I Always Wanted To Be A Camp Counselor

November 21, 2012 in TechTalk | Tags: , , , , | 20 comments

As a kid I looked forward to Girl Scout Camp for many a summer. My favorite destination was Camp Northern Hills near Eagle River, WI where one summer I actually spent 2 2-week sessions, one more in camp and one on a 10-day backpacking trip in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Sadly the camp closed shortly after my last time there, and as that was before the internet age (yes, that time truly does exist) I have been unable to find many references to it (perhaps I can remedy that by scanning in some memories, but right now that would be a big digression).

What I do recall from my time there was how I always looked up to the camp counselors, I thought they had the coolest jobs in the world, getting paid to go camping. And it was my dream to be one of them one day. That also never happened, as other jobs came my way and then it was time to head off to college and leave scouting as a memory.

Well, never is a very long time, and my dream was actually realized, in a very unpredictable way, this past summer when I was selected to speak at  That Conference: A Summer Camp For Geeks. You may be wondering what this has to do with being a camp counselor, and you would be right to do so. However, you have to look no further than the picture of my conference badge to see how the dream was realized. I had arrived, I was a camp counselor.

Of course there are also some other cool things about speaking at your first conference, also in that I have arrived space. It was a very empowering experience, scary as well, especially as the time of my talk approached. But I was ready, and everything went fine. Going through with this made me realize that if you are prepared, someone in the room is bound to learn something. It is not worth worrying about someone trying to prove you wrong, because 1) most people don’t want to do that, they just want to learn, and 2) if someone does, it really says more about them than about you.

All of that aside, this also got me thinking about yet another aspect of being a woman in tech. Why is it that there are so few women at technology conferences (less than the percentage of women in the field)? Are women more likely to attend conferences if they are speaking at them? And what can we as members of this industry do to change this?

I know that I am not the first person to ask these questions, still I am not sure that by asking them any progress has been made. Are there other questions, we as women techies, should be asking both ourselves and our communities?

 

ThoughtWorks Loves Ada!

October 10, 2012 in Chicago, TechTalk | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

ThoughtWorks offices across the Americas will be hosting events on Tuesday October 16th to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day. Check out ThoughtWorks Events for an event near you to join and network with other women in STEM careers.

I personally will be leading a break out session at the Chicago event.

I have been with ThoughtWorks for over 17 years and have enjoyed solving technical problems and making people happy along the way. I also love to travel. So life as a consultant has been great, giving me many chances to enable solutions while living in places I never would have dreamed of living while growing up, including Brazil, France, and India. Until recently my presence in the blog sphere was centered entirely around my travels. Finally I got up the guts to post something technical. Similarly, despite actively pursuing a hobby of performing in musical theater productions and having been a facilitator for a number of training classes, I had never given a conference talk. That also changed when I spoke at That Conference in August. In this break out session I will share my experiences with addressing my fears in both of these areas and will encourage others to do the same. In addition there will be opportunities to discuss why there are so few women at conferences, both attending and presenting, and if we have any ideas of ways to change this.

 

To register for this event visit our EventBrite site.

For more information about Ada Lovelace and other events happening that day see Finding Ada.

Hope to see you there or hear the stories of the event that you attended after the 16th.

Wendy

Whisked Away

August 26, 2012 in India | Leave a comment

I knew that my connection in Frankfort was tight but was not expecting the royal treatment to ensure that I made it.

After a fairly good night’s sleep, thanks to a very much appreciated upgrade to business class, as I was gathering my belongings they made an announcement that anyone with a connection to Chennai should identify themselves at the end of the jet bridge. I figured they would walk us to the next gate and ensure that we all made it.

However, after the whole group was accounted for, we actually walked down the stairs to a waiting shuttle bus that took us to an entrance just outside of the next gate. And the bus was just for the 7 or 8 of us that had that connection. Once we arrived they also made sure we got to the actual gate and into the right lines to get what we needed to board.

It was so nice to be taken care of so well. And it was also nice that once I was on board the wait for take off was quite short.

And, while I was not upgraded for this flight, since I had actually not gone through the process of getting a paper certificate in order to upgrade on Lufthansa, I did have an aisle seat and had two empty seats next to me, so I was able to spread out a bit and feel less cramped.

By the time I post this, I will be at my hotel, but now there is a little more than an hour to go in the flight and I am mentally preparing myself to sleep well upon arrival.

