Well, it's Thursday, and I mostly feel like I've not accomplished much this week. Just regular life stuff getting in the way and throwing me off my routine. As such, not a lot of progress to report.
I've not been able to devote real time to tutorials this week, although I did a SQL one, kind of as a refresher, and I loved it. Something that I've been trying to determine is what particularly I enjoy (in terms of skills learned at Prime) and I have to own up to digging database stuff. I resisted admitting that, I guess because librarians, data, how boring. But well, writing SQL queries is super-fun. OMG nerd.
Kind of finished up the library app ... it was actually a bit anticlimactic, although I had an experience that I suspect is something developers encounter often. I spent a fair amount of time working on a filter that would list items checked out by a specific user. Got it working, albeit not quite how I wanted, but then realized it was actually not that great a feature. It had seemed like a good idea, but when I actually had it there to look at, it didn't add any value. It didn't allow me to do something necessary; it was just there to be there. So that was interesting. I took it off. Less is more.
Overall, I'm feeling really discouraged. Everyone has been very positive and helpful and sympathetic re: job search woes, but man, it's the worst. Mostly I'm going to try and finish the week strong, set aside some time to get through the last recommended PHP tutorial tomorrow and then make a fresh start next week. While I was at Prime, I noticed a definite pattern of ups and downs, and I've found that life afterwards hasn't been much different.
Github commits: I missed Sunday. I didn't have something particular to work on, and I was truly feeling the need to not spend time thinking about code. But I've been consistent otherwise; definitely think it's a habit I'm comfortable with at this point. Apparently this sprint ends Tuesday and another starts up? Count me in...
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Thursday, August 04, 2016
Post Script (SO MANY PUNS YOU GUYS)
A note to myself re: things I want to work on. Should have mentioned them in the previous post.
- Changes to RM (solo project). Needs to allow for duplications and multiple dates.
- "Personal" copy of VV(group project) on Heroku. Could be tricksy.
Weekly Update the First
Oh look, a second blog post. That's some rockin' & rollin' right there.
Let's see. When last I wrote, I was committing (ha) to blogging about committing, and I was waiting on a learning schedule from the esteemed SB over at Prime. I was technically not at 100% because of Github's pickiness, but that was okay. It's now been almost a week, so here's what I've been up to!
1. Learning PHP. I'm doing tutorials on Treehouse, and it's been pretty cool. At first I got a little bogged down on the exercises, but what I've decided to do is less following along with the actual coding, and more observing and noting similarities between PHP and the more-familiar Javascript (there are lots). As directed, I have obtained a cookbook and once I'm done with the Treehouse material, I will jump into actual coding. This method (observe now, code later) I think will work better for me in terms of learning and actually maintaining the information.
2. Building an app! This is where the daily commits come in, and I'm still pretty much at 100% (barring the afore-mentioned hiccups). My app is a relatively straightforward full-stack, CRUD operation, similar to our projects at Prime. Express, Node, Angular ... I used SQL because the relational nature made sense, and also for some practice there. If I decide to deploy it to Heroku I'll post a link to it, but for now here's a brief description.
I'm a librarian (once a librarian, always a librarian), and so's my husband. My daughter, who's almost 6, is a total bookworm. We check out tons of books from the public library, and keeping track of them is kind of a pain. We all have our own accounts in the SPPL system that we can log into and check up on, but I only know mine, and if I want to check on my kid's, I have to look up the information, and blah blah blah. SO, I am building an app that allows me to manually (for now) enter item information, save it to a database, and spit it back out as a full list of everything the family's got checked out currently. When we return an item, it can be removed from the database/list. The last two days I've been working on some fun logic using Moment.js that allows me to change the table row of an item to a different color depending on if it's almost due (yellow) or overdue (red). It's pretty sweet, and I'm kind of pumped about it.
Things I want to do with this app further down the road: conceivably re-write it in another language. Hook it up to a barcode scanning app that will allow me to input the barcode and use that as an item's unique identifier. (I was doing that initially, but it's a pain to type barcodes in by hand, so I switched it out for a SQL-generated ID). In a "Samantha's gone crazy hacker" world, I want to figure out how to use a web crawler (??) to actually log into the SPPL system as each member of my family and actually just pull the data straight from there into my app. But we'll see. Baby steps, and whatnot.
