Tag: work
-
Me, hacking challenging Javascript at work: "Damn, I need a holiday."
Alt
Dan sits at a laptop in a hotel bar, a view of Barcelona out of the window behind him, a beer bottle alongside him.
Me, hacking challenging Javascript on sabbatical: "Ah, so relaxing."
-
✅ Inbox Zero
✅ Slack Notification Zero
✅ Assigned PR Reviews Zero
✅ Owned PRs... one, but it's approved and just waiting for the right moment to mergeThat's got the be the first time in... literally years... that I've ended a workday so "clean". Feels amazing.
There'll be a mess again tomorrow, but hopefully only of a manageable size because I'm particularly clean to finish this week at "Work Zero".
-
Calm after the storm
Rosie, who like me never even considered taking Automattic's alignment offer, writes about her experience of this week's meetup.
-
Meetup Magic
As I come to the end of a week in Mexico with ~400 of my the smartest, friendliest, open-source-loving geeks I could wish to know, I come to realise that Automattic's meetups are just... magical.
-
Goodbye, Tulum! You were delightful, if very hot. It's time for me to head back to the UK.
Alt
Dan, wearing a rainbow bandana, with an ornate ice cream cornet in a Mexican city.
-
Hurricane Milton
From safely outside of its predicted path, just around the Yucatan coast, Hurricane Milton seems like a forboding and distant monster. A growing threat whose path will thankfully take it away, not towards, me. My heart goes out to the people on the other side of the Gulf of Mexico who find themselves along the route of this awakened beast.
-
It's a bit hard to perform close-up magic to an audience 40 metres deep, so I pre-recorded my favourite card trick! Then I talked over it, explaining to colleagues from my division why it's my favourite bit of slight-of-hand, and what great magic tricks have in common with great code.
Alt
Dan, standing on a stage, holding up five fingers while a video screen behind him shows a close-up of his hands displaying five playing cards.
I feel like I'm likely to have to perform a lot more illusions at the bar later today!
-
It's 05:30 local time on the third day of my work meetup in Tulum, on the Caribbean Coast of Mexico, and I was just woken by incredibly heavy rain. I got up and stepped out until it, and was surprised to discover that it's almost as warm as the shower in my bathroom. In the distance, beyond the palm trees and over the hill, the booms of thunder are getting closer. Beautiful weather for a beautiful place.
Alt
Tropical vegetation under stormy skies. Long exposure in pre-sunrise light.
-
Something I've long enjoyed about Automattic gatherings is the opportunity to meet some the most diverse characters you'll ever find in one place.
But today was the first time I've ever been at a beachside disco that was attended by a foraging racoon.
Alt
A slender long-tailed racoon stands on wooden decking in front of lush tropical vegetation.
-
Max props to my employer for providing pronoun pins not just in a diversity of options but also offering blank ones for people not represented by any of the pre-printed options.
Alt
Boxes of pin badges representing various pronouns, plus blank ones and a sharpie.
-
Well this is a sight to wake up to. 😍
Alt
Sun rising over the sea as seen from a tropical beach.
-
It took almost twenty hours of travelling but I made it to Mexico!
Alt
Dan, looking tired, in a hotel room.
-
Think I blew Ruth's mind this morning when I set off for a week in Mexico with only a medium-sized, underseat-suitable backpack.
Alt
Selfie of Dan in a tunnel walkway wearing a backpack.
But since working for Automattic five years ago I've totally been bitten by the travelling-light bug. Highly recommended!
-
We'll Pay You to Go (so we're confident in who stays...)
This week, Automattic made a very generous offer to employees who didn't feel aligned with the company and its leader: to pay them to leave. 8.4% of the company took it, and it's been a heartbreaking time, but we'll build back stronger, I'm sure.
-
At work, we recently switched expenses system to one with virtual credit card functionality. I decided to test it out by buying myself lounge access for my upcoming work trip to Mexico. Unfortunately the new system mis-detected my lounge access as being a purchase from lingerie company loungeunderwear.com. I'm expecting a ping from Finance any moment to ask me why I'm using a company credit card to buy a bra.
Alt
Screenshot from expenses system indicating that a purchase was made at loungeunderwear.com, with a photo showing an example of something sold at that website - a lacy bra - overlaid.
One might ask why our expenses provider can (mis-)identify loungeunderwear.com from a transaction in the first place. Did somebody at some company that uses this provider actually buy some ladies' briefs on a company credit card at some point?