Now

Last update: Aug 3, 2024

Here's what keeps me busy at the moment. What?

👋 A New Job

The last few weeks have been a little odd. After 5 years at Stack Overflow I decided that it’s time for me to move on. I’ve got a new job lined up (I’ll talk about it more in the future) and I’ll start in the second half of August. I’m excited about starting somewhere new and getting a chance to work with a lot of passionate and lovely people (at least that’s the impression I got from the interview process, fingers crossed 🤞). My decision to leave Stack Overflow took a lot of deliberation and energy. Coming to terms with the fact that it’s best to move on after all those years was quite the emotional roller coaster for me. Putting yourself out there, doing job interviews, vetting companies and offers, diving into the unknown once more, and starting fresh all over again takes a lot of energy and emotional bandwidth. I’m happy that I’m now at the end of that process after weeks of contemplation, preparation, interviewing, discussing, negotiating, waiting, doubting, worrying, excitement, saying farewell and stepping out of my comfort zone. My time at Stack has been great, I got the chance to work on things that most software engineers can only dream of. Yet, after a little more than five years I could tell that it was time for me to move on to new adventures. It was fun while it lasted but all good things come to an end.

I’m taking a few days off between jobs and I’ll take the time to unwind from the stress of the last few weeks. I’m stoked to step into new adventures and can’t wait to see all the fun the new job has to offer.

🎨 Root Loops

A few weeks ago I published the pet project I had been working on for a while now: Root Loops is a terminal color scheme generator and I think it turned out really well. It got featured in a few places already, from newsletters to tech podcasts, and it’s super exciting to see how much fun this little pet project is spreading. Oh, I also published a blog post that captures all the lessons I’ve learned from building Root Loops. Check it out if you like, I think it’s pretty damn cool.

📚 Reading

Here’s what I’ve been reading lately.

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

I’m not reading a lot right now. Part of it is due to the job hunt of the last few weeks which has been super exhausting, leaving hardly any desire to sit down and read any fiction or non-fiction. Part of it is because of the book I picked up: After finishing “Dune”, the first book in Frank Herbert’s classic Dune epos, I decided to pick up the second book in the series. “Dune Messiah” looked like a short and quick read with about 300 pages, but wow, it really drags on for me. I knew ahead of time that the pacing of Dune Messiah would be different from the first book, featuring more intrigue, politics, and less action. I’m about halfway through the book and it really feels like a chore to me. The characters are unloveable smart-asses or lack substantial depth, the plot is dense, and so far failed to get me hooked in any way. This might be the last of “Dune” that I’ll read for a long while, I sense.

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🎮 Video Games

Final Fantasy XVI

I finally finished Final Fantasy XVI a few weeks ago and was grateful when it was over. It was a solid game overall. Solid production, decent story, a gameplay that’s fun enough. Yet, the story and characters felt shallow, the plot and gameplay was too repetitive, and the plethora of cutscenes often made this feel like a movie with a few interactive elements in between.

Disco Elysium

I picked up Disco Elysium, a pretty grim adventure / detective game that a coworker recommended a while ago. He prefaced it with the warning that you’ve got to be in the right headspace to play it, and boy was he right. Everything about this game is intriguing, the story is deep and fascinating, the characters are full of personality, mostly in the worst ways possible. The overall tone and vibe of the game is really dark and outright depressing, and as a result it can drag you down if you don’t watch out. I’m picking it up every now and then but overall I feel like playing it during summertime where I’m trying to recharge and have an enthusiastic and positive outlook into the future just clashes with the intention of the game. Brilliant game, truly unlike anything I’ve played before, but the timing’s got to be right.

🏋 Working Out

After finishing my previous program with a solid set of new personal records on the deadlift, bench, and overhead press, I wanted to switch gears during summer. I picked a program that’s a little different from traditional powerlifting programs and picked Brian Alsruhe’s “Everyday Carry” program for summer. It’s a program that incorporates heavy carries (farmer’s walks, front carries, waiter’s carries, a ton of heavy-ass sandbag work) into every single workout. Paired with Brian Alsruhe’s obsession for giant sets and strict timing, this program kicks butt and wears me out every single day. It’s fun. It’s a huge challenge, both physically and mentally. On most days I dread the upcoming workout as I know it’ll grind me down but after the workout I feel amazing and accomplished. The conditioning work helps build up my work capacity, the heavy sandbag work has got interesting “newbie gains” effects and is unlike any of the barbell work I’ve been doing so far. The density and sheer volume of Brian Alsruhe’s workouts are incredibly tough and sometimes it’s outright impossible for me to finish a full workout - but weirdly exactly that is the kind of push I need right now. It’s a program that requires you to be in a special place for sure. Besides requiring a good amount of time and attention, you can’t skimp on recovery and eating. If you can do all that and if you are looking for a program that challenges you unlike anything you’ve done before, this one might be for you.