Last year, at CodeMash v2.0.1.4, I really wanted to get a photo with Jon Skeet. Most people who know StackOverflow know that Jon Skeet has the highest reputation on the site by far. On top of that, he is an accomplished author, blogger, speaker, and all around nerd hero.
Jon has been to CodeMash for several years and I could never get up the nerve to interrupt him and ask for a picture. Finally, at last year’s event, I did it. My friend Russell and I got a picture with him… or so I thought. While I was able to take a picture of Russell with Jon, Russell failed to get a picture of me. In fact, he didn’t notice until we were walking away and I wanted to see the picture. No photo in the gallery.
Well, I wasn’t going to go back and bug him again. I felt like I already put him out. I did get to meet him and I had a pretty good story (of Russell’s failure), so I was ready to leave well enough alone. Poor Russell had to endure a year’s worth of teasing by co-workers for being unable to operate a camera.
Fast forward to CodeMash v2.0.1.5. Russell was going to go, but I decided to skip it this year. That meant that I wouldn’t be able to try for round 2 of my Jon Skeet photo shoot. We all decided, though, that it would be funny if Russell got a picture of Jon Skeet holding a picture of me. We were mostly kidding, but we found ourselves hilarious.
Russell was determined to redeem himself, so he reached out to Jon and set it up, tracked him down, and followed through. Somehow, out of the goodness of his heart, Josh allowed himself to be roped into the adventure of stalking Jon. Josh also made sure that a picture was actually taken this time. Russell then got the photo printed out and framed for my enjoyment. So I present to you my new favorite desk adornment:
This is all way better than if I had just gotten the picture last year! Big thanks to Russell and Josh!
Andy Adams wrote a blog post about how to price yourself as an independent software developer. It was so good that I made it a pick of the week. Andy started to see traffic from my site and we struck up a conversation. Right away, I knew that I needed to have him on the show. We talk about how he became an independent, how he sets his rates, how to find customers, some of the perils of creating your own products, and whether you even want to be an independent developer in the first place. It is a fantastic interview, check it out.
2015 is kicking off with Episode 31 of the Pete on Software Podcast. In this episode, I talk about the difference between how I see “resolutions” and “setting goals”. If we all are treating our careers like small businesses, we need to make SMART goals in order to propel ourselves forward. I go over my goals for 2015 and ask for your feedback to see what you have planned.