2017

Suggesting that 2017 was a significant year would be an understatement. A lot happened:

• I moved back to the Best Coast (aka, "Left Coast", bka West Coast) after 13 years in Louisiana
• Marched in the Womens March
• Protested the Muslim Ban at PDX International Airport
• I gave a full length talk at .NET Fringe
• Ricardo invited me to speak at Open F# (thank you again Ricardo!)
• I changed jobs after 10 years with the same company

Going Home

I'd wanted to move back to the west coast before I'd even moved to Louisiana. Moving to Louisiana was always intended to be a short detour. In reality at 17 I didn't really know what I wanted, and it took 13 years for a strategy to materialize. I'd gotten a job offer in Portland at the end of 2015, and again towards the end of 2016, which resulted in the move. The job fell through, but we decided to move anyway and work remotely. It was a gamble that I'm really glad we took.

Driving halfway across the country in January isn't something I'll ever do again.

Along the way I ran into one of my besties in Wyoming:

Road tripping with a cat and a dog is a lot of work, especially when your pets aren't used to car rides, or snow (we share that last bit in common):

It snowed more than we expected:

The fur babies managed to get comfy in the only hotel in town that would allow a cat and a dog:

Disaster on the last big stretch:

Another, unexpected, night in a hotel:

Finally made it:

The entire road trip could be a post in and of itself, and in hindsight it was an insane gamble, but in the end we made it to our new home. It was the best decision we've made in a long time.

Resist

2017 was a dumpster fire in a lot of ways. But one of the positives that came out of it was the resulting grass roots activism. I wish more cis, straight, white people, had mobilized before the election, but we'll work with what we have now.

.NET Fringe

I had the privilege of speaking at .NET Fringe in 2017. It was a lot of fun, and, as with last year, I got to meet some wonderful people.

Open F#

I gave the same talk at .NET Fringe at Open F#. It was a wonderful experience, and again, I got to meet some really great people. There were so many good talks and I'm looking forward to going again this year.

New Job

I started a new job with Incomm Digital Solutions as a senior software engineer. I'd been with the same company for nearly years, starting as an intern in 2006 and moving up to "solutions architect" and engineering manager. The friendships I made while working there are what I'll carry with me the most.

Leaving my old job was long overdue. I was burnt out, jaded, and completely disillusioned.

I'm incredibly grateful that IDS hired me. I'm really happy with my work, and my teammates are intelligent, friendly, and most importantly: kind.

I chose to work at IDS because they appeared to (and it's proven out) share my values:

• Psychological safety
• Quality via TDD and QA throughout the entire value stream
• Emphasis on collaboration via mob-programming and pair-programming
• Continuous Delivery/Contiuous Deployment
• A culture that encourages continuous education

We're always hiring, so if you're in the Portland area, hit me up.

Making a job change was absolutely the right move for me.

I stayed at my old job way longer than was health for me, or my personal relationships. I'll never do that again.

One of the reasons I applied at IDS is because they sponsored .NET Fringe. I love that conference, the values it instills, and the sense of safety I feel with respect to diversity, when I'm there.

2018

I'm really excited for this year. I'm hoping to:

• Speak at more meetups
• Speak at a couple conferences
• Contribute to open source
• Become a better mentor
• Get involved in local activism
• Continue to work on my mental health
• Lose all the weight I've gained since moving
• Read a lot of books:
  • Domain Modeling Made Functional
  • Buddhism Plain and Simple
  • F# 4.0 Design Patterns
  • Real World Functional Programming
  • The Effective Engineer
  • Zero Bugs and Program Faster
  • Machine Learning Projects for .NET Developers
  • The Imposter's Handbook
  • The Phoenix Project
  • Modern Mindfulness
  • Production Ready Microservices
  • The Subtle Art of Not Give a Fuck
  • Haskell Programming from First Principles
• Some more stuff TBA...

What I've Learned

• Do what scares you: I'd waited way too long to move, to change jobs, to make changes to improve my mental and physical well being.
• Know when it's time to quit your job

Happy New Year

I hope everyone has a great 2018. Get involved, vote, donate to progressive candidates if you can, and take care of yourself!