Day 34: Dojo Bug

The outbreak, now known as the Dojo Bug, is still active and a lot of people didn't show up today just like yesterday.

I forced myself to get out of bed earlier this morning so I could make it to the Dojo early as I told myself I would when this all started. It wasn't easy but I managed to get into the car half-an-hour earlier than I have been doing these last couple of weeks. Traffic is heavy each morning and I always find myself stuck in traffic. I thought that if I could get up earlier I'd be able to avoid that and get to the Dojo in a shorter time. However traffic would not let up. No matter how early I get on the road there are still traffic jams to deal with. In those moments where I am sitting still on the highway I start wishing that the city had a better public transportation system. Years ago one of my friends was studying abroad in Munich and I went to visit him for two weeks. One of the things that amazed me about that city was their train system that took passengers almost anywhere in town and at a cheap price. Owning a car was not necessary to be productive over there. I came home with a better appreciation for public transportion and had hoped to make it a habit of taking the bus more often as a way of avoid traffic and do my part in keeping the environment clean by removing my car from the road and alleviate traffic congestions. Unfortunately Americans have a love affair with their cars and the road that public transportation isn't as funded or advanced as Germany's. So pragmatism kicked in and I was back on the highway, waiting to move a couple of feet every minute.

Today's task was the same as yesterday's. CB had already done most of the work with the database setup and API listings that I told the group that it would be better that I just work on the AJAX and API assignments so I might actually understand what they are doing. They agreed and I spent the day working on that stuff. Most of that time was spent reading and rereading the chapter so I could understand how those things worked. For lunch VT, RS, AN, and I went to a Vietnamese restaurant. On our way back VT pointed out all the SUVs and other large cars on the road. It kind of hit a tone with me after being stuff in traffic this morning. I chuckled and said that only in America do you see stuff like this.

After lunch I finished reading and finally got down to coding. Practice makes perfect and I feel like I am slowly getting the hang of this. I was dreading this stuff all week but once I get moving it doesn't look as bad.

I took a break in the early evening to play ping pong with some of the guys and it was a certain stress reliever. I've been so uptight about this week that I am forgetting the things I do to make me forget the real world, even for a brief period. I can't even remember the last time I played a video game.

The day ended with me trying to take the iTunes API and render an artist's demo music video on my screen. VT tried to help me a little but even he was out.

As I am sitting home and typing the day out I can't help but have a feeling of uncertainty flow through me. I am doing this bootcamp because I don't want to hold off any longer on becoming a programmer and finally doing the things I want to do with my post-college young life. I love what I am doing and I want to make a career out of this. I also want to travel, meet new people, go on heart-pounding adventures and push myself to limits where I will see the man I truly am underneath the look and talk. Looking at my past I noticed that I tend to make excuses for not going out and doing the things I said I would. The excuses would either be logistical or superficial but either way I kept holding off, promising myself that I'd do them later until enough time passes by that they get pushed aside as a young and reckless fantasy. Among my excuses were that I was still in school, or that I needed to raise more money, or that I made a promise to a friend I still needed to fulfill, or my resume isn't impressive enough, or that I haven't acquired the skills I need to attempt something big. I promised myself that once I get these problems taken care of I'd go out and do all those things I want to do. But will I? Won't I just make another excuse for why I shouldn't do it yet? Maybe the money I raised isn't enough, maybe I need to make emergency payments, maybe my resume is still pretty small, or maybe what I learned at the Coding Dojo wasn't enough for the jobs I'm applying for. History is cyclical, it repeats itself; every generation promises itself that it won't make the same mistakes as their predecessors and yet it happens. How many times have people said "never again" just moments before it happens again?

Perhaps I need a break. All I've been thinking about this last six weeks is coding. This weekend I'll celebrate the completion of this stack by not doing any coding. One of my friends invited me to hang out with him in SF on Saturday. SF always relaxes me. I've also asked VT to tag along. Hopefully he can make it.