I am a professional software developer.
That doesn’t say a lot about me, ’cause I think that’s probably third on the list of things that define me. Third is respectable. Most people would have their vocation one or two on the list. The truly enlightened… probably don’t even have a job, so lets not even go there.
My point is that while I do write software for a living, there’s more to me than that. I am hoping so at least. I shall explore that here. I will also be adding software/coding articles but I’ll make sure it’s the third thing I add.
Morning Routine
Last modified on 2010-03-05 18:09:15 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I decided to write about me a bit more. I’ve been writing my likes and opinions but I haven’t said much about myself. And in the future I will most likely be the same. I will not open up too much. But I’ve always thought that you can tell a lot about a person by their morning routine. That’s the time of day where everyone shows their true priorities. I’ll let you know more about me by writing about my routine. It’s not glamorous, so if you’re looking for an action/adventure you going to have to wait till I add some short stories to the mix. My typical morning starts at varied times but the events all happen in this order every day.
There’s always a shower involved. Then shave – every other day (I have to check every day just to remember what day it is) . Grab a shirt and a pair of pants. Then I’m out the door. There’s usually a podcast or an audio book involved on the walk to the bus. I get to the bus terminal and the bus leaves plus or minus a minute after I get there. It sucks on the minus days. No comments please that if I leave 5 minutes earlier I can stop those days. I’ve told myself every time it happens and I just don’t listen.
The bus takes 20-25 minutes to get to work. That’s a couple chapters or half a podcast. Getting off the bus I have the choice to take the LRT or walk. I walk 95% of the time, but there are the rainy 
days, the I’m late days, the lazy days.
When I get to work another choice is presented. There’s a Tim Hortons at the base of the building I work in. It’s very busy, but what Tim Hortons isn’t’ busy? The choice is stand in the line now or stand in the line later. The line’s are huge, but these downtown Tim Horton’s workers are a different breed. They’re ex-military. Trained merc’s there to do the job and get out alive. Seriously it’s a precision machine in there. I have nightmares of a tiny Asian ladies yelling “Next PLEASE!” over and over and the people standing in the front of the line are not responding to the hail. There are peaks and valleys and if you find a valley you can be in and outta there in 30 seconds. Peaks are in the upwards of 15 minutes.
I weigh any decision I make heavily on the length of that line. The outcome of the choice tells me if I go work right away or grab a bagel (12 grain bagel toasted with plain cream cheese) and a coffee (double-double). If I don’t get my fix right away – don’t worry it just happens later.
Then when I get to my desk I click on my iGoolge. I have it layed out just the way I like it. Weather top left corner. Gmail top middle. Quotes of the Day top right. I’ll give you a moment to analyze that before I list the rest. Speaking of the rest it’s populated with: Fark, Slashdot, SciFi Wire and PopCandy. There is the obligatory World News section at the bottom, just in case something worldly happens during the day. I’d hate to not know about Michael Jackson’s death not within the hour of it happening. Twitter has recently move smack dab in the middle of the page, but that’s a blog post in itself.
I sacn the page, address anything that needs addressing then start work. That’s my routine. I’d analyze my own but I don’t think I would give an unbiased answer. I think my iGoogle page says more about me actually. Maybe I will have to update my saying to: you can tell a lot about a person by their iGoogle page.
Does anybody else think it’s too quiet in here?
Last modified on 2010-03-05 17:16:28 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
(Alright, maybe a little) I believe I am truly addicted. Supporting evidence follows. When I step in the door, the TV must go on. I rate the purchase of my DVR equivalent to letting a heroin user walk around with a ‘I.V’ drip. I can mainline TV to the exact flow I need. Thanks to the (nigh)infinite content available I can have most of my waking hours fully programmed. Is it an addiction? Or just as innocuous as turning the radio on in the background?
When in doubt I Google. What are the official signs of addiction? After a quick search I determine there is too much information; so I pick the first site I find with a list. I’m a sucker for a list with 10 entries or less.
| There will be some back and forth so click the items below to play along at home |
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| You no longer have a choice about whether you want a particular substance or activity.I cannot by my will alone stop time (yet) so that ‘24′ will run out of a plot mechanism. The fact about me is – if there is a new LOST available to be watched I have no choice but to watch it. This gets a Yes. |
| You use it to relax or deal with your problems.When the TV is on there are no problems… unless the cable goes out (like it did the other night during Survivor). If that happens I’d have use my back-up – my pusher – the DVR. Another Yes. |
| You start having problems with performing at work or at school.Does talking about TV shows during work count as ‘having problems’? I have convinced most of my co-workers my theories about LOST are spot on. I guess it would be an issue to some managers so I’ll give that one a strong Possibly. |
| You lose interest in activities that used to be important to you.I am biased answering this one. If you ask a truly addicted person they cannot remember ever being really interested in anything else. So my gut reaction is that I’ve always been interested in TV. Letter of this question, No. Spirit, Yes. |
| Spending a lot of time figuring out how to get more of the substance you are addicted to.I spend a lot of time researching my addiction. I want quality and quantity. I make sure every day has content. There are the dailies – Coronation Street, Y&R. Then there are the nightlies – which vary from night to night but include Lost, The Office, Survivor, anything Joss Whedon. So yeah, I make sure I always have enough. |
| Changes in demeanor.Only when I’m let down by my fix. Yes I’m looking at you Flash Forward. And during that Survivor outage I was pissed. So this one gets a yes it effects my mood. |
| Keeping your activities a secret from family, friends and co-workers.Until this blog is read most of the people I know might be surprised by the dailies. Another in the yes column. |
| Changes in appetite and/or sleeping habits.During the writing of this entry I am up prohibitively late re-watching an episode of LOST. There have been many sleepless nights trying to fit in all the nightlies. Consider this a yes. |
| You need to take more of the substance to get the same “high” or “rush.”What I consider good TV then would not be the same TV now. Each Survivor needs to be better than the last. Fringe needs to be greater than X-Files. Battlestar Galactica needed to be better than Battlestar Galactica. Yep to this one too. |
| You experience withdrawal symptoms when you try to stop.Now this is a biggie. This one is real. It’s that room thing I mentioned at the beginning. If I am in a room with a TV and it’s not on… Woah. That sends the creepy crawlies all over me. I have been known to lunge at remotes in other people’s homes during uncomfortable silences. Big yes here. |