25+ yr Java/JS dev
Linux novice - running Ubuntu (no windows/mac)

  • 0 Posts
  • 28 Comments
Joined 8 months ago
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Cake day: October 14th, 2024

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  • Magic Nachos

    Prep time: ~15 minutes

    1. Brown some ground beef
    2. Add taco seasoning (per instructions) and 1/4 cup of water. Simmer for 5 minutes or so.
    3. Arrange Doritos attractively on plate
    4. Sprinkle with taco meat
    5. Top with your choice of: diced tomatoes, black beans, diced onions, jalapeños
    6. Sprinkle with a generous layer of shredded Mexican 4 cheese mix.
    7. Microwave for 90 seconds.
    8. Put in face hole.

    Oh I forgot the lengthy story of how my grandma used to make these nachos when her terrible neighbor who used to shoot dogs got sent to the hospital. You’ll just have to make a family tradition of your own!












  • I appreciate your perspective. I’m cautiously hopeful that the culture is good, but it’s a big enough company (major auto manufacturer) that it likely depends on what part of the company you’re in. I’m angling for a perm hire after a year in this department because I’d like to foster a longer term relationship both ways.

    I don’t know the structure well enough. My own manager seems… fine. He listened a couple of times when I was trying to solve some problems and my tech lead wasn’t. But he’s not the person to make waves and get shit done. He’s very much go along to get along, but he’s easy to work with. As a contractor, I don’t think I can go around him, politically, but maybe once I have some real time in and a permanent position.

    Thanks again!


  • I block people who are assholes regardless of whether I believe in their points or not. The behavior is stressful and frankly encourages a way of interacting that makes me into a person I don’t want to be. Yeah, it makes the small Lemmy community slightly smaller but that’s okay because it makes for a better social environment for me. I don’t want to dwell on hate and anger.


  • Well I do what I can in my positions to improve that. That is within my reach, and that’s my goal.

    I can’t always succeed. It’s not like I ever get to talk to end users to ask what would make their lives easier. But that’s my goal. I just had to fight for some UI changes that I think make the UI easier to understand and interact with and reduce code maintenance burden / fragility by relying on default control behaviors instead of custom code. Time will tell if I’m right.

    I also fight back against the acceptability of 10 second response times when you click a button. Customers would never accept that, but you’re going to foist that bullshit on users? Not on my watch.

    And in code reviews I push back on every mutable or public field and public method that don’t have to be. Don’t give other code the ability to interact with your code outside of clearly defined interfaces. Build everything with concurrency in mind and to fail fast. Because a year from now, some other developer is going to abuse every interaction point they possibly can because tight coupling saves them an hour.

    Even though so much is out of my hands in a cooperate environment, I take pride in the things I can control, and eventually I think that pays off. I’m 51. I’m not going to continue getting new contracts forever. I need a place to ride out the waning years of my career and I don’t want to do it working on shitty software that I allowed to be shit.

    What I really want is a way to push that philosophy beyond a single team, but I don’t want to be in management, and I don’t know how to make that happen. I did get offered a training position, but it paid half what I earn slinging code, and I’d be creating more value, not less.


  • Something amazing happens when there are more than 3 levels of management. Even if you want to “create value for the shareholders” you won’t be allowed to.

    Isn’t that a fucking fact? I have to say, though, fuck shareholders. They are investors, hoping to make money. They are taking their chances. My efforts are beholden to users and my fellow developers. I want to software I write to make the lives of the people using it easier.

    Every business I’ve ever walked into, the frontline people are complaining about shitty software because no one ever thinks about them or what would make their lives easier. Convoluted workflows, unnecessary clicks, poor performance, and instability.

    I presume if I make the lives of workers and customers slightly less horrible that will drive business, but if not the shareholder’s concerns are out of my hands. I wasn’t put on this earth to make other people money.