I’ve had a nice quiet weekend experimenting with Python stuff for fun hobby projects (mainly text adventure games, as that’s my chief interest usually). Lots to play with over the next few months, but I’ll be taking a brain break for a week or two after the TechUP presentation is done.
I do also want to get back to some videogaming, so I might do that during my break.
I finished the last of my TechUP coursework today! Just the group project presentation to go now. It’s next Wednesday, and after a first rehearsal with the team last night I’m feeling a lot more confident about it. Going to have my first mini-celebration this weekend though – the coursework is a big thing to get finished.
Now that I’m almost done with the course I’m allowing myself to read all the tech books that Geth got me for Christmas. I didn’t have time to lose myself in them before! First up is Make Your Own Python Text Adventure, which should be a fun little project for the next few days. The first of many post-TechUP Python projects, I hope đŸ™‚
It’s looking like I’ll be fully done with TechUP by the middle of next week (we just about have a project presentation date!) and so I’m finally letting myself think about non-course stuff. I’m going for a long walk with Geth on the day of the presentation so that I’m not worrying about it all day (and so that I can show him part of my marathon training route from last year), and I’m excited about doing some hobby stuff that isn’t running or mindless web browsing (the only two things I’ve had the spare brainpower for recently!).
Keen as I am to dive into a few hobby projects using my new skills from the course, I know I do need to give myself a proper break, so I’ll probably be playing videogames for a week or two if I can find the energy…
Before I started on the TechUP course, I was already into a lot of hobbyist tech stuff, as I’ve always found it interesting – and given that I spend pretty much my whole life in front of computer screens, I like to be able to solve problems myself when things don’t work as expected. This is part of the reason I jumped at the chance to do a proper software dev course.
Nevertheless, you would think that after five months of studying, I would be ready to run screaming away from tech stuff for a while. However, this is not at all the case. I am desperate to get back to my techy hobbies, as I’ve had absolutely no time to work on them for months! I won’t jump into anything with a deadline such as game comps and jams, as I do need a month or two off from *stress* after the course is finished, but I’m so excited to get back to playing with both hardware and software in a purely fun way – especially as I’m keen to utilise my new skills learnt on the course for some of my hobby projects.
This is also partly inspired by the fact that Dad arrived with some tools to revitalise my old dead laptop this morning (he and Mum are in town for his birthday today). Dad’s laptop-revitalising tools almost always consist of a Linux installation disk and a flash drive, and today was no exception. We were able to access my files as they were left when Windows stopped booting, so I have been able to back them up in their less jumbled state. This will be really helpful when getting everything properly organised on the new laptop.
I don’t need Windows on the old laptop any more, so once I’ve copied all my files, I’ll be installing Linux instead. However, I am developing quite a pile of old laptops upstairs with various builds of Linux put on them by Dad after they died as Windows machines, and I’m never going to need absolutely all of them as spare laptops. As such, I want to have a think about how they can be better repurposed. One of the many possibilities for the magical month of March (something I never thought I’d say about March) that will be here very soon.
I’ve got a lot on the list every day this week in order to finish my coursework, but so far (she says on Monday!) it’s getting done. I spent today finishing the most challenging coding module of the course – I’m glad it’s over, though tomorrow’s soft skills work will be challenging in a different way (I am a lot less comfortable when attempting to prepare things like presentations and elevator pitches than I am when learning to code).
Valentine’s Day has been nice, with a rare off-diet excursion into the land of chocolate and pizza. Back on plan tomorrow.
I’ve been really relieved that it’s been a slightly lighter week work-wise this week, as the deadline for finishing all my TechUP work (group project and modules) is a fortnight from today. I’m on top of it, just about, but there’s still a lot to do. Hoping to squeeze in a bit of downtime this weekend before the final push!
I’ve spent pretty much the last month chasing my tail, so I was a bit surprised to realise upon finishing work today that the rest of the week (whisper it) doesn’t have much booked in yet. I really hope it stays that way as it’d be great to be able to crack on with my remaining course modules!
I’ve been fantasising a bit about what I’m going to do in March once the course is over. So far it includes super exciting things such as:
On the whole, though, I’m not planning much. Just having a bit of time to myself again will be enough.
That is the way I think about coding and programming, generally. Good hours are hours where I know what I’m doing. Bad hours are more numerous, and generally feature lots of frustrating dead-end Googling to try and fix problems I’m having, meaning that I feel like I’m wasting my time to some extent.
We’re in the sharp end of the TechUP course, and I’m spending lots of bad hours trying to work out how to do things that I feel should be straightforward. This has mostly been caused by the laptop-hopping I’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks, as I’m having to keep reinstalling things and dealing with different computers’ idiosyncrasies. It doesn’t feel like time is on my side as a result.
Nevertheless, this current hour is a good hour, because all the problems I’ve been having with my work today have been solved. It’s nice to finish the day with no outstanding issues! It’s also an important part of the learning process, frustrating as it can be sometimes.
We’re getting into the later stages of the group project on my course now, and things are getting busy. Strangely, but not unexpectedly, I feel more excited about it as a result. I don’t know why I enjoy the truly mad period leading up to finishing a piece of software so much (see also: every game jam I’ve ever entered), especially when there are so many other time-consuming things going on with work and running and everything. But I do. Maybe I’m just a bit strange.
My zombie eye is feeling a lot better after a couple of days on the eye drops. Looking forward to next week when I’ll be off the dilating drops and able to see fully again!
…though to be honest I’m not sure why. I’ve been trying to get out of the habit of ‘wishing my life away’ by constantly barrelling onwards to the next thing. Winter may be a bit rubbish and miserable weather-wise, but it’s also nice and quiet and enables me to hibernate indoors and get on with things. I should make the most of that before things start happening again in the spring and summer.
I’ve got an extension for my course deadline, which is a bit of a relief as it means I can focus all my study energies on the group project we’re doing at the moment and save the rest of the outstanding work for later. I should still be done with everything by the end of February, meaning that I can focus on my own tech work again from the spring onwards.
Spring will be nice… but I need to find a way of enjoying winter while it’s still around!