The Ryndex

Working Hard? Why, yes, I am.

A blog entry that explains why there have been few blog entries and promises to make more is boring. And I propose that Avarice and Envy merge into a single Deadly Sin in order to make room for a new one: Boringness.

I’m not bored. I’m actually working hard, and it’s a lot of fun. In a big company, you can easily arrive at a certain mentality of going through all of the motions of work without actually, well, producing anything of value. We pretend to be useful and churn through versions of specifications, requirements and use cases, draw diagrams and models and discuss subsystem interactions and interfaces, and trends, and competitors, and tech analysis presentations . We say things because we like the way they sound when we say them, instead of because of their utility. We meet people so we can notch their names in our belt instead of for useful collaboration.

Screw that. Today, I want to be the Rock Star Programmer — I enjoy software development and I’m good at it. So I committed to a very aggressive schedule to produce a product with a firm idea, but a vague specification, in a language I don’t know (C#) and on a platform I’ve never used (Windows Mobile 2003).

It’s stressful, but it’s the good type of stress. I’m behind schedule, but I’ve gotten more done in the last few weeks than in the preceding year. I suspect that there won’t be any additional compensation for the effort, but the psychological advantage of actually doing something really does something for me.

One of the problems, of course, is that when you spend the day submerged in code — it isn’t easy to get out of it. I’m functionally handicapped, thinking at a low level appropriate for software running on a mobile phone. I tend to be impatient with everyone else, with their *social interactions* and *feelings*.

On the other hand, I’ve been consistently running in the forest. Six kilometres on Monday and eight on Wednesday. This really isn’t a social activity, but it’s a good way to let the brain and the eyes focus far beyond the computer screen, especially after a few weeks when you stop concentrating on your legs. It starts to be fun, and it makes you want more.

Plus roller hockey on Fridays, which is kick ass fun. I’m still not very good, but I’m keeping myself upright and the good players are very good about including the nincompoops.

And I went to the Foire d’Italy which was a big exposition on tourism, design and gastronomy in Italy. Mamma mia! Delicioso!

Also, there was a free concert with Maroon 5 and Nathalie Imbruglia, plus French stars such as Jenifer and De Palmas. We watched them under the Eiffel Tower.

I guess my point is that it’s all going well and the days are packed. And I’m not Bored.