Combining the learning of a new language with doing old, familiar work (but with some new stuff thrown in) has helped me to maintain an even keel in terms of not feeling overwhelmed or like I'm starting over from scratch and know nothing. Also, it obviously keeps my hand in on the Javascript side.
All in all, a relatively successful week, coding- and learning-wise. Next week I'll hopefully be jumping in to actually coding in PHP, and maybe digging up a new project to start work on, as opposed to continually tweaking tiny things on my library app.
Stay tuned for week 2 shenanigans!
Let's see. When last I wrote, I was committing (ha) to blogging about committing, and I was waiting on a learning schedule from the esteemed SB over at Prime. I was technically not at 100% because of Github's pickiness, but that was okay. It's now been almost a week, so here's what I've been up to!
1. Learning PHP. I'm doing tutorials on Treehouse, and it's been pretty cool. At first I got a little bogged down on the exercises, but what I've decided to do is less following along with the actual coding, and more observing and noting similarities between PHP and the more-familiar Javascript (there are lots). As directed, I have obtained a cookbook and once I'm done with the Treehouse material, I will jump into actual coding. This method (observe now, code later) I think will work better for me in terms of learning and actually maintaining the information.
2. Building an app! This is where the daily commits come in, and I'm still pretty much at 100% (barring the afore-mentioned hiccups). My app is a relatively straightforward full-stack, CRUD operation, similar to our projects at Prime. Express, Node, Angular ... I used SQL because the relational nature made sense, and also for some practice there. If I decide to deploy it to Heroku I'll post a link to it, but for now here's a brief description.
I'm a librarian (once a librarian, always a librarian), and so's my husband. My daughter, who's almost 6, is a total bookworm. We check out tons of books from the public library, and keeping track of them is kind of a pain. We all have our own accounts in the SPPL system that we can log into and check up on, but I only know mine, and if I want to check on my kid's, I have to look up the information, and blah blah blah. SO, I am building an app that allows me to manually (for now) enter item information, save it to a database, and spit it back out as a full list of everything the family's got checked out currently. When we return an item, it can be removed from the database/list. The last two days I've been working on some fun logic using Moment.js that allows me to change the table row of an item to a different color depending on if it's almost due (yellow) or overdue (red). It's pretty sweet, and I'm kind of pumped about it.
Things I want to do with this app further down the road: conceivably re-write it in another language. Hook it up to a barcode scanning app that will allow me to input the barcode and use that as an item's unique identifier. (I was doing that initially, but it's a pain to type barcodes in by hand, so I switched it out for a SQL-generated ID). In a "Samantha's gone crazy hacker" world, I want to figure out how to use a web crawler (??) to actually log into the SPPL system as each member of my family and actually just pull the data straight from there into my app. But we'll see. Baby steps, and whatnot.
Combining the learning of a new language with doing old, familiar work (but with some new stuff thrown in) has helped me to maintain an even keel in terms of not feeling overwhelmed or like I'm starting over from scratch and know nothing. Also, it obviously keeps my hand in on the Javascript side.
All in all, a relatively successful week, coding- and learning-wise. Next week I'll hopefully be jumping in to actually coding in PHP, and maybe digging up a new project to start work on, as opposed to continually tweaking tiny things on my library app.
Stay tuned for week 2 shenanigans!
Thursday, July 28, 2016
A New Hat
I have never been very good at answering the "what do you want to be when you grow up?" question. First of all, who wants to grow up? Second of all, I guess I just don't believe in limiting myself to one activity. Even this blog, to which I am (perhaps?) returning after a long hiatus, would give you an indication of how I tend to bounce from pastime to pastime and idea to idea if you were to scroll back through the archives.
As such, a new (new) beginning. From April to July of this year, I attended a software development bootcamp, called Prime Digital Academy. In a word, it was awesome. I am now entitled to wear the hat of a software developer/engineer/whatever you want to call it, and I hope to obtain a job in the tech field as soon as possible. In the meantime, though, I am participating in a challenge, issued by one SB at Prime, to commit some bit of code, however minute, to Github every day. I've been at it for about a week, and while the record will show a few gaps because of site weirdness, I really have done code and saved code each day. A second part of the challenge involves blogging about my foray into software development, and so here we are. We shall see.
