7 bands tight

Next Thursday I’m supposed to get my braces off. But before they come off, I’ve been made to wear seven rubber bands (up from my usual two) on my braces for the past two weeks.

Seven rubber bands threaded through my braces lovingly.

Now that's a pretty smile.

 

 

I have been stocking up on all the stuff I’ve not been allowed to eat for the past 2+ years: granola, crunchy cereal, nuts, croutons, and my unrequited love, white cheddar popcorn. I’m taking Thursday off to work on my WordPress talk in addition to gorging myself on said white cheddar popcorn. When you next seem me at WordCamp, I shall be coated in a fine dusting of white cheese powder.

Speaking of WordCamp, work has been so busy and I’ve had so little time to work on my WordPress Security talk that I’m only just now writing it. This makes me unhappy because I like a good week’s worth of breathing time, but personal events last weekend prevented me from attending to it then, and there’s just been no downtime at all at the new job. I’ve had to relocate to a cafe with a cup of hot chocolate to prevent myself from napping and/or watching Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika or Mad Men all day. I’m super tired because mid-week we went to see Guitar Wolf, a Japanese rock and roll band, which, although a fantastic and worthwhile experience, kept me out till 3 on a work night. Grr.

Oh, and I’m a boss now! At least, that’s what they tell me. I don’t feel like a boss. I think we’re more like senpai and kohai. I have loads of experience with in-house, agency, and freelance projects, and he’s fresh out of school and full of energy and enthusiasm. It’s nice to finally have another hard core front-ender to commiserate with.

The following is techno-babble. If you don’t know what Ruby on Rails is, it’s probably boring.

This week was super excellent even if it was super tiring. I learned something new every day (I could not say that six months ago). I am finally getting to use Ruby on Rails and GIT on a regular basis. This is why I wanted a new job: I wanted to use these things, not just SVN and PHP. The only way I learn new things is with books and practice. So I’ve shelved my Japanese studies and comicking so I’ll have enough cram time to read up on the new things I’m using. It’s not hard to learn, it just takes an initial investment of attention and time.

Sometimes I worry that at this rate, I’ll never have time to draw comics again, but then I remind myself of my experiences with learning curves in the past: I’m on a new OS, using new version control systems, and working with new people who code in a new language. For the first few months, I’m going to drop off a lot of maps. But I’ve already begun mastering what’s being thrown at me, and I’m making my way back up to the top of that mountain. In fact, it’s a testament to my awesomeness that I can do what I’ve done on one of our biggest projects in only two weeks on a new OS with a new workflow and language and no project manager!

Or maybe it’s a testament to the congeniality of my new coworkers. They are super nice. The lead Ruby developer is great at explaining new things to me, and no one seems mind that I am a lost duckling at times and need a little help. (“What goes where in this command line now?”)

Even though I had to work from home a few times this week to make a deadline, I did manage to drag everyone out to eat in the sunlight one afternoon, and arranged for us to have pizza on Friday (and our boss picked up the tab–what a sweetie!). These lunches are a great time to get to know each other and catch up on project statuses without interfering too much with our individual priorities. I enjoy the chance to get to know everyone more!

All right, I have to go back to being a mature adult and stuff now. Ciao!

  • http://bookspread.net Bookspread

    Congratulations on the braces and the senpai status! You deserve a serenading unicorn song:

    http://youtu.be/3OH3_esLVpQ

  • http://rachelnabors.com Rachel the Great

    Holy cow, that’s brilliant. Thank you!

  • narkoz

    Glad to see you learning Ruby. Do you have a Github account?

  • http://rachelnabors.com Rachel the Great

    I do. Why do you ask?

  • narkoz

    Just curious

  • Jenna #2

    I remember rubber bands. But I didn’t know they could fill your mouth with them. Could you talk w/ them on?

  • http://rachelnabors.com Rachel the Great

    I could, but it sucked. Always felt like I was pulling on my teeth.