Now
A brief overview of my activities and focus of the past few months. You can also read more about the now page concept.
Last updated on April 30, 2024.
I don’t foresee any significant availability for new client projects in the near future, but don’t let that stop you from saying hello anyway.
Client work
Aside from two other longer-term client projects continuing to keep me busy, I’ve picked up a third contract working under the hood of an app on some of my favorite topics, and some of the only ones that I really still enjoy in the Apple programming ecosystem: graphics rendering, networking, cryptography, and performance optimizations. Even better, it’s an app that I use regularly, so it feels extra fun to make it better and more capable.
Long-term personal project
I alluded last time to a project that I’ve been working on relentlessly since the earliest days of the pandemic. While I still don’t have anything public to share, I made a post that at least summarizes things, if you’re curious. It was aptly in response to a discussion about “white whales” in programming — those projects that you just can’t seem to finish, or sometimes, even start.
New house & move
It wasn’t far, but we bought a new house — really, our dream house — and moved all within late March and into April after several years of casual, picky searching. It was a lot of nothing for years, followed by everything happening very quickly. We’re still in the Portland city limits, but have a space with more room for our hobbies and projects, including a gigantic garage which I will be building out as a workshop and a near-double lot for outdoor pursuits. We’ll be pretty busy through mid-year, I’m sure, settling in. Fortunately, we don’t have any travel to speak of lined up during that time.
Milestones
I turned 47 in April. We closed on the new house the same day. Our old house goes on the market this week. I ran my first 5K in many years, and ran it all. I got to visit my parents and celebrate my dad’s last birthday of his 70s. And yesterday was eight years since Michelle passed. Time continues to move swiftly and I continue to strive to be present and to never take a moment for granted.