Blue Bear

The cooling stand that I bought for the beast of a laptop came today. At
least I think it was today, yes, definitely today. I ordered a mouse to go with
it as well which makes a big difference. So it’s all good now, I can play my
games, have more than one tab open and generally not start a fire in the motel
room. That would be bad. The smoke detector has already been taped so I can
vape at ease in here otherwise I would go mad. The cooling stand is pretty cool
(get the JK there) as it has six fans and LEDs in them. So it looks like something
from a hacker movie in the 90s. All about the stereotypes. I’m having fun with
the fan controls. Make it sound like a plane engine or quiet as a whisper.
Since I listen to music all the time here, the plane engine is. Things here at
the motel are still a bit rough and scary at times. Lots of screaming and
shouting from the room to my left; a young girl and her mum don’t seem to get
along very well although that’s just based on the shouting and crying. To my
right I have the drunk who snores, coughs up flem constantly and can hear
stumbling about. Today they (other people) were trying to get into people’s rooms,
obviously drunk, as they used their keys thinking they had this magical power
to open any door- a skeleton key. Then they would bang on the door in
frustration. They did it to mine. I have this secure lock from Amazon which
when combined with the lock makes it impossible to unlock from the outside.
Well. Unless they kick the door down or do a ‘Heres Johnny’ skit. I sleep
better with it on and having music on helps. Although now the fans are on it
drowns them out as well.

Proud of myself today. After a wobble this morning from Ben. He started
having the misophonia thing again, where he’s super alert to any noises, which
invoke his fight or flight response and goes ape. He starts kicking his door
really hard and screaming out the window. I was with the dogs downstairs and
they went batshit crazy. I shouted up at Ben, then had to text D to calm him
down as he triggered my FND and I started drooling like an idiot and not being
able to type on my phone. He left the house for fresh air, and he came back an
hour later (he did check in on WhatsApp that he went to the shop with some
money he ‘found’) all calm and his usual self. I was still a bit of a mess.
Then D’s mum and boyfriend came in without D and they don’t speak English. Got
a hug from them both. Ben came down and had hugs too. Then they sprang into
action, picking up dog poo, tidying and started mowing the back. All in like 5
minutes of arriving. I in my lovely lameness just sat down awkwardly as they were
doing jobs I should be doing but I can’t do any more. D came back and I left. I
resisted the urge to go to Asda and pick up alcohol. It was tempting but I
resisted. Not going to be that guy. So that’s why I’m proud of myself today.

This is a good one. My brother, the slag, phoned me and we spoke for 45
minutes about lots of different things that for reasons of privacy I won’t go
into. It was nice talking to him though. Not a lot of people I can talk to on
the phone. Owen has phone issues, D isn’t going to like to talk and yeah that’s
it. The stuff I can say like talking about the past and moving on, how he’s
doing well in his job and his drinking is more under control. It was nice to
hear that he has a positive outlook on things.

Right. Meetings tomorrow about training. Bed.

 

Short Story: About mistakes

I was so excited to start my new job as a software engineer. I had been working hard for this opportunity, and I was eager to prove myself.

I was assigned to a team that was working on a new project. The project was due in a few weeks, and we were all under a lot of pressure to get it done.

I was working on a particularly complex piece of code, and I was feeling a lot of stress. I was so focused on getting the code right that I didn’t notice that I had made a mistake.

When I finally finished the code, I ran it through the compiler. The tests failed, and I realized that I had made a mistake.

I was so disappointed in myself. I had let my team down, and I had jeopardized the success of the project.

I went to my manager and told him what I had done. He was understanding, but he told me that I would have to fix the mistake.

I worked late into the night to fix the mistake. I was so tired, but I knew that I had to get it right.

Finally, I fixed the mistake, and the tests passed. I was so relieved, but I knew that I had learned my lesson.

I had made a mistake, and I had to pay the price. But I also learned that it’s important to own up to your mistakes and learn from them

Digging Deeper #5

Do you love your current job? Why or why not?

Yes. Although it’s volunteering so not a paid job. But that said I love what I do and when I do it. I work with a company called the MDC, and we provide digital resources to those who cannot afford them. We work closely with the homeless by providing burner phones with credit for them to use, I train large groups of people on how to use digital devices, and I collect and refurbish laptops, tablets, and phones and get them ready to hand out. The team at the office deals with the handing out, I’m just officially the tech lead. So anything with a cable is me. I have an apprentice whom I train on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Either in person or remotely depending on several factors. Right now I can’t get to the office. Well. Can’t leave the house. But as soon as I am able the office will be the first place to go as I’m drowning in tech which needs dropping off. Also, there are a few conferences we have a free stand at, so I would love to be able to attend at least one (when it’s not busy).

I love my job because I can pick the hours I work, and I can work from home or in person, anything is always appreciated. I like that I can work on devices from home and pass over knowing that they will help Manchester’s poorest. I don’t do it for that reason alone. The tinkering with devices, the sourcing, donations- I love it all.

The only downside is that sometimes I need to leave the house when I really don’t want to but know I have to make a delivery. That’s the only bad point. Pay would be good too.

What is your ideal career?

What I’m doing. But on a larger scale where I can get paid for carrying out the work. It doesn’t have to be the charity sector, I’m quite happy working private & public sectors. I’d want to be my own boss of the business and the aim would be to become an all-in-one solution for the sourcing and provision of tech devices, along with 121 or group training.

I do have a website setup but I really need people to look at it and give feedback. The link is here [busy bee tech]