domesticat.net

Stopover

Submitted by domesticat on 18 August 2012 - 8:31am

I said my goodbyes yesterday and ended up not flying, thanks to plane maintenance. My first flight out yesterday was so severely delayed that it would not land at my stopover until thirty minutes after my plane to Germany had already taken off.

At the gate: “You don’t want to take the flight? We’ll put you up in a hotel.” Me: “When the other option is to go home and sleep in my own bed?”

I was extremely disappointed in the paltry compensation that United Airlines offered me. So … maintenance on our part caused you to miss a transatlantic flight, delayed you by close to 24 hours, and cost you a day in Europe? Here’s a $100 travel voucher.

I’ve seen higher “sorry we fucked up” vouchers for customers asked to take a two-hour bump. I can say pretty dispassionately that they cost me my only day in Germany that I had to myself. No point yelling, but I’m very frustrated.

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By her maps you shall know her

Submitted by domesticat on 12 August 2012 - 6:35pm

Right, so, I’m an overplanner — and yet it’s satisfying! I’ve been doing my usual intense research, identifying the kinds of things I’d want to do and see while I’m away. It makes for a pretty hefty map.

I found a lovely set of free icons at mapicons.nicolasmollet.com that suited me nicely, so I plopped them into my Dropbox folder and have been using them to build my maps. What’s more amusing is what the icons say about my traveling style, and what I’m interested in:

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minimum packing = maximum freedom

Submitted by domesticat on 7 August 2012 - 6:28pm

If this works, it’s going to be epic. Say hello to my un-nicknamed backpack. She opens up quite nicely; there are more pockets and places, but this gives you an idea of what I can stow. For a month, here’s what’s going with me, in this 6.3” x 18.3” x 14” pack:

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alarm-clock life

Submitted by domesticat on 4 August 2012 - 9:04am

I am unsure of when our world changes from a potential dreamscape to an alarm-clock life, but I am aware that it does. There is a seething vitality and immediacy to the lives of young adults that comes from a lack of comprehension of the fleeting nature of life, coupled with an almost boundless fountain of energy. Time passes, though, and what eventually comes is more (settled? sedate? predictable?) except when it isn’t.

You get used to it. There’s a pattern. Monday morning drag yourself out of bed, Tuesday morning a little more acclimated, Wednesday morning a relief knowing you’ve hit halfway, Thursday coasting down to a Friday afternoon hey-survival. If you’re lucky you approach Friday evening with verve and if not you sit on the couch with a breath of relief thinking, “at least tomorrow isn’t an alarm clock morning…”

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Code is gold, teaching is ...

Submitted by domesticat on 29 July 2012 - 9:34am

support
work

I’m back from an unexpected, last-minute week in Boston. It was my first chance to practice, in person, what I’ve been doing online for my colleagues: teaching. It turns out there’s a need for technically-minded people who can write, communicate, and share their knowledge.

This is something I needed to see in person.

Career-wise, I’ve been facing a bit of a conundrum. There’s a saying in the Drupal community that is well-meant but can be unintentionally disparaging: “talk is silver, code is gold.” It’s a good and humorous saying, and serves as a reminder that you can talk all you want, but it’s the code that matters…

Except when it doesn’t.

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