Trying to bring one's own brain up to speed is an interesting exercise. Here's where I'm at: I think I did pretty well at Prime. Not head of the class, maybe, but I feel pretty confident in my abilities at this point (if you know me, you know that's saying something). Graduation was nearly two weeks ago, and in that time I've found re-entry into "normal" life to be somewhat painful. I attach to people hard. I like having structure in my life. Last week I truly felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. This week I'm adjusting more, but still feeling pretty on edge. Trying to apply for jobs, trying to "keep learning" (more on this in a second), trying to figure out what my new routine is, knowing it'll ideally change when I join the ranks of the employed again.
"Learn more." A challenge in its own right, but one that is proving doubly difficult, post-Prime. It's hard to pick a direction. It's hard to know whether you're "doing it right". Mostly, it's hard to duplicate the Prime experience. That's certainly not what I should be trying to do, of course, but the structure is what drew me to the program in the first place. It's what sets Prime apart from just doing tutorials online. Re-enter SB, who has promised me direction, for which I am profoundly grateful. Going forward here, you can expect less background, and hopefully more "Here's what I'm doing today/this week" once I have some direction. Make no mistake, you'll still get blather (again, have you met me?) but perhaps more constructive blather. In the meantime, onward. I haven't committed yet today...
As such, a new (new) beginning. From April to July of this year, I attended a software development bootcamp, called Prime Digital Academy. In a word, it was awesome. I am now entitled to wear the hat of a software developer/engineer/whatever you want to call it, and I hope to obtain a job in the tech field as soon as possible. In the meantime, though, I am participating in a challenge, issued by one SB at Prime, to commit some bit of code, however minute, to Github every day. I've been at it for about a week, and while the record will show a few gaps because of site weirdness, I really have done code and saved code each day. A second part of the challenge involves blogging about my foray into software development, and so here we are. We shall see.
Trying to bring one's own brain up to speed is an interesting exercise. Here's where I'm at: I think I did pretty well at Prime. Not head of the class, maybe, but I feel pretty confident in my abilities at this point (if you know me, you know that's saying something). Graduation was nearly two weeks ago, and in that time I've found re-entry into "normal" life to be somewhat painful. I attach to people hard. I like having structure in my life. Last week I truly felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. This week I'm adjusting more, but still feeling pretty on edge. Trying to apply for jobs, trying to "keep learning" (more on this in a second), trying to figure out what my new routine is, knowing it'll ideally change when I join the ranks of the employed again.
"Learn more." A challenge in its own right, but one that is proving doubly difficult, post-Prime. It's hard to pick a direction. It's hard to know whether you're "doing it right". Mostly, it's hard to duplicate the Prime experience. That's certainly not what I should be trying to do, of course, but the structure is what drew me to the program in the first place. It's what sets Prime apart from just doing tutorials online. Re-enter SB, who has promised me direction, for which I am profoundly grateful. Going forward here, you can expect less background, and hopefully more "Here's what I'm doing today/this week" once I have some direction. Make no mistake, you'll still get blather (again, have you met me?) but perhaps more constructive blather. In the meantime, onward. I haven't committed yet today...
Friday, November 08, 2013
Friday
Here's what I'd like to do today. Go sit somewhere, drink adult beverages, and have a burger. I would like to not have to pay for this activity, and I would also like for it not to result in any weight gain. Perhaps some television or a movie could be playing.
That sounds much better than working.
That sounds much better than working.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Talking about boys can be profound. No, really.
Haven't blogged in a while. Feel like I should, although I don't have anything major to report. Life is moving along at a reasonably even keel these days. I think we're all settling into a routine, although as usual, I try to shake mine up here and there.
Last week was not great on the exercise front: I just wasn't feeling it. For me, that's a struggle. I want to acknowledge that I might need a break, that my "not feeling it" is my body's way of telling me something. But there's another side of me that gets rather worked up about it. I'm very big on what I "should" be doing (according to whom, though?): eating right, working out, reading, being a better/harder worker...ugh. I work on being more patient with myself, but it's a constant struggle.
ANYWAY, there was going to be a point to that. OH. This week I am trying to really sort of focus on getting some activity in, if for no other reason than it just makes me feel better. Yesterday: early morning yoga. (Yay!) This morning: very pleasant 2 miles. Hopefully yoga this evening as well. Feeling pretty good about the week so far.
Wish I had something important and profound today, but I really don't. Right now I am chatting with a friend about reasons why Tom Mison > Tom Hiddleston. Mainly: level of butchness. Sorry, Hiddles. So there's some profundity for you. I really do think about serious things a lot, but they never seem to be front and center when I decide to post. Mainly, I'm just here to try and write a little bit. What I write about is of less consequence.
