What I've been up too

It's been a weird span.

I was laid off in June 2023 as part of the TrueCar restructuring. Restructurings are certainly something. We love to see that shareholder value go up. But also, it's a deeply annoying thing to be laid off. This notion that companies "over-hired" during the pandemic may very well be true, but it is a particularly ghoulish notion to make that over-hiring the employees' problem. I cannot abide that type of thinking. The world will continue turning if profits are not up 3% YOY. Anyway.

At the time of this writing, I am still looking for my next opportunity, but I have been making myself busy in the interim!

Tech

I have been open-sourcing a ton of my code, so if you have not checked out my GitHub, why not take a look? You can see it at https://github.com/flanger001.

I have also been learning a bunch of new technology. I did a dive into Rust as soon as I was laid off. Rust is pretty neat. I also started learning React Native, and I am currently learning Go in preparation for a job I'm applying to.

Music

Since I found myself with all sorts of free time, I devoted a large chunk of it to rediscovering music/creative pursuits, and my wife and I ended up formally creating our band Electric Falafel. This has been a fantastic challenge and a whole lot of fun. We have since played a handful of shows. Recordings of those shows will be available soon.

Health

I am actively pursuing some weight loss through diet modification and exercise. I got a little soft in late 2022-2023 and I have decided it is time to un-soften. I probably will not be posting much in the way of updates regarding this, but long story short I am looking to lose around 20 lbs, give or take. It is not an enormous amount for my body given my height, but it will make a large difference to my self-esteem and feelings of confidence.

Home

The house projects continue. We had our giant silver maple tree removed last year which dramatically improved the look and layout of our back yard. This year I am hoping to get some landscaping done in the yard as well as complete an electric meter move and potentially a service upgrade.

Life

Finally, I am looking forward to turning 40 this year, and Maria and I have a few fun concerts and vacations scheduled too.

Anyway, thanks for checking back in. As always, I promise I will try to write more in this. I cannot guarantee I actually will, but I will always try! See you around!