2013 Resolution Report Card and 2014 Resolutions

Last year, I resolved to:

1.) Stop losing all my shit all the time.

I did not come close to achieving this resolution. In 2013 I continued to lose all my shit all the time. Perhaps even at a higher rate than before, e.g. I managed to lose four different different CamelBak Eddy water bottles within the span of five months. Grade: F

2.) Run a half marathon. 

I ran the Chi Town half marathon and came in under my goal time of two hours! But then I got plantar fasciitis in my foot from improper training and hobbled around for a week afterwards. Grade: A-

3.) Re-discover my love for reading. 

I purchased a Kindle, which was definitely a step in the right direction. Having an e-reader certainly made reading more pleasant, especially after the FAA began permitting gate-to-gate use of PEDs. I wouldn't say I became completely re-enamored with reading, but I certainly enjoyed my fair share of some standout titles in 2013, including:

Dune by Frank Herbert
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear, both by Patrick Rothfuss

Switch by Chip and Dan Heath

I'm currently reading Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer (it's fairly good) which was a Christmas gift, and next on the queue are What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained and The Art of Raising a Puppy. Then I'll get to the half dozen that are still awaiting on my Kindle. Grade: B

As for 2014, I'd like to:

1.) Think and act more positively. Life's too short to constantly be bemoaning about this, complaining about that, or feeling bummed for extended periods of time about whatnot. When shit happens, as it invariably will, I plan to get over it by finding the silver lining or finding a way to laugh about it.

2.) Floss every day. My dentist greatly supports this resolution.

3.) Travel to ten countries that I haven't been to before. Sounds quite ambitious, but should be feasible if I'm frolicking about in the UK. Spain, I am coming for you and your tasty tasty paella.

There you have it, three new goals to kick off the new year. I'm feeling quite excited for what's in store for 2014!

Adventures in the minus forties

Two days ago, doomsday arrived in Chicago. Fun fact: at -40 degrees, you don't even need to specify Celsius or Fahrenheit, for at this godforsaken temperature they are one and the same.

I was lucky in that both the boy and I had the option to work from home. We were not so lucky in that a few weeks ago, we'd scheduled a biometrics appointment (part of the UK visa process where they collect our fingerprints and whatnot) for this very day. I still remember us booking the appointment and enthusiastically declaring, "How about the first Monday of January! Smashing! Fantastic!" and toasting each other's hot beverages and chuckling heartily about how we were being so clever and soooo proactive, when in reality and unbeknownst to us, we'd chosen the day when hell froze over for our 10:00 AM appointment.

Anyhow, the deed was done and we embarked on our 40-minute trip out in the cold, the vast majority of which was spent on a CTA bus (thank goodness). Up until now I'd been secretly nursing somewhat of a terrible suspicion that the immigrations office was going to be closed, but I didn't want to be negative (new year's resolution) and just went with it. Plus there wasn't a phone number to double check as immigrations offices function like it's the year 1850.

Well, after much ado involving squeaky snow and frozen hair, we arrived at the office. And turned the door handle and stepped in. We immediately heard multiple alarms. "Front entrance compromised. Police alerted. Back entrance compromised. Police alerted." etc etc. A quick scan of the room showed a very empty and closed-looking office space and an equally confused person standing a few feet away who also had a morning appointment. Then another person came in from his car and explained that the office was closed today, but for whatever reason the entrances/doors had been left open, and anytime a unknowing innocent person with an appointment opened one, it would trigger the alarm system and police would show up. Apparently they'd come once that morning already.

So, that trip was equal parts disappointing and confusing. But the silver lining was that we were in a neighborhood full of Vietnamese restaurants. We proceeded to drown our sorrows in pho and fried rice.

All bundled up.

After our bellies were sufficiently warmed and we had regained feeling in our toes, the boy took another brief trek back to the immigrations office with equally depressing results (nobody there, alarm still going off) and we hopped back onto the bus.

