What's new in 22

Looks like I haven’t shared anything in two months, so let’s get to it.

I’m actively interviewing for Site Reliability Manager roles. Prior to very recently I’ve been casually looking for a new role: surfing LinkedIn job postings every so often, fielding messages from recruiters, but not doing a lot of applying. I’ve cranked up the velocity in the last two weeks and am getting traction with actual interviews. I have lots of thoughts about the interview process itself but I doubt any of them break new ground so I won’t bother you with them. There are definitely some ‘lessons learned’ here that I’ll try to pay forward with my candidates once I’m in a hiring position again.

I passed an Amazon Web Services (AWS) certification exam. You know how sometimes it seems like 1/3 of the Internet decides to die at the same time? It’s because those companies all use computers rented from an Amazon data center (the cloud!) and those computers are now unhappy. Since so many companies use Amazon cloud, and the cost to the company when those systems aren’t working 100% can be quite high, there is demand for engineers who know how all that stuff works.

I’ve used AWS basically since the beginning when there were only a few services (store files, rent computers) for dabbling with my personal projects, and then in a professional setting at Jaunt VR where we rented beefy computers by the day to chew through giant video files. With the spare time I have during sabbatical, I figured I’d formalize my experience by earning a certification. Instead of relying solely on my assurance that I know how AWS works, prospective employers can use the certification as additional validation.

I joined a coworking space in Holly Springs. I have a perfectly acceptable home office; it has two nice monitors, a clickity-clackity keyboard, ergonomic chair, convenient bathrooms and delicious snacks. It’s also quiet and lonely and I was finding it increasingly difficult to self-motivate. I felt I needed the energy of an office environment and a reason to leave the house a few times a week. I’m on a ‘floating desk’ plan, meaning for $200/mo I can come and plop down wherever there’s a free desk (or in the café) 24/7, reserve conference rooms here and there, and soak up free coffee. It’s been two weeks and I’m guessing I’ll average 3 days/week here. When I move to full-time work I can put in for a reserved desk or even a private office, but we’ll see.

I watched The Beatles: Get Back on Disney+. This person sums up my feelings about it much better than I ever could. Most enlightening to me was just how messy the creative process was for these guys here at the end of their Beatles career. You can not be a fan of them, and that’s fine, but it’s another thing to not recognize their impact. Anyway, read the link if you’re in the least bit interested. Bonus: I watched the entire 8 hour documentary while riding the Peloton. No, not in one sitting.

Wordle is fun. Some days it takes me 2 minutes, others 20. It hasn’t worn off yet.

As always, thanks for reading!