Tuesday December 25th
Merry Christmas and other stuff
A Happy, Merry Christmas to all
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I’m not in my home country this year, but I probably will be, next year. I’d like to write this so that perhaps next year, I can appreciate being there even more (and the hugs!). My brother says it’s HOT (he’s in Scotland, normally). Christmas in Trinidad is really a magical thing. It’s just not comparable to any other Christmas I’ve ever experienced (NY, LA), although I am happy for being able to spend this Christmas with one of my best friends (and her family) in Los Angeles. People in my country are so warm (not push-overs, though!), it just feels like an outpouring of love and warmth! And SO much food! :)
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My mom really wanted me to come home this Christmas, but she understands. And honestly, I tend to not think about it too much or get sad anymore, except if I do visit, and then have to leave. Then, I end up crying all the way to Florida (no joke). An entire leg of the trip in tears.
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I got up this morning and saw that a redditor from Waterloo had responded to a DM I sent. He recommended a book (1556 pages) that I was able to find a free pdf of online, so I immediately downloaded it and got into reading it. I’m almost close to 60 pages in.
It was brought to my attention
- That I may be a “fix it” person. I do like making, but this post is about fixing. I can spend forever trying to understand how things work, and if it isn’t satisfying, I’ll just slink away and spend hours on my own trying to get my questions answered. Indeed, I did work in a technician role for a number of years (at what some may consider to be a few startups; the last one had a machine shop and built 80 percent of everything in-house. We would even put “Made in America” stickers on our products before shipping them out, and send people to provide service and help customers get set up.
- I was promised at the beginning of one that I’d learn certain things, and when other guys came in, they were given preference (even though my skill-set / background was better cough sexism), so I started taking welding and machining classes on my own dime, which eventually led to learning programming). In my head, I was determined that a person was not going to stop me from learning a certain skill-set and understanding how certain things were put together.
- Years ago, I remember that another person was “above me” (in terms of position) as a service technician” (and had the arrogance, as well!), and couldn’t even tell the difference between hot and and ground. The head technician (who I’m still friends with), was amazed that I’d spend my free time in the morning before work learning about resistor codes and knew about wiring already (I did study all-sciences in high school, after all, and was the kind to hang out with my dad when he was trying to fix something in our car or help the guy who came to fix the wiring in our house !), and was quite kind to me and allowed me to sit in while he was doing repairs.
- In college, everyone wanted me on their crew because if things went down, I could fix them. One person told her crew that I was the only one allowed to touch certain equipment (lol). In retrospect, that’s kind of crappy on my part, because if I fixed it well enough, anyone should be able to touch it, but I guess I was learning.
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Yesterday while I was writing Haskell (because everyone around me was partying or getting ready to go home), I’ve been streaming these PCB board videos in the background (ie people repairing boards). I really enjoy watching (or listening to) board streams and people fixing boards. I even occasionally stop to read up on a component or a system with which I’m unfamiliar. I also enjoyed making a board at the workshop I attend from time to time.
- So, I’m interested in how things work, and functional programming. I have no idea what that means, but I guess this post is a start mentally to 2019 for me.