Happy 17th birthday, Nanoc! The 1.0 release of Nanoc was on May 3rd, 2007. Coincidentally, Nanoc crossed one million downloads earlier this week. Neat. Nanoc is still such a nice tool to use. Its flexibility is what keeps me using it. For example, being able to write articles in … | Continue reading
The job search is going much better lately, surprisingly. I’ll have good news to share soon, if all goes well. I’ve only got a limited view on the entire market for software engineers, of course, but I’ve had plenty more conversations with recruiters lately. It’s picking up. This … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I’ve removed the night theme from my web site. The dark theme works well enough, and I found myself never using the night theme anyway. I realized that forgot to declare last year’s donations in my taxes. Sad. After the XZ Utils backdoor saga, I tightened up the acces … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I’m half-heartedly switching to Firefox on my iPhone. Half-heartedly, because all my open tabs are still on Safari. What do I do now?! I finally have my new passport. I love the new design! I ripped not one, but two pairs of trousers this week. On the same day. Help! … | Continue reading
Quick bits: My new passport is being made, and I should receive it in the next week or two. It’s been a long process: it’ll have been two months. Most of that time was spent arduously hunting for earlier appointment slots. I don’t have a direct need for a passport right now, but … | Continue reading
Quick bits: The clown doormat has been moving between apartments. I am afraid that it being used as a tool of punishment. A cone of shame. A dunce hat. Perhaps I live in the most subtly savage of Berlin neighborhoods. It’s more and more clear that I am a morning person. As part o … | Continue reading
Quick bits: A Gemüsekebab food stall opened up near me, and every time I walk by, there is quite the queue. Somebody needs to explain to me why Berliners are so obsessed with Gemüsekebab. This phenomenon is truly beyond me. Zendaya’s website is back! She must be reading my weekno … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I made another loaf of bread. I did not take a photo this time. I can’t be taking photos of my bread all the time! Go take a look at the one I made two weeks ago, in Weeknotes 2024 W09: Keyboard cleaning! Little progress on the job search. The market for software engi … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I got confused by the weather app, which told me to “party cloudly.” I wasn’t sure why a weather app would tell me to party, and was even more confused by what “cloudly” meant, but then came to the realization that that app was actually saying “partly cloudy.” Ahh! Co … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I made sourdough bread for the first time in months, and I am pleased to say that I’ve still got the skillz: I am slowly making good progress with job interviews. Perhaps I’ll have an offer on the table in one or two weeks! I moved my off-site backups from B2 to a Het … | Continue reading
Quick bits: This was a relaxed week. I didn’t end up doing much, and that is fine. It is not quite obvious, but Radiohead’s Pyramid Song and Daft Punk’s Doin’ It Right have the same rhythm. Just a random observation. My neighbors have a new door mat with a clown face on it, and I … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I had the problem that sometimes on macOS, I’d accidentally open the widgets (the ones to the right hand side). I’ve finally figured out why that happens: two-finger swiping from the right hand side of the trackpad opens up the widgets. That was quite non-obvious. The … | Continue reading
Despite my intentions of taking it easy, relaxing and definitely not doing any job interviews, I’m making good progress and I’ve even made it to the final round at one potential future employer. I’ll be in London quite soon! I’m landing there this evening, and staying for just ov … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I have handed in my work laptop, and now I am free. I wrote some flash fiction: The Doorbell. It’s a three-minute read or so. This particular one could be turned into a short film fairly easily. That’d be fun to do, though I lack the skill and equipment to do it, and … | Continue reading
I have left my job. Friday was my last day, and now I’m planning to take a break. Initially, I wanted to not start looking for new opportunities just yet — give it a few weeks or so — but I couldn’t help myself and I’ve already scheduled calls to discuss future opportunities. Wo … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I replaced the ear pads on my pair of headphones, the DT 770 Pro. The replacement ones are from Wicked Cushions,1 and I am quite happy with them. I had the old ear pads for far too long. I was considering replacing the DT 770 Pro entirely — there was a buzzing in the … | Continue reading