…

OK, Sleep is going to have to wait, as the downside of that tight connection is that my bag is still in Germany. I have completed the paper work to get it delivers when this flight comes in tomorrow at the same time, however I have to wait for them to get some only to me so that I can buy some clothes to wear later today.

I hope there is a place to get something close to my hotel as by the time I need to shop I will have been in my travel clothes for more than 48 hours.

…

And now the shopping is done and I have added two more salwars to my collection, and a pair of sandals. This does mean that my creative packing for 3+ weeks in one small bag and a carry on has been thwarted, unless perhaps I can send a few things home with my colleagues and not carry them onwards to France.

Wendy

Destination Question Mark

August 24, 2012 in France, India | Tags: , | Leave a comment

It’s 10 PM and I am trying hard to get the last few things done before heading halfway around the world after work tomorrow.

I am very excited to be returning to India, after being gone for 5 years and to be going to a city that surprisingly I didn’t make it to in either of my last two trips, Chennai.

I am not thrilled about the flights to get there, nor about the fact that I am only staying 5 days. Well, I guess I’m partially thrilled about that as I am headed back to France for a couple of weeks immediately upon leaving India, and I haven’t been there since my sabbatical 4 years ago.

Of course this made for quite the packing dilemma, as the dress in each place is quite different, especially for women. Given that we are taking the TGV in France, I needed to pack light. Yet I needed loose, flowing, modest clothes in India, and more of a sundress look for the south of France. Somehow, I was able to get what seems like a good wardrobe, as well as running shoes, a hair dryer (220 of course),and a trail yoga mat all in my bag and come in well under the weight limit. Of course, I am sure that I forgot something, but that’s what stores are for, right?

I guess I now have to stop procrastinating under the pretenses of testing out the updated WordPress iPad app and get back to that list of things that has to be done before I leave, of which sleep is dropping lower on the list by the minute, which could be a good thing come flight time tomorrow.

Look forward to more stories here and pictures on Facebook as my travels unwind.

Wendy

We’re Going Backwards

July 20, 2012 in Hawaii | Leave a comment

This little story can also be summed up with the well know fact that kids say the darndest things. It is also something that I can only relay second hand.

About the time I was landing in Maui, having flown in from Chicago to meet up with the rest of the folks coming from Sacramento, they were actually getting on board their flight. Realize, this trip had been in the planning stages for months, maybe even close to or just over a year, so for a 6, 4, and 2 year old it had been a part of a good portion of their lives. And of course they were excited, at least to go to Chili’s in Hawaii (according to a post on Facebook by my sister-in-law a few days earlier).

So it really should be no surprise that as the plane starting moving Roxie squealed in delight “We’re going! We’re going!”. I can only imagine the feelings as finally the carrot that had been dangling in front of her was in her hand. Not to be outdone, Julie chipped in with a question, “Why are we going backwards?”. Hmmm, let’s try to figure that one out, there is a large building in front of you? All kidding aside, it really puts things in perspective to look at them through the eyes of children. She couldn’t see the building, was probably just as excited as Roxie, and then quite confused when the beginning of the actual trip didn’t feel quite right.

About 5 hours later, during which some sleep was achieved, but not quite enough, they landed in Maui. At which time Julie exclaimed that “that was a great vacation!”. Of course she didn’t mind at all that it had just started and by the next day was quite ready to realize that.

Tweet Your README

July 15, 2012 in TechTalk | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

So I am sitting here both exhausted and exhilarated after spending my weekend at a CD Summit (#TWCDSummit), an internal mini-conference held at ThoughtWorks.

One of the coolest things that I took away from the weekend is an answer to something that I have been struggling with on many a project, the README. You know, that file that gives step by step instructions for a new team member on how to set up their environment. The one that you hope is up to date, but usually isn’t. The one that if edited recently is likely to be organized but seems to drift in exponential time away from that format as those little things that were missing are discovered.

In a session on virtualizing these developments I tossed out the idea that it would be nice if we could kill the README, however we quickly realized that the goal should really be to be able to tweet your README. Of course I don’t want to be dogmatic about this, but isn’t it a nice goal to have that this file that has plagued many of us for years could be reduced to the size of a tweet? And not by writing it in some cryptic language!

I am not saying this will be easy, and in fact on my current project we will likely move to this in stages, removing the most painful things to set up first and gradually getting as close to 100% automation of setting up a new dev box. The particular solution I am exploring uses vagrant and virtual box, however the details are not as important here as the concept.

