Category: General Musings

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is go hiking, and the region around Portland has an abundance of diverse options. There are mountains to climb, hikes through the woods or by the coast, and even exploring the lava tubes of Mount St Helens. There never is a shortage of options, which is fantastic. A few weeks ago I hiked to the summit of Hamilton Mountain with a friend, about 9 miles total with 2,300 feet of elevation gain. I love getting away from everything, including technology, and enjoying the beauty of nature. I find that it helps me slow down to observe and enjoy the world around me more. I appreciate and enjoy technology and the many benefits that it has brought; one downside for me is the accompanying always on…

Retrospectives, when done well, can have a great impact on team environments and allow for various adjustments. These checkins become pivoting and adapting catalysts. Recently, I have been doing some self exploration leading to the desire for more focused learning. In talking with other developers and taking inspiration from Jason Lengstorf, I have decided to take on quarterly personal retrospectives. What are my goals for the remainder of 2019? An underlying theme I have noticed over the past month is the desire to be more intentional. This theme is also reflected in the three goals I have set for the next 5 months. I have settled in to the career transition and life has been finding its new equilibrium. I’m still discovering what I want…

Back in August, I completed my first quarterly personal retrospective as a means of being more intentional with life. I believe increased introspection allows for finer course corrections and recognizing the milestones of accomplishments along the way. For me, a setting intentions allows me to more proactively engage with life, rather than having it happen to me. For more details on the why, please check out the original blog post. Q3 saw a lot of progress in the focus areas I had set, with some exceptions. In this retrospective I want to revisit the year end goals, what went well in Q3, and what I want to invest in for Q4. What are my 2019 year end goals and progress? In my Q2 retrospective I set 3 goals for the remainder of the year…

The democratization of learning in software development continues to be one of my favorite things. Coupled with meetups and communities which allow for people to learn from others results in a great learning environment. There were several people who strongly invested in me as I was first learning to code; they answered what I felt were silly questions, reviewed my code, and encouraged me to continue pushing forward. This aspect of the community was essential to my learning experience and becoming the developer that I am today. Previously, I considered mentoring something that was primarily relegated to senior developers; the additional experience and leadership roles make this a logical conclusion. Until recently, this resulted in my…