The Geekorium

Six years ago I wrote a post sitting in a park watching my daughter play. I called it “The Life“ and the feelings in it spring from what seem to be an eternal longing inside me to live other people’s more “glamorous” lives. For instance, I listen to a lot of different podcasts and I find myself wishing I could “do that”. Whatever that might be.

For instance, if I’m listening to an adventure drama, I’ll wish I could write something as engaging as The Red Panda and capture people’s imaginations.

Or if I’m listening to two guys chatting I start imagining what interesting conversations I could have with my favourite people to share with the world.

If I’m listening to a something educational, I’ll try and figure out what subject I know enough about (or could learn enough about) to be as engaging as Hardcore History.

Ultimately though, what they all share in common is the underlying model of making cool stuff and being your own boss. I don’t know why this appeals to me so much, but it does, and always has. I don’t really know where I acquired this romantic notion that self-employment in some creative endevour is what would make me happiest, because frankly the idea of putting myself in charge of anything sounds like a terrifyingly stupid idea.

There are a couple of things I spelled out in that post six years ago that I thought would make me happier:

to pad[^padpun] out my digital lifestyle with all the trimmings

I’m pretty content with my trimmings right now. I have enough disposable income to get “stuff” that makes my inner geek/child happy, and to get some fun stuff for my own kids that my own parents could never afford for me.

sit in a park and read and write

I still sit at a desk.

never fix another jammed printer or reset another password

I hear talk of mythical beings who enjoy their day jobs

This I’ve achieved! This is where I have to point out how fortunate I’ve been to get to a point in my career where I absolutely thoroughly love what I do. I used to weigh up taking a day off almost daily in previous roles and jobs, but where I am right now it never occurs to me. That isn’t something I take lightly, and I am grateful to everyone who has helped push me into this position.

just make giant run-on sentences that would make Zombie_Plan and Rubenerd proud.

Not run on sentences, but I’m pretty proud of the size of some of my SQL queries.

[^padpun]:Actually the original post had a pun that I won’t reward by making twice

About 6 months ago I read a Lifehacker article that advocated standing at your office desk to stay healthier. I thought it was a neat idea at the time but didn’t try very hard to make it happen. Then Lifehacker again linked to an article in the NY Times about standing at work, and this time I decided to do something about it.

Introducing my standing desk

It’s two different size filing cabinets which turn out to be exactly the right heights for my keyboard and monitors. It’s surprisingly comfortable from about my shins up, but my feet are already killing.¹

I find it difficult to fit much exercise into my day. Hopefully this might get me using even a little energy.

PS. Read that article. It’s an eye opener, and a very quick read.

PPS. Hey Lifehackers! Welcome to the Geekorium! Browse around and have a look if you like. I also run a small site about Google Wave called First Waves. If you’re into your geekery, there’s nothing more geeky than Google Wave…

Present, originally uploaded by S Baker.

Man I love on-site warranties. Nothing beats not having to lift a finger to fix a problem that you just know would normally be a nightmare to fix.

No more frantically replacing random parts hoping and praying that it’s a part that you actually have spare. No more calls to various parts vendors for the obscure broken component, only to have to travel across town to the only place that MIGHT have it in stock. No more hunting for boxes big enough to hold the dead PC so you can ship it back to be repaired at base, only to have it returned in three weeks - just long enough to have been berated daily by the user who needs it, but not long enough to declare it legally dead and have it replaced.

Nope. On-site warranties all the way. Sure it might cost you a little more, but it’s worth it - just knowing that if something dies, it’ll be fixed by week’s end with no more than a phone call.