GSoC and RustReach Day 16

I am heading to sleep soon

• It’s been a semi-long day. Not because of Haskell, which I’ve quite been enjoying (even though at the moment I’m a bit stuck; I need to get some rest and think about it and come back in the morning), but because of my other PT gig.
• I’m realizing some things about myself, and what I’m not. Particularly, even though I am hard on myself and want to get better, I very much like programming. Today a coworker snapped at me (I think it was projection) and said I was doing a thing that devs do (he’s very much a tester and considers himself to be one), and I casually responded “well, that’s because I am one”. And so it is. I mean, I’m learning some stuff, but I can’t say I’ve enjoyed the process. It’s aight. It’s been good to learn, I guess. Thankfully, most of my time is spent programming, and I have learned about things to think about as a tester that will help me think of edge cases while programming. I really hope it’s not like an “us vs them” reality, because I love my programmer friends. They make me laugh, and we have the same sense of humour. Plus, if I compared the two groups, I’ve definitely gotten better, quality mentorship and encouragement from my programmer friends. Truth.
• Also, some of them think I should quit right away. LOL. So this isn’t helping me, but it’s amusing. Their attitude is like I’m a guy who could retire who is driving Uber for fun, and they’re telling me not to drive Uber, because I don’t need the money and could be spending my time…not driving Uber. But I’m convinced that there is some value I can derive from the experience… at least for now.

I’m giving a lightning talk

• I’m giving a recap talk for my local GDG group on IO. I already sent my slides over. Oh, my parents finally got the card I sent them when I was at IO. I sort of scribbled I love you mom and dad or something…I’m glad they liked it :D.

I’m heading on to Chapter 12

• In Rust. So far, so good

I’m doing the Circle, SolidCircle and ThickCircle constructors

• I’m trying to figure out how to use Points…but not quite there yet. PathDrawer needs points, but I want to just call it like Circle callStack r(for radius), where Circle is the constructor that just needs that radius parameter. Things will into place, I think certainly after the meeting tomorrow evening. And best of all, we can video-skype and work and screen-share together now! Yay for new computers (with Haskell stickers on them!) :D

I was thinking about

• So I’ve mentioned that my peers have said as testers that they “don’t have time to programme” after work. One still does video editing, even, and finds time for that. As for me, I can’t wait to programme when I get home from work. It’s like a release. I spend my mornings before work programming, and this morning, a lady saw me and gave me information. LOL. She thought I was writing PHP, and I told her it was Rust.
• What I’m most disappointed in so far with my PT is that my two GSoC mentors told me that where I gig should set me up for success. They should want to bring me up to speed as much as possible, so that I can be productive, and that should be a priority. It hasn’t felt like that at all. The difference between my two remote internships and this one is startling. But I guess I should be fair and give it time. LOL or not. I don’t think it will matter either way; it seems like things will sort themselves out. Either I’ll be a fit or I won’t over time; that’s really how it goes. If I’m not, that’s bad on them for wasting both our time, and we part ways. No hard feelings. Right now, one good thing going is the flexibility (ie I get to attend the three things I had previously arranged to attend; Racket School, LambdaConf and PLDI) and not having to touch any extra money I have. But my head is honestly just thinking about Haskell and Rust all day long. Plus, it feels a little bit more like nanny-ing heading to work. The expectation of the remote gigs is that you can do whatever, as long as you get the work done. Maybe when people turn 65, employers trust them?

## Anyways

• It is what it is. However it works out is how it works out. I’m a bit apathetic at this point (especially the LA market, which I quite frankly think is balls, but that’s a story for another day) , and only enthusiastic about doors that open, not ones that close. So we’ll see.