check-18
+author: Thomas Wilson
+
+---
+February 2024 was quite nice, to be honest.  The weather ended up being less 
+dry and more windy, so it became harder to get out on the bike.  Which was a 
+shame, after weeks of still, dry weather.  Such is the nature of a false 
+spring.
+
+It's got to to the time of the year: small pots of mud on the window sill, 
+gently heated from underneath, condensation forming on the plastic dome, the 
+morning, afternoon, and evening checks to see if anyone's come up yet.  The 
+_joy_ of seeing something white, and half the size of a grain of rice, emerge.  
+
+To see it turn green, and tiny leaves unfold. 
+
+Spring is a nice time to feel lucky.  Lucky to share my house with these 
+plants, and a live-in gardener.  Lucky to see the shoots come up and know (as 
+much as one can) that I'll be around to see them flower.  Lucky that the 
+inescapable dark of winter happened long ago, and will return long in the 
+future.  
+
+Yet more of my life is viewed in relation to the wedding.  Chasing guest RSVPs, 
+making wedding rings (10/10 experience, would recommend), the suit.  _The 
+Suit_, there is so much suit to make.  So many things to hand-stitch, to 
+consider the finer details closely.  How on earth we came to purchase these 
+things for _hundreds_ of Great British Pounds is beyond me.  The seven year 
+tailor's apprenticeship seems fitting (forgive the pun).
+
+I've spent more time taking photos.  A brief dalliance with my parents' film 
+camera yielded nothing but mechanical failures and issues.  I'd love to spend 
+the money and time to find someone to get it fixed, but not right now.  I 
+purchased an 85mm prime lens (second-hand from 
+[MPP](https://www.mpb.com/en-uk)).  I've a lot of social engagements this year, 
+and I'm hopeful I can capture some nice portraits and candid shots with it.
+
+I an struggling to make the time to read, but I am continuing through Wool by 
+Hugh Howey, and enjoying it.  A superb piece of dystopian sci-fi.  Apple TV's 
+limited series *Silo* brought it to my attention.  I'm only a half way through 
+the book, but it's interesting to see the drift.  Similarly with *Lessons in 
+Chemistry* - the adaptation to limited series made artistic and plot changes 
+that were interesting.  It's nice that they're essentially separate pieces.
+
+What of work, of software engineering?  Yeah, it goes.  I am still only months 
+into a new company, I have seen the challenges and problems, and found where 
+change is slow.  
+
+I am still using neovim for test editing (I am using it _right now_).  I'm 
+writing plaintext and _some_ code with it, but the features of JetBrain's IDEs 
+are a) worn into me, and b) _incredibly_ good for working in legacy and large 
+codebases.
+
+I also gave into another pull I have felt for a while: I span up a new Ruby on 
+Rails project.  Just a little side project.  Rails was the framework I wrote my 
+first ever major piece of software with.  I am amazed how productive yet 
+uninformed I was, as a _solo engineer_.  I've found myself thinking "this isn't 
+what I should be spending my time doing" a lot recently.
+
+