My wedding anniversary is this weekend. Part of me is fairly astonished that I have been married for almost 8 years. Eight years is almost ten, people! A whole decade. But mostly, it still strikes me as the best decision I ever made, and the last eight years seem like a job well done. I am extremely lucky that my husband feels the same. Take the time to make sure you're in the right place in life, my friends. It's worth it.
And now, to work!
Last week was not great on the exercise front: I just wasn't feeling it. For me, that's a struggle. I want to acknowledge that I might need a break, that my "not feeling it" is my body's way of telling me something. But there's another side of me that gets rather worked up about it. I'm very big on what I "should" be doing (according to whom, though?): eating right, working out, reading, being a better/harder worker...ugh. I work on being more patient with myself, but it's a constant struggle.
ANYWAY, there was going to be a point to that. OH. This week I am trying to really sort of focus on getting some activity in, if for no other reason than it just makes me feel better. Yesterday: early morning yoga. (Yay!) This morning: very pleasant 2 miles. Hopefully yoga this evening as well. Feeling pretty good about the week so far.
Wish I had something important and profound today, but I really don't. Right now I am chatting with a friend about reasons why Tom Mison > Tom Hiddleston. Mainly: level of butchness. Sorry, Hiddles. So there's some profundity for you. I really do think about serious things a lot, but they never seem to be front and center when I decide to post. Mainly, I'm just here to try and write a little bit. What I write about is of less consequence.
My wedding anniversary is this weekend. Part of me is fairly astonished that I have been married for almost 8 years. Eight years is almost ten, people! A whole decade. But mostly, it still strikes me as the best decision I ever made, and the last eight years seem like a job well done. I am extremely lucky that my husband feels the same. Take the time to make sure you're in the right place in life, my friends. It's worth it.
And now, to work!
Monday, September 30, 2013
Probably best deleted, but who's reading anyway?
Last week I tried to take a mental break. Ran without gadgets a couple of times, ran a reasonably relaxed 9 miler on Sunday. It felt good. Brought back a bit of the enjoyment of running.
I've been trying to take a step back in almost everything: relax, relent, let go. I somehow turn around and find my life tightly controlled: workout regimens (such as they are), consumption, scheduling...I worry a lot about habits. The truth is that I have pretty healthy habits, for the most part, but I'm always trying to fit in a new one, get better at something, so on and so forth. Turns out that level of obsessing about one's life is kind of exhausting. I thought I was being mindful, but there's got to be a happy medium of mindfulness. Put another way, "mindfulness" surely means observance and allowance more than trying to cram the self into a neat little compartment.
Life is certainly a series of steps forward and back. Two days ago, I felt fine about whatever-it-was (pick a subject). I could look at myself and say "This is me. Work in progress, but not so bad." I encounter something to make me second-guess that confidence, and I'm back to attempting to shove the round peg (me) into the square hole of perfection.
Ok, that all got way too sloppy and metaphorical. I am tired and grumpy that my television reception interrupted my planned entertainment of snooty British Ichabod Crane and his creepy adventures. Also, today was a rest day. I'm always wonky on rest days. I shall finish cleaning up and get ready for bed. Run AND yoga tomorrow!
I've been trying to take a step back in almost everything: relax, relent, let go. I somehow turn around and find my life tightly controlled: workout regimens (such as they are), consumption, scheduling...I worry a lot about habits. The truth is that I have pretty healthy habits, for the most part, but I'm always trying to fit in a new one, get better at something, so on and so forth. Turns out that level of obsessing about one's life is kind of exhausting. I thought I was being mindful, but there's got to be a happy medium of mindfulness. Put another way, "mindfulness" surely means observance and allowance more than trying to cram the self into a neat little compartment.
Life is certainly a series of steps forward and back. Two days ago, I felt fine about whatever-it-was (pick a subject). I could look at myself and say "This is me. Work in progress, but not so bad." I encounter something to make me second-guess that confidence, and I'm back to attempting to shove the round peg (me) into the square hole of perfection.
Ok, that all got way too sloppy and metaphorical. I am tired and grumpy that my television reception interrupted my planned entertainment of snooty British Ichabod Crane and his creepy adventures. Also, today was a rest day. I'm always wonky on rest days. I shall finish cleaning up and get ready for bed. Run AND yoga tomorrow!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Race recap?
