JavaScript, Lisp and C software dev, fan of Emacs, functional programming, Linux systems, fully programmable split keyboards and barefoot shoes.
I collaborate remotely through my single-member company on short or project-based contracts with small and grown-up teams across Europe. I take on-site visits for hanging out in person. I build, test, debug, explore and support Node-based microservices and distributed systems.
There are just too many tools we don't need. We plan too much and explore too little. Maybe we trust ourselves too little?! I prefer minimalism, a good mastery of tools and an exploration mindset. I prefer the written word, the written documentation, the API interface and even a well-written email to meetings, drawings and dailies.
I've realized kinda late that one's passions and work should be two different things, slightly overlapping. What I get payed for and what my hobbies and pleasures are, are two different matters. The example I like to give myself in this regard is: a mechanically-inclined and adventurous individual who eats cars for breakfast so they drives a taxi because a taxi is a car. But you have to mind the speed limit in that business, be respectful to your customers and passengers, no sudden breaks, keep the car clean, take the shortest route. No speeding, no screeching of wheels, no modifying the engine, no sawing off the roof, no off-road driving, no exploring the country. Just driving around town with 50km/h in a nice shirt. That's not a love of cars! That's using a car to earn a living. I write software, professionally, to earn a living. I abuse parentheses in my free time for fun.
I wondered if I should write my personal stories here or just keep all this blog professional. But I'm human. I have feelings and struggles. And joys outside the profession. So I've decided for sharing. I'm looking for other humans to collaborate with not just machines on auto. That would probably sift a good portion of companies and teams I wouldn't be happy working with in the first place, so why pretend.
Sometimes efficiency can be a weakness. It has happened to my countless times now that while looking at a company's website I though, yes this site looks right. It is correct. Has everything in place. But it somehow feels void, empty, soulless. It looks just like all the rest of the websites out there. Similar to how the majority of the articles on the internet on important topics (or the ones occupying the top spots from the search engine's point of view, at least): they use the right words, the right sentences, they put the subject matter into perspective, ask the right questions, deliver the right answers. But they might be written by robots as far as I'm concerned. The person that wrote the piece has no soul into the subject. They're just professional writers, doing a job. They write in the third person, objective, correctly, bland.
Every bit of content and markup on this page is written 100% by hand. No framework nor extra tools. Code duplication is fine sometimes. Copy/paste and day-long marathons once or twice a year are fine, if I must, than rely on some tool that breaks in mysterious ways. When a simple tool fails, at least I understand the failure and can apply pressure in the right spot to resurrect it.
Summer time is the season for road-biking, hiking, the smooth roads and the shady forests. Winter is for sleep, reading and thinking. Autumn is for filling up the jars with jams and pickles. I don't know about springtime. Awaiting for new beginnings, maybe?