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The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Coder
Being a software engineer can be a lonely business and that isn’t helped by those who think they know how to help…
We’ve all been there, deep in a train of thought toiling the depths of a difficult algorithmic implementation, mid-struggle with the compiler over what really constitutes a warning and what does not, when the fragile construction that is developer focus is summarily shattered by a sudden and unexpected management based interruption.
“We thought you’d like to know that there’s a free lunch in the office on Friday — after the all hands meeting scheduled during lunch hour.”
Irritated you close the CPU hugging laughably named “Teams” behemoth of an app with extreme prejudice choosing Activity Monitor¹ over a swift CMD-Q or a casual right click, just to make really sure it dies in short order.
Then, a sudden shrill “ding!” from Outlook — something you thought was suitably confined in running from a browser, and not from the actual app that you’d never have anywhere near your operating system. Ever.
“A gentle reminder from HR that everyone should have their performance review evaluation forms fully filled in by this afternoon so that you can get the highest grade you can from your manager in the forthcoming review!”
