In the time since my last writing life has been nothing short of a whirlwind. It's been good though. I've relocated, started at PingCAP, found a new apartment, bought furniture(!!!), traveled, travelled more, and been working on a few other bit things.
Moving back to Victoria from Berlin was (as predicted) quite a change. Having lived here most of my life though, I still have old friends here and know the city well. The city has been changing, some areas are completely full of construction, even minutes outside of downtown. I'm quite interested in seeing where the city is going, and how they tackle problems like homelessness as the city becomes more and more expensive.
Moving here, I had the intention to stay for a few years, so I knew I could put down some roots. I decided to get my flat unfurnished in a brand new building, and it's fun being able to (basically) start over in terms of my designing my living space. It's slow, and logistics around moving large objects are complicated. The journey is sometimes the best part though.
Being at PingCAP is really incredible. From day one everyone at the company has been nothing but warm, friendly, and incredibly talented. Sometimes I find myself reviewing my colleagues code, and find myself simply in awe. I've had a chance to meet some of my colleagues in person in Belgium at FOSDEM, and in California at Percona Live. It's very exciting to share food tastes with them. I never knew BBQ'd chili chicken hearts could be so good!
Raft, TiKV, and the other libraries which our team maintains are engaging to work one. They're all totally open source, so I regularly get to work with outside contributors as well as my colleagues. Open source work is definitely much more fulfilling to me. One thing that's really great is that we're regularly engaged with speaking and conferences, so I get to explore more of the world! It's a lot of work though, and I've been really struggling with imposter syndrome and confidence. I'm starting to settle in though, and it's helping.
If you're interested in getting involved with a new Rust open source project, feel free to get in touch with me. I'm sure I could help you find some interesting issues on our projects, and help you tackle them! Even little things like documentation and tests are needed, so everyone can help.
In other news, I've been making a concerted effort to be healthier and happier. My time in Europe over the last few years gave me so much knowledge and so many new teachings. I realized when I evaluated myself, I did not meet my own new expectations around the person I was. I've been trying to fix that. I've picked up non-technology based hobbies, taken long trips just to visit good friends and say "Hi!", and been doing some fitness training. It's helped improve my perspective on the world and reduce some of my insecurities.
I'm not entirely sure where life is taking me at this point. I'm honestly just trying to hold on, learn, and make the right choices.