muse

I read books on algorithms and data structures and typed out the examples. The work computer was locked down for installers but I could download open source programs and compile Java. One of the more interesting chapters I remember was parsing basic math operations for a calculator into a tree structure, evaluating it, and converting it between infix and postfix notation.

My boss probably noticed I had automated things because sometimes they would send new data requiring an urgent redo of everything, and I would send results back in a minute instead of the 8 hours it used to take. He didn’t seem upset, more like pleasantly surprised that a temp-to-hire pulled it off. I even got a compliment at one point, which never happened before.

One day I applied for another job that was a lot of what I already did and some of what I wanted to do more of. I called in sick to do the interview and got the position. It was good timing because the place I was at got acquired, and that never goes well if you’re in a group that overlaps what the parent company already has.

Owning land is better to store wealth, but gold is better when fleeing to wherever land ownership is still enforced.

It might be an exploratory nomadic hunter-gather society that has predators and enemies day and night.

A study analyzed DNA of Neanderthals along with contemporary and prehistoric humans. They found ADHD associated alleles were on genes essential to development before the stone age, but selective pressure has decreased the frequency since then. PMC7248073

Another study on tribes examined an ADHD gene mutation that affects dopamine receptors. In the nomadic tribe, those with the mutation had better social standing and nourishment. In the sedentary tribe, those with the same mutation were malnourished, distracted, and regarded as unreliable by their peers. PMC2440754

A third study found ADHD participants collected more berries with more exploring. Non-ADHD participants collected less berries, spent more time trying to deplete bushes, with less time exploring. PMC10878810

Yes it keeps the lower half happy.

I see it a lot with AskReddit, surveying (or possibly influencing) how people feel when something happened in the news. Those posts get bumped to the front page.

Want to automate your office document? Enjoy making your business dependent on a language

• that will be a dead end for your developer career
• where arrays can start at 0 or 1
• where checking for an array involves ignoring an error and resuming
• that is guaranteed to be broken a future patch
• that has to be given permission to run in a security center

You could use your CRUD experience to find a similar role writing desktop or server apps in Go, C#, or Java. A book on data structures and algorithms is a good place to start. It would be a step closer to making software in more interesting fields, games, building your own product, or just writing code only for your business to help sell something else.

There is also the database path (for example, TPS reports), but it’s another environment where you’re at the whim of a giant monolithic mystery machine. I’ve found there are no limits to depths of business logic that someone can invent for you to implement, just to save them a dollar.

Noita has some nice psychadelic cave music

Focus - Hocus Pocus is playing in my head now

The loneliness had always been a challenge for me. Even before I knew I was trans, I went places looking for something not sure of what: beaches, boardwalks, arcades, pool halls, nightclubs, raves, electronics stores, museums, gaming, etc. Getting into synthesizers helped me get through a really difficult time.

I’m happy to talk if you want to DM me. I’m not in Germany but neighbors.

Jane Goodall said something very moving, to the effect that you matter and every day on this planet you make a difference.

There was an Outer Limits episode with this plot - “Identity Crisis” with Lou Diamond Phillips