In December a friend texted a link to an early SARS-COV-2 article and said, “The Zombie apocalypse is starting.”
In February, I had Jury Duty where the trial we were being selected for would last three weeks. A man was concerned he'd need to recuse himself to go to China to care for his father. I was personally concerned about spending three weeks with the same group of people while a virus that seemed to have a two week incubation period and was beginning to break ground in the US.
The first known cases in the US were in Seattle and Santa Clara. The first deaths in the US happened in Santa Clara in February. I drive past Santa Clara on my way to work every day.
I'm not much of a chef, but I've got a yearly tradition: On Super Bowl Sunday, I make Chili. I'm not much of a football fan either, but I like a good excuse to socialize. Well, most years anyways.
Still though, tradition remains. I approach cooking like I approach my code. I like keeping simple things simple. My chili is one of those things.
I was twelve years old when 9/11 happened. After the first tower was hit, the teachers turned on the televisions and we all watched. We saw the second tower get hit and the both of them fall.
I watched 3,000 people die live on television. We all did.
If I truly believed the likes of Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook were committing human rights violations against people in their own homes, then I would quit them.
I've been thinking about the Titanic a lot lately. A ship that was believed to be unsinkable, due in part to the watertight bulkheads. A ship that was designed for 32 life rafts, carried only 20, a decision that was driven by aesthetic or money.
Each raft could safely carry 70 passengers. Had all 32 rafts been present, all 2,240 souls on board could have had a chance at survival. Sadly, with only 20 rafts on it's maiden and final voyage, the risk of 840 human lives was deemed worthwhile. After all, the ship was unsinkable.
However, one fatal flaw was glossed over in the pursuit of grandeur. The watertight bulkheads were not quite watertight.
The best thing to come out, imo, is Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts. This show has had a profound impact on me personally and I'm not going to share details with any of you.
What I can say is, you should check it out, because maybe a part of it will resonate with you too. In a year where we all need hope for a better future, this show might give you peace and resolve for how you can help.
If I might include one recommendation, don't binge it. Watch one episode a day and you'll be done in 30 days.
For the past few years, every company I interact with doesn't get the same email address from me. I'm trying to be as plain as possible with this post, but we're going to go on a bit of adventure. So what I'm really trying to say here is, “You should be doing this too and your privacy is important.”
The rest of this article is why it matters to you, but most importantly, what you do matters for everyone.
Thanks for bearing with me. Starting this blog has given me the catharsis I wanted and was looking for. I'd spent too long living in my own head.
I mean, I still do and still will, but I had a lot I needed to unload there. The conclusion I found is that I don't need to take anyone along for the ride I'm on. I'm more than happy to have travel companions, but I'm done dragging the past with me where it doesn't belong.
My career progression happened in the corporate realm. Job titles are essentially meaningless, especially as they have a tendency to change every few years. Some titles eat others and become bloated jargon, see: full-stack engineer.
For the future, we need everyone's tech literacy to improve if we're going to have a successful Solarspace. I think having a ladder to climb with self-promotions can give us all goals to aspire to. It's up to all of us to make this as easy as possible to progress through.