turg's Journal: The zen of turg

1) If you do what you've always done, you get the results you've always gotten.

2) Someday never comes. I majored in Theatre Arts. Everyone in the department had plans for their professional theatre career, the theatre company they were going to start, etc. 90% of them never even attempted to get a job related to theatre, it was still something they'd do "someday." But someday never gets any closer. I've seen it again and again since then -- people often seem in awe of others who achieve their goals, but they key thing that those who achieve their goals have that others lack is the fact that they actually made the attempt. If you're planning to do something "in two years or so," (for example) start telling yourself you'll do it "around June 2008," or else two years from now, you'll still be saying "in two years or so."

eh, I'm tired and can't be concise right now. I've got some more but they'll end up three paragraphs long each. (random half-remembered quote: Mark Twain once said, "A 15-minute speech takes a week to prepare. If you want the 3-hour version, I can do it right now.")

We used to have some 'rules' posted

[Coventry]

On the whiteboard of an office I worked in back in 2000. We called these 'rules of life', but with the implied ending of 'for developers'. Not so zen, but I still remember a few of them in particular:

1) Should != Will
Just because you think something should work, does not mean it will. This was a reminder to question assumptions, especialy when it came to the capabilities of software libraries - quite often what the docs say they do, or should do, is not reality.

2) No write pe

Re:We used to have some 'rules' posted

[turg]

The problems that having you pulling your hair out for half a day almost always turn out to be something "obvious."

"Not Today"

[Short Circuit]

Likewise, "Not Today" also means never.