While writing my previous post on how working 80+ hours is not the answer, I was reminded of a Wall Street startup I interviewed for back in December 1999. The startup was staffed with many brilliant programmers, and I certainly would learn a lot from them. The startup was well funded, and they offered me more money than any other company had offer me. But in the end I turned down their offer.
A founder, or maybe the person is a manager type, asked on Quora, “How do you make programmers work 60-80 hours per week?” While the question is a pathetic one, the answers that follow, especially the first one, are worth a read. And you should certainly read the answers if you happen to be one of those sad founders/manager types who wants their of programmers to work long hours. In short, if you are trying to force your programmers to work 60, 80 or more hours per week, then you are doing it wrong.
Brent Simmons talks about for-in loops in a recent post. In it he says:
Seeing “temperature inversion” in the Stowe snow report this morning is music to my ears. It’s -20°F in town but a balmy 2°F at the summit. Time to ride.
I just spent the last two hours looking through past posts here at thecave. I was writing a lot for the four or five years, and some of those old posts are actually good. But more importantly reading through those old posts gave me a chance to relive my past.
I’ve been on a website redesign kick lately updating sites such as kirbyturner.com and rowanturner.net. The recent update to my vanity website gives it a more modern look, and Rowan’s website now has a clean, fresh look that focuses on the content.
I’ve very disappointed in my new snowboard purchase. It’s fair to say I have a bad case of buyer’s remorse. I thought I was saving a few dollars by buying online, but at the same time I felt rushed. My gut was telling me not to do it. It told me to wait. But I didn’t listen. I’ll know better next time.
Two days ago I wrote a post about how I bought a new snowboard online because it was cheaper than buying locally, or so I thought. Turns out a local shop in Stowe was offering a 20% discount on the board I bought, but I didn’t know this at the time since that shop didn’t advertise the sale on their website. So in the end I paid a little more to buy a new snowboard from another local shop located on the other side of the country.
I bought a new Burton snowboard the other day. I ordered it online from a mom and pop shop in the Oregon. I wanted to buy locally here in Stowe but the price I paid was 10% cheaper than the price listed on the websites of local shops. Combined with the fact that I didn’t have to pay sales tax and shipping was free, I felt I was getting a great deal. Still, I would have preferred to support a local shop here in Vermont, but at least I supported a local shop in Oregon.
The Northeast has been getting slammed with a major snow storm, but unfortunately Stowe, Vermont, is too far northwest to get the full force of the storm. I had hoped for a bit of new snow overnight, but it didn’t happen. So I waited before hitting the slopes this morning in hopes the edge of the storm would inch its way into the Stowe, but it didn’t happen. So Melanie and I hit the slopes anyways, braving the -26 degrees Fahrenheit wind chill. We got in two runs before deciding today would be a good day for a lunch date. So we left the hill, and headed for lunch in town. And then the snow finally came…guess I’ll be hitting the hill first thing tomorrow morning.