2024 Year in Review

9 min read  •  2024-12-30

I didn't want the whole year to go by without making at least a single post. To be honest, I’m really uneasy writing and editing, because of how long and unplanned my absence has been. I am still alive, and documenting my life because I want to. This is another year in review, 2024.

Professional changes🔗

Tldr; I am no longer working as a software dev. Goodbye tech and software dev for now.

Being a developer is the only profession I’ve known as an adult. It sucks to be a decade deep into a career only to realize that the big negative feelings after university and leading into my first job… they never go away. I had a lot of good moments of personal success and team camaraderie. But it was only a handful of moments - witnessing or experiencing heavy injustices… These moments ultimately helped me decide to not return any time soon. Unless I have assurances it will not be a culture of zero-sum thinking, I would not even consider. In my experience, zero-sum thinking is the common ingredient that breeds toxic organizations and ultimately I lose interest and burn out.

I asked myself if it is worth biding my time at this startup? It is exhausting working with people who act as if they are eagerly waiting for money to fall in their lap so they can begin to oppress others with their money. I didn’t need to decide. My layoff was callous and has left a scar on my psyche.

So what’s next? I think it’s mostly undecided. I want to take some creative risks that have been on the backburner, and develop my skill as a storyteller. I am certain that tech will play a smaller role in my identity going forward. I won’t continue to grow into the person I want to be unless I push development to the background. But fortunately, I am in no rush.

I joined the board of my local makerspace as a director. This is an opportunity to cultivate the growth of those up incoming in their careers by providing an example of sustainable organization like I had when I first started. I will foster the current and future developers of this community with the skills and experience I have gained over the years. I want to improve communication around tech and make it accessible and less opaque.

The Eclipse trip🔗

I've been obsessed since watching my first total solar eclipse during 2017 in Portland. My partner and I were commemorating this trip to my late dog, Fig, who was present with us at the Portland eclipse. It was a very important trip for me, so it made the travel issues at the start of the trip hurt a lot more. It threw off my focus for a few days.

The travel issues:

This was an American Airlines flight from Seattle to Charlotte, NC. My worst travel experience ever!

Hard lesson learned:

We flew to North Carolina because we were road tripping with friends and staying at an Airbnb in Ohio to view the eclipse. Before the road trip started, we visited Carowinds and speed ran through a handful of the thriller roller coasters (twice through Fury 325!). This was a pretty decent followup after needing to buy clothes last minute.

Trip started from our friend’s place in Charlotte to the Airbnb in Port Clinton, Ohio. It was my first time in this part of the country, and I had a good time with the little exposure I had. We took some detours, such as an escape room in Columbus.

Plan was to arrive a day early, and then leave a day later - a precaution taken from post-eclipse in 2017 to avoid a really boring time in traffic. On the buffer day, we took a ferry to visit Kerry Island to do sightseeing. The next day, we were lucky we could observe on the same property where we were staying. Came out with a picnic lunch, and our solar eclipse glasses, and sat at some outdoor tables.

During the actual eclipse, some cloud cover prevented seeing some of the typical phenomena with the shadows of the different phases of the eclipse event, but not the most important color and light shifting parts during totality! The human eye is so weird, because when I look at the video footage I recorded, it doesn’t seem to capture anywhere as much of the experience as I remember. The lighting is all wrong.

Going home to Charlotte was a long and mostly uneventful drive, which was the original plan. While inside the vehicle, about half the car attempts to do their remote job using mobile data and headphones. We all took turns driving in silence while people struggled with having limited zoom meetings due to the lower data bandwidth available outside of the bigger cities.

We stopped at a coffee shop so someone could take a meeting and get some time out of the car. It happened to be near the Mothman museum in Point Pleasant, WV. We had to take the detour and take pictures of the Mothman statue, and the nearby mural.

Overall, it was a really fun and interesting trip. I was glad I got to share an experience of natural phenomena with people I care about. The next eclipse is in 2026, and that’s all I’ll say for now until I get more plans solidified.

Introducing Betty the dog🔗

I would not have predicted that this year I was going to be introducing someone new to the family. But we have a new dog, Betty.

At the beginning of the year, I was still getting used to a rhythm of life that didn’t include a dog. Around the time of the eclipse, it was already a full year since we said goodbye to Fig in 2022. There is so much story here that I hope to tell some day.

Despite my persisting feelings about Fig, I was still compelled to know more about Betty after learning about her tough life. My impulse was inspired by Fig’s memory. I understand how time is too short to not trust my instincts, and go with the flow of life and we are entering a new season.

I want to keep the rest of the story brief, but I hope to tell it in more detail some time in the future.

After filling out the adoption papers, and a long car ride, we arrive at home with Betty in the backseat. We knew she was a bit apprehensive, bc who wouldn’t be? While her harness was getting adjusted, she took her opportunity to take off with her leash dragging behind her. And as quickly as we got her out of the car, she was completely out of sight as she rounded the corner after making it to the other end of the street.

We were fortunate when we asked for help from friends and family. The foster family also helped despite being more than an hour away. We canvassed online forums, made bright signs, and searched the area on foot at midnight.

After 10 sleepless nights, we got lucky, and Betty was found in one of her hiding places. We were reunited. She was very malnourished and dehydrated. The worst of her injury was caused by a large cut from friction against the harness, but safe.

She was stabilized at the emergency vet, and a few days later we got to retry introducing her to her new home. The upcoming weeks we were able to gain Betty’s trust, find out what she likes to eat and put weight back on her. She healed up quickly! So resilient. After a few weeks, her staples were removed and she got introduced to her neighborhood through daily walks.

As I write, about 6 months have gone by, and my life is a little familiar. It is nice to have the routine of dog care. But at the same time very different, since Betty has a strong personality unlike Fig’s strong personality. It is a delight to see Betty come out of her shell. Looking forward to this next chapter of life.

What’s next in 2025?🔗

I like to believe that even though I am grumpy, it is because I am an optimist. I will make next year work out for me in the end. Creating more than I consume is the goal.

I’m continuing to document more of my life. I want to improve my storytelling skills by branching out into other forms of media, like video production and video games. I’m set on developing a lot of solo business skills as my alternative to return to tech. I won’t let another opportunistic startup divert my attention.

I’m thankful for my partner, who has been my safety net. She made sure I had recovery time after my layoff, and has encouraged me to take some time before committing seriously to my next thing. We are fortunate to have savings so there is plenty of room to breathe.

I’d like to keep these posts coming, but I’m not going to commit to that. I’ll post when it feels right.