I’ve been embracing Luddism. My journaling, I do by hand. I have tried journaling apps in the past,1 but the only thing that really works is pen and paper, with no technology around to distract me. I am purely in the moment of writing. My grocery list is on paper. Being able to a … | Continue reading
Happy new year! This is the first time that the last week of the year does not extend into the next year, which I’ve complained about before.1 This makes me happy, but now Tom is upset. Can’t win. On January 1st, it occurred to me that the weekdays have WTF in them. Wednesday, Th … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I wrote up my 2023 in review. Go read it! My key takeaway: 2023 was a year of major change for me. My bank (ING) has an ongoing problem where some VISA transactions are charged twice. They are aware of the problem and are working on a fix, but it has been more than a … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I finished a three-weekend acting course last Sunday. It was excellent, and now I want more. 2024 needs to bring more acting training. I’ve been removed as moderator from the r/myst subreddit. I suppose that’s fine; I think I’ve never actually done any moderation sinc … | Continue reading
Quick bits: I purchased the Software Development by Pearson book bundle. Software engineering is still my primary area of expertise, and keeping my skills fresh is important, which I think this book bundle will help with. I predict I’ll be reading this material during downtime at … | Continue reading
Quick bits: My burnout symptoms are slowly fading away, and I find myself able to think about work again. I’ll be back at work in a week’s time. I’ll need to have thorough conversations with my manager once I get back, so that this burnout problem can be addressed properly. It is … | Continue reading
Quick bits: The feeling of burnout is still going strong. In fact, it seems to be getting clearer by the day how burnt out I really am. I missed the fact that last weeknotes1 was also my two-year weeknotes anniversary. That’s quite a while already! I bought Things 3. Up until now … | Continue reading
Quick bits: Still not doing so hot. I wonder whether the icky weather is making me feel under the weather. [Stop confusing people with your words — Ed.] Speaking of weather: first snow in Berlin! A revelation I’ve had while reading books: every time I want to play a “narrative g … | Continue reading
I’ve been on sick leave this week, and will be for another three weeks. I’m exhausted, which I believe is the result of a combination of recovering from COVID-19 and dealing with burnout. I likely haven’t fully emotionally processed the impact of the heart surgery1 yet, either. T … | Continue reading
I’m recovering slowly but surely from COVID-19. On Sunday, the persistent headache reached its peak. With the painkillers doing pretty much nothing and the pain closing in on unbearable1, I ended up in the emergency room. By the time I was at the ER though, the headache had dissi … | Continue reading
Blah. I caught COVID-19, finally, for the first time. I was feeling a little funky on Wednesday evening, and on Thursday I fell proper sick. I slept for most of the day. Friday and Saturday were not much better. We’ll see how today goes. The fever is gone at least. The worst symp … | Continue reading
I publish the weeknotes on Sunday morning usually, but this time it’s the late afternoon. Deal with it. Quick bits: I have reached a new milestone in my ownership of an iPhone: Somebody approached me and said “Excuse me, your flashlight is turned on.” Another milestone is getting … | Continue reading
Quick bits: Notifications continue to be a disaster. I continue to get meeting notifications 30 minutes or an hour after the meeting has started. I’m starting to think it’s personal. For the first time ever, my Fitbit showed my sleep quality as “good.” Previously, it had always b … | Continue reading
Quick bits: With my hospital roommate, I have identified the top three German inventions. In no particular order: X-rays (Röntgen rays), the printing press, and Apfelschorle. I will not be taking questions. I am down to 6 emails in my inbox. That’s the lowest amount of emails in … | Continue reading
Oof… what a week. I ended up in the emergency room on Friday, and things took an unexpected turn from there. On Friday just after lunchtime, I got my first-ever migraine with aura, but not knowing what it was — couldn’t read anymore as the letters danced, and had trouble seeing m … | Continue reading
I’m back to work as of this week, considerably earlier than I expected. I’m not entirely sure whether it was wise to come back this early, but I seem to be doing well. I will certainly keep a closer eye on my mental health going forward. This week, my performance in acting class … | Continue reading
Quick bits: Apropos of nothing, the dream of home ownership feels further out than ever before. Renting feels like throwing money away but I don’t really seem to have much of a choice. I purchased a Thunderbolt dock: the CalDigit TS3 Plus. It’s made my desk setup considerably bet … | Continue reading