Refactoring

Another short post today.

I’ve spent a large portion of the last few weeks refactoring code at work. For those not in the software industry, refactoring basically means cleaning up/reworking how a piece of software works, without changing the external behavior. Sometimes it’s simplifying the logic. Sometimes it’s renaming things to make comprehension easier. Sometimes it’s removing unused features. Sometimes it’s moving duplicate code to a common implementation.

I’ve been doing all of the above. It’s tedious at times. It’s fun at times. And it normally makes me feel good once it’s done. But it got me wondering… why don’t we use the same word in real life? For instance: if I’m reorganizing stuff in a room to make it easier to access? Sounds like refactoring to me. Or how about migrating from a few different note taking tools/methods to a single format? In other words, all of the small modifications/improvements that I make to my daily life that don’t change the end result, but improve the workflow… is kind of refactoring.

Motivation

Author’s Note: I want to apologize ahead of time to the reader if this is incoherent. I have a ton of thoughts today on this topic, and they may not translate well to the written page.

Today is one of those days where I’m struggling with motivation. That’s not to say I’m not motivated. I have a number of things that are on my mind that I could happily work on. Unfortunately, none of those include a few projects for work that I really need to work on.

Leadership Talks with Banning: Bill Johnson

Note: I no longer recommend listening to Bill Johnson, as I have strong disagreements with his theology, but I’m leaving this up for both historical purposes, and because the qutoes I listed are mostly still applicable. (2024-11-03)

I have been listening to the Jesus Culture Podcast for years. Originally called the Jesus Culture Leadership Podcast, it has evolved over time to include not only leadership talks, but also discussions about topics that apply to the church at large. I’ve been listening/re-listening to a number of them today, and one with Bill Johnson from last year really stuck out to me. Below are a few notes/quotes from the podcast that I found especially profound.

Day 8 Recap

I had a bunch of ideas for blog posts today. And then I got busy doing other things. So this will just be a short recap of my day.

This morning started with me playing 0 A.D. for a few hours, until I finally won a skirmish on “Very Easy”. Then, off to the store for the week’s groceries. On the way I stopped and chatted w/a friend (while staying 6 feet apart); good to catch up a little.

0 A.D.

Today’s post will be fairly short, for a few reasons. First, I’ve been busy, and don’t feel like writing a lengthy post. And second, I have been distracted playing 0 A.D., a free and open-source game of ancient warfare, akin to Age of Empires.

I’ve heard of the game prior to today, but it was brought back to my attention via a post by Kev on Fosstodon. And so, after work, I downloaded it and started to play.

RSS For The Win!

I love reading. I have read ever since I can remember. Before I was around computers, I read physical books. When our family got a computer in the early 2000s I continued reading books, but also began reading news online.

Fast forward to the early 2010s. My reading habits had not changed much, although I added some digital books and magazines to my reading collection. But then, I discovered blogs.

Improving My Zoom Audio Qualtiy

Zoom: The New Normal

In mid-March, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect daily life, many companies (including the one I work for) began having all employees work from home that could with reasonable efficiency. For me, this meant taking what is a fairly social job (of the 8-9 hours I’m at work a day, 1-2 hours tend to be impromptu or scheduled conversations) and moving it almost 100% online. Fun…