Asymptomatic

There must be intelligent life down here

Deimos
February 02, 2021
cat pet deimos

About 14 years ago, we brought Deimos and Phobos into our home from Berta’s sister’s cat’s litter in Johnstown. The two Maine Coon brothers - named after the sons of the war-god Ares, the personification of dread and fear - each had their own personalities, even as kittens.

Deimos was the playful adventurous cat of the pair. His favorite activities were fetching thrown pipe cleaners and trying to sneak out the back door when you weren’t looking. He would insist on being pet while I drank coffee in the morning, and when I didn’t, he’d bite my toes. Deimos was more friendly with people, but still preferred his family of humans. He’d sit in his cat tree during the day and chirp at the birds outside.

Roadmaps
May 05, 2020
work roadmap plan

I’ve been thinking about how to plan not just a large development project, but multiple large development projects together on a timeline and allow for interrupt work.

We’ve managed to put together a roadmap for the next fiscal year. It looks nice, and it conveys useful information for our plan for the year. But it has some flaws, and I’ve been mentally taking a step back to try to understand the purpose of having a roadmap, and what useful results it feeds.

Productivity In Captivity
April 21, 2020
productivity plan work

One thing we’re learning as we stay home during C19 is that “if we only had the time” isn’t real. I think it’s one of the unexpected more depressing aspects of this whole situation.

When provided with the “opportunity” of “spare time” to work on those things that we’ve always wanted to get done, we’re not actually doing any more of them than we ever did. Having no place to be on Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday evenings like we usually would doesn’t re-open those evenings for other productive activities.

External Brain
April 20, 2020
brain memory

I recall some times back in college where I would play wingman to my roommate for his many female acquaintances. The situation reminds me a bit of some of those movies where there’s some dignitary or higher-up that has an assistant that remembers everyone’s name and position for them. For example, in The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway’s character attends a function with her boss, the titular “Devil”, and serves up the names of some of the party guests and reasons to talk to or dodge them.

I was listening to podcasts this morning, and as one podcast ended and rolled over to the next, it forced me to recall this situation. The next podcast was partially played, and so it started in the middle with no description of context. It took me several seconds to realize what I was listening to, and where it had left off.