On Sunday I ran the Women Run the Cities 10 miler. I have several friends who run it often (although they didn't this year), and have heard great things about it, so I decided to sign up. Additionally, the 10 miles fits pretty neatly into a half-marathon training schedule for the Monster Dash in late October, so it's all quite tidy. The race is a women-only event, which was kind of different, and while I've run a half before, it's my first time racing with this particular distance.
My training runs so far have spanned from truly awful to decent, so I had a LOT of anxiety going into this race. Most of my running this year has felt like a struggle, what with foot issues and shin issues; beyond that, it all just feels a lot harder for some reason. For another thing, I've come to realize that running in the summer kind of sucks. You're slow and it's hot and you feel awful, but the trade-off is generally that once the fall weather hits, you're speeding right along. Well, "speeding." It's all relative.
So, I ran with a friend, and I am really grateful to her for being supportive and cheerful during the race. We got there early to pick up race packets and drop off bags, and stuff, and it was nice to be able to have time to do that stuff without getting stressed about it. We discovered that there were pace leaders, which made me really happy. I generally have no clue when it comes to pacing, so having help in staying consistent is awesome. While the race was well-attended, it was not as crowded as some, and everyone spread out really quickly after the start, which was nice. My friend and I actually settled into a pace probably about 15 seconds ahead of the group we'd selected (10:30), which felt really good to start out with. It was pretty chilly, but the weather was GORGEOUS, and I ended up taking off my long-sleeved shirt after a couple of miles.
My feet started their weird hurting thing a little earlier than usual, somewhere between miles 3 and 4. Despite that, I was feeling really great until mile 6 or so, and then...I just got so TIRED. Not physically tired (although obviously that too) but more mentally tired. My brain was just not into it. It was a strange feeling. My body would say "Not having fun. Please desist this activity." and I would say "But why? My feet hurt, but that's not that bad. Legs are a little sore but nothing major. Breathing could be easier, but so what?" Overall, it really felt as though I felt fine? but I just didn't want to be running anymore. It became SO HARD to keep going, even as we came closer to the end. Once we hit mile 7, we're all thinking "Alright! A 5k. I can run one of those!" and at mile 8, I thought "2 miles. I do this every day, almost." My friend, who was running a good race, wanted to speed up a bit toward the end, and she made me promise to keep running, which I did. Once I could see the finish, I even did my usual sprint for a strong finish, and that felt pretty great. There's finish line video, and I definitely don't look like someone struggling to make it.
Ultimately, I finished right where I'd wanted to. Considering I certainly slowed down a good bit in the latter half of the race, that's pretty awesome. So why am I so unhappy with this? I really can't work it out. The race, or at least the second half of it, was SO HARD. I've been running for three years at this point. Not a grizzled veteran, certainly, but not a newbie either. I ran my first half-marathon last fall at about the same pace, and had a lot of foot issues, etc. leading up to it that actually sidelined me for the week and a half prior to the race. I felt awesome for those entire 13.1 miles. Usual soreness and stuff, but I just felt great: strong and swift and like I had it the whole time. So why were these 10 miles so difficult?
Basically, I've encountered some form of negativity that I can't account for. During the long winter, I was working out (strength training) really regularly and doing a pretty usual week of running on the treadmill. Once better weather hit, I ran (haha) into some problems transitioning from indoor running back to outside which resulted in my taking a few weeks off, and I have just not come back from that the way I'd like. When I started my job in the middle of the summer, the strength training dropped off, although I'm trying to still get in some yoga. I honestly believe I am in better shape currently than I have been at any point previously. So why am I struggling through these runs? I came into this race feeling unprepared. WHY? I've been doing a pretty impressive job of getting up early and getting in 2 miles three or 4 times a week, and even started doing one interval run per week. I hit all of the long run mileage that I should have.
THIS IS ALL IN MY HEAD, but I don't know what it is or how to get rid of it. This morning was my first run post-race, and I went out just to run. I made a mental note of the time, but I left my phone at home, no Runkeeper or anything. It felt nice. I ran three miles comparable to what I've been doing. I was happy to get out and do it. I'm hoping that venting a little will help me get over whatever this issue is. It's really frustrating and confusing, and it makes me dread the next long run. I don't even want to think about a half marathon right now. On the other hand, I still feel much better when I've gotten my runs in, and even the day after the race, I saw someone running and thought "Man, rest days are lame." I feel pretty certain that this is a speed bump and I will get over it, but it is just rough.
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