On the way back I ended up swiping my Ventra pass for the boy and a stranger in addition to for myself. Both of their passes/credit cards were not being recognized by the scanner, neither had singles on them, and the CTA bus driver was not being sympathetic to their cases (in his defense, he was probably following the rules of his job). I also saw another girl try to board the bus and scan her pass, only to have it not work either; she hopped off and the bus driver drove off before anyone could offer to pay for her. By the end of the bus ride I was pretty put out with Ventra (and took my complaints to Twitter, naturally). How many people were denied a bus ride on a day like this because of their systems not working?

We spent the rest of the day working from home, drinking tea, pouring and observing water freeze on our balcony, gazing out into the cold abyss, and generally being thankful for having a warm, comfy abode. The boy also earned his good samaritan badge of the day by helping shovel and push out a couple of stuck cars in the neighborhood.

The clouds looked like they were emerging from Lake Michigan.

Polar Vortex, you definitely know how to ring in the New Year for us Chicago denizens with a blast. Of icy terror.

Tomorrow we'll try and make our way up to the visa/biometric data office again; wish us luck to be met with actual people and not sirens this time!

Goodbye Texas

Thank you/holiday gifts I'm making for my team

This week is my last here in Dallas. I can't believe almost an entire year has gone by. Like always, it feels surreal to be packing my things, zipping up my documents, and saying goodbye.

I suddenly have a heightened awareness of the finality of everything I'm doing, even the most banal and routine things, such as "This is the last time I'll eat this delicious pizza from Cane Rosso" and "This is my last Wednesday night at this Residence Inn" and "This is the last time I'll hit the curb in this huge-ass rental car...hopefully."

At just a bit over 11 months, this will wrap up my longest project in my three-and-a-half years here at ThoughtWorks. Usually at around the six-month mark within any project - no matter how engaging - I find myself wondering about other assignments or roles and starting to feel the itch to roll off and try something else. This time I think that because I switched roles about six months in from BA to scrum master, the shake up was almost big enough that it seemed like a new project despite the fact that I was working with the exact same team, supporting the same technology, and sitting all of three feet away from my old desk.

I've learned so much here over the course of my assignment. Since our team supports no less than ten different applications - all of which are quite dissimilar - I've had to find a good balance of broad versus deep domain knowledge. We've delivered some pretty awesome software too, like a service for crew members to access their own security line, updates to be compliant with the latest FAA regulations, and a huge Websphere to Tomcat application overhaul (whose improved performance led one customer to exclaim, "Mikey likie!")

I've also learned that the airline industry is incredibly insane. Just getting crew on board safely and in a cost-effective way is complex enough to make my head spin sometimes. I've always thought flying was pretty neat. But now, having seen truly how much work goes into every little aspect of a flight, I view every takeoff and arrival as nothing short of a small miracle.

Beyond its intricate domain, this project was also unique in that I developed some pretty meaningful relationships with my team mates. I felt like I thrived within client's culture and was able to partake in many of the interesting and meaningful events on site. I feel grateful for having been on a team that has welcomed me and treated me as one of their own.

This team was also quite unique in that there was a strong female presence on it - a setup I'd never been lucky enough to have before. In our 11-person group, 7 of us are women. Women who hold full-time technical roles, who are mothers and wives, who juggle Cub Scouts meetings for their sons and volleyball games for their daughters, who make arts and crafts, who bring in baked goods for the team to enjoy, who volunteer their time to those less fortunate, who trade jokes and stories, who write beautiful code, who walk their dogs, who compare Candy Crush scores, who stay up all night caring after a sick toddler, who break the rules (when it makes sense), and whose yes-I-can-do-it-all-and-still-find-time-to-treat-myself-to-a-manicure confidence was truly fun and inspiring to be around. I'm going to miss being around these strong female role models.

Despite being reluctant to leave a wonderful team and an awesome client, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited for what's next. I don't want to jinx anything but so far things are looking - dare I say it? - awesome for my next assignment. As in going international awesome! But ThoughtWorks can have a tendency of being a place where no assignment is truly final until the last minute (and even then it can be iffy) so I'm trying not to get myself too excited yet :)  I keep having to remind myself that there are 12 full days of vacation to enjoy with loved ones before it's time to fret about work again.

So Dallas, for the second time, I bid you adieu after an extended stay here. So long, and thanks for all the breakfast tacos.