Not only can a new dev be up and running in hours (or less) instead of in days. The entire team could theoretically destroy and re-create their environments daily, or at least weekly ensuring that they stay in sync. And it is possible to have multiple VM setups, one that is pretty much like what we have for years been installing on our laptops or pairing stations, with everything running locally, and another with multiple VMs were you can test things out in a more production like layout and thus potentially uncover issues related to a multiple machine environment much sooner and with much less ceremony.

Aloha

May 6, 2012 in Hawaii | 2 comments

It is hard to believe that my much awaited trip to Maui is finally really just around the corner, as in I leave Tuesday morning).

I am not sure when we started talking about this trip, I know it was more than a year ago, and my mom & dad, who are the reason for the trip (they will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary there) have probably been thinking about it much longer.

And not only do I get to celebrate such an awesome day with them, I get to spend two weeks with them, my brother and sister-in-law, and their three beautiful little girls.

We will be staying at the Honua Kai Resort and Spa where we will essentially have condos with full kitchens so we won’t have to eat every meal at restaurants and can more easily satisfy the “I’m hungry” demands that come regularly from the little ones.

Other than the renewal vows (set for sunset on the actual day of the 19th on the beach at Kapalua) we have a luau set at Old Lahaina Luau for Friday the 11th. As of now there is nothing else specific planned though I do intend to get around quite a bit (in addition to sitting by the pool and or ocean – with plenty of sun block) and am hoping to

  • Drive (well I’ll probably ride) “The Road to Hana”
  • Go Ziplining
  • Attempt to Surf (with lessons)
  • Snorkel (probably more than once)
  • Go Horseback Riding
  • Hike (again more than once)
  • Shop (was there any doubt)

In the early stages of planning I was hoping to do the bike ride down from Haleakala, however that has gotten too popular and now the biking starts outside of the park so it might not be worth the money.

Since I will only have my iPad with me, and will likely be doing lots of other things, I likely won’t be posting much during the trip. I will, however, try to get some pictures on facebook and will add more detailed posts after I return.

A Special Visit

May 6, 2012 in Life | Leave a comment

This past fall I had a very special visitor join me for a couple of weeks, her name was Flat Roxie, and she came to me direct from my oldest niece Roxanna as part of a project being done by her first grade class.

Since I was traveling every week for work she actually had quite a visit joining me on my travels.

The day she arrived, I had tickets to the Wisconsin football game against Northern Iliinois at Soldier Field.

I had very little phone reception but was glad I had my phone as I was able to snap some photos of the band under the Chicago skyline. And I was able to get a few text messages with score updates out to my brother who had to work during the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I am sure Flat Roxie would have loved to see both the Wisconsin Band and Football Team in action, it was quite exciting to come home form the game just in time for her arrival.

After spending the rest of the weekend in Chicago, she joined me on my weekly trek to Calgary for work. In the short time that she was there, we were able to hang out on the balcony as well as the couch.

 

 

 

 

We also played some new tunes on the piano, and cooked some good eats.

 

 

 

 

 

As usual it was a busy week and I couldn’t take any time off so we had to make due with the views of the mountains that we saw from the plane and while driving around town. Hopefully someday Roxie herself will get to visit that magical place and enjoy the freshness of a new mountain snow.

 

 

 

The next weekend was a trip to Madison for yet another Wisconsin Football game as it was Alumni Band day and I had planned on making my annual trek to my college town to be part of the action. While here again Flat Roxie was unable to join me at the game itself, she was able to watch the festivities on TV with my friends Steve and Leigh.

After the game we had a lovely dinner and conversation before a great nights sleep, at least for me with my tired marching muscles.

Of course Monday came too soon and it was back to Calgary for another week of work, and once again no mountains. And it was time for Flat Roxie to head to my parents’ house for the next part of her adventure.

Promises

January 19, 2012 in Life | 1 comment

Now that I actually re-visited my blog page yesterday, I am going to do my best to catch up on the various stories of travel and life that I owe to you, my readers. I know that it won’t happen overnight, so I am going to do my best to publish something at least once a week, most likely on the weekend. I have tales left from Greece as well as just about everything from Spain to share plus a few little of those stories that make life interesting.

To wet your appetite I have included the photo from my 2011 Christmas card which I snapped in southern Spain last summer in one of the many sunflower fields that dotted the landscape.

On Strike

January 18, 2012 in Life | Leave a comment

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