Victory Laps
Nov. 12th, 2014 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grammarwomanOnce again I've been beating my head against my current project, though this time the problem was the ugly, labyrinthine existing code. I was up late last night deep in imposter-syndrome despair. Then this morning I got a burst of inspiration and BAM, change accomplished! I did a literal \o/ with a loud WAHOOO and raced over to my coworker to share the news.
The rest of the day was spent in making sure I didn't break anything with my changes, so my sense of accomplishment was dimmed somewhat.
I'm in week three (ARGH) of trying to switch my cell phone service over to a third-party vendor running on the AT&T backbone, so I can finally join the rest of the smartphone world without paying a crapton for it. I signed up at the local GameStop store; I didn't know that I was their first customer to do so. Every step that could be screwed up was, and the vendor has refused to help at all, so it's been five visits and six hours racked up. Tomorrow I need to go back and politely suggest to the manager that they make it better OR ELSE.
I noticed a couple of days ago that the gleam from my headlights looked weird, and sure enough, one of the bulbs was burned out. I picked up replacement bulbs tonight and poked the internet for how-tos. "This is easy!" they said. "Five minute job!" they claimed. Instead, I had to deal with rusty screws, a dark corner of the garage I had to illuminate with a flashlight, and a stubborn assembly that refused to come apart. Multiple trips inside to check different sources and almost an hour later, I finally got the damned thing changed. Cue another (albeit tired) victory lap.
If I'm wise, the next lap will end in bed. G'night!
The rest of the day was spent in making sure I didn't break anything with my changes, so my sense of accomplishment was dimmed somewhat.
I'm in week three (ARGH) of trying to switch my cell phone service over to a third-party vendor running on the AT&T backbone, so I can finally join the rest of the smartphone world without paying a crapton for it. I signed up at the local GameStop store; I didn't know that I was their first customer to do so. Every step that could be screwed up was, and the vendor has refused to help at all, so it's been five visits and six hours racked up. Tomorrow I need to go back and politely suggest to the manager that they make it better OR ELSE.
I noticed a couple of days ago that the gleam from my headlights looked weird, and sure enough, one of the bulbs was burned out. I picked up replacement bulbs tonight and poked the internet for how-tos. "This is easy!" they said. "Five minute job!" they claimed. Instead, I had to deal with rusty screws, a dark corner of the garage I had to illuminate with a flashlight, and a stubborn assembly that refused to come apart. Multiple trips inside to check different sources and almost an hour later, I finally got the damned thing changed. Cue another (albeit tired) victory lap.
If I'm wise, the next lap will end in bed. G'night!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-13 06:54 am (UTC)Your post reminds me about my complaint about mechanical things generally: I wish they were more like computers. I mean programming can be a total pain (I feel what you were saying so much, even though I work in much different environments than you and don't do "real" programming), but at least *it does what you tell it to do*. Whereas with cars and bicycles there is this "simple" machine but even understanding how it works and what bolt needs to be turned or what part needs adjusting doesn't necessarily fix the problem. There's this whole intuitive thing that goes into it, and I know it comes from experience but it's just maddening sometimes.
Anyway, congrats on the breakthrough!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-13 02:29 pm (UTC)May I gently poke you to not go running yourself down with this "real" programming stuff? As far as I'm concerned, if you're working with a computer to make it Do Stuff, that's programming. I mean, I'm a web developer, and I'm sure there's some computer science gatekeeper somewhere that would sneer at me for not parsing assembly language or building Arduino circuits in my spare time. Own your awesome! :)
And yes, mechanical things - why so mysteriously stubborn? I hate having the "What if I break it?" nerves whenever I'm doing something outside my comfort zone. I'm pretty sure I cracked an edge off one of the interior parts of the lighting assembly last night because I don't have the feel for how much force is necessary to get things apart, as opposed to when I should stop because it's stuck or not meant to open that way. ARGH. I like to joke that I'm mechanically declined, because none of that comes easily to me.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-14 12:28 am (UTC)But your story of frustration and other people's awful code and imposter syndrome and flash of inspiration? It felt very familiar.
ARGH. I like to joke that I'm mechanically declined, because none of that comes easily to me.
*Nods* Yes, me too.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-14 04:05 am (UTC)I graduated with my BS in Comp Sci almost 20 years ago, and learned each new language on the job, so I hear you on not being formally trained in what I'm working on now. I also got acquainted with the guys (always men, go figure) who measure themselves and everyone else by how many languages they know and how much they've played with the latest tech. UGH.
It's always nice to hear I'm not alone in my imposter issues. Brains, why are you so mean?
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-13 11:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-13 02:31 pm (UTC)After multiple scrubbings, my hands and fingernails are still tinged gray from the under-the-hood grime, so I can look down today and be reminded about my accomplishments.