This is very cool project. I’m looking forward to getting in and seeing what they’ve done on Argyle St.
Throwback Pictures
Recently I installed Timehop on my phone and it’s been showing me some awesome old photos. It got me thinking and I ended up going through some old pictures tonight. I found some really cute old ones of the kids and thought I’d share some.
Alexandria
Caile
Caile and Ella
Ella
Jen, Alexandria, Caile, Ella
Noah
Shaun the Sheep Movie
This morning we went into the city to see an advanced screening of Shaun the Sheep Movie. It is done by the same people that made Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit. I’d heard of these movies but never seen them so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I had also never heard of Shaun the Sheep so it wasn’t really excited about going to watch it.
Jen had received some tickets to go see it before it actually hits theatres though and the kids thought it looked funny so we went off. It turned out to be a really well done movie and quite funny too. I laughed a number of times. There is no real speaking which seemed odd to me at first, but it didn’t need it.
As part of the event they had a bunch of swag to give away so the kids all received Shaun the Sheep masks which they loved. My nephew left his on the entire movie. The also brought home stickers and temporary tattoos.
It felt like a lot of movies though because Jen and I went to the theatre last night for a date and watched Paper Towns. I almost gave in and grabbed snacks last night but stayed strong and didn’t.
Pretty sure I’m going to have to watch the other two movies now too.
Trip to the Park, Sort of
Plans don’t always work out the way you intend. The rest of my family had plans to go to Hennigars Farm Market today. They were going to have a little treasure hunt for the kids and feed the animals they have.
Last minute I realized they were getting ready to leave just shortly before I was going to finish off work anyway, so I snuck away a bit early and went with them. We made it there just shortly before my sister and her family so we went into the farm market to pick up a bit of fresh vegetables first.
While we were at the cash my sister came in with a horrible scowl on her face. While she was getting the kids out one of them slammed the door. The doors were locked and her purse was on the floor inside. Yup locked out.
When we were running though options she decided that either both sets of keys were in her purse or there was one at her house on the kitchen counter. I ran back to her house to check, but they weren’t there. She ended up having to call a tow company who sent someone out to get her in.
So I missed most of the time at the park but I did get back in time to watch the kids feed the fish and the guy get her back into the van. It’s pretty amusing because she has had to call someone to get her into her vehicle more times than anyone else I know. Why would you carry around both sets of keys for a vehicle?
Hodge Podge
Last night for supper Jen made hodge podge. This has to be one of my all time favourite things to eat. It’s a local dish could convince me to become a vegetarian.
Usually a fall tradition when the vegetable harvest comes in but really the main thing is having fresh baby vegetables. We were able to pick up everything we needed. There are a few variations but our hodge podge usually consists of new potatoes, baby carrots, peas, and beans. You boil all the vegetables together and then drain them off and cover them with a cream and butter sauce.
Most of the peas for this came from our garden but everything else came from a local farmers market. I can’t wait until our beans and carrots are ready and we can have almost everything come out of our garden for it. Next year we are greatly expanding our garden and we’ll have to grow some potatoes so we can have the full supply.
The Wikipedia article for hodge podge even directly mentions the Nova Scotia version. This is the closest recipe that I could find to how we made it.
It makes me very happy that I had enough restraint last night not to eat it all so there was some left over for me to be eating for lunch right now. It looked better yesterday, but still tastes just as good today.
Morning Run Picture
It was a beautiful morning, perfect for running. I pushed it and managed a 5K with only one short walking break and long enough to snap this picture. Did it with a pace of 6:48 min/km.
The Automattic Creed
Right in the offer letter when you accept a position at Automattic you are presented with the creed right above where you sign to accept. I love this. It really describes how things are here. You can read more about the creed in Matt’s post Why Your Company Should Have a Creed. You can read the creed below.
I will never stop learning. I won’t just work on things that are assigned to me. I know there’s no such thing as a status quo. I will build our business sustainably through passionate and loyal customers. I will never pass up an opportunity to help out a colleague, and I’ll remember the days before I knew everything. I am more motivated by impact than money, and I know that Open Source is one of the most powerful ideas of our generation. I will communicate as much as possible, because it’s the oxygen of a distributed company. I am in a marathon, not a sprint, and no matter how far away the goal is, the only way to get there is by putting one foot in front of another every day. Given time, there is no problem that’s insurmountable.
A little while ago a co-worker, Nick Hamze, commissioned a design for a t-shirt around the creed. He also did one on canvas. The things Nick creates or has created is awesome. I love his creativity. I printed one out and just put it in a frame and on the wall today. I might try shrinking it down a bit more to have it fit in the frame a bit better, but I love the look of it hanging in my office.
Edit: I did re-print it so it is smaller and fits in the frame better. I replaced the old picture with a new one.
Finally Running Again
For the past little over a week I’ve been finally getting back into the habit of running. Since the 13th I’ve gone out six times. It has been rough and a little disheartening as I looked back to just a year ago and where I was compared to now.
On July 19th 2014 I did a 5 km run with a pace of 4:55 min/km. This year on July 19th the best I could push was 3.55 km with a pace of 6:48 min/km. Not very impressive, but I’m working on it. My plan is to get back up to 5 km and then increase my pace and work up distance from there.
To help motivate myself I also signed up for the 10 km race as part of the Valley Harvest Marathon. Last year I did the 10 as well but when I registered I was already in good running shape. That was the beginning of going down hill for me. Before the race I pushed myself in training and had hurt my knee. It was fine for the race but I was not at the top of my game.
This morning I was able to push myself to run 5 km. I did the exact same route as the above one but with a pace of 7:12 min/km. There were a few walking breaks mixed in there and I was in pretty rough shape at the end.
Most nights for the past week as well my wife and I have been getting out to go for a walk. Nothing huge but about 1-3 km. It’s a great way to wind down the day and have some time alone to chat.
So now that I’ve shelled out some cash to enter the race I can’t look like an idiot when I get there so I’ll have to train. I have about 3 months to get there. It’s the day right before I leave for our company meetup so that means I’ll hopefully be in good enough shape to head out on runs with coworkers there too. I can’t wait!
Distributed Downfall
Working for a distributed company, and in particular Automattic, is amazing. There are so many upsides and I think talked about a lot of them previously. Don’t just take my word though, take a look through some posts by coworkers. For the past little bit however I think I’ve found the downfall of working remotely.
The people I interact with on a daily basis are awesome. Getting to meet my team so shortly after joining the company might have spoiled me, but I think I’m now going through withdraw. I want to be able to be closer to them, work with them, hang out with them.
Lately seeing some others getting together at local events, WordCamps, or conferences has me feeling a little jealous. Don’t get me wrong traveling is hard. It leaves Jen to balance everything by herself and get kids to the places they need to be which can be difficult with her job if these things fall in her regular working hours. If I’m gone we have to rely on other people to help out with the logistics of everything.
I don’t want anyone to think that I don’t have the opportunity to go and get together with others, I’ve never asked or tried to make the arrangements to do it. I know if I found something reasonably close and made the case to go I’d be able to do it no problem. This is me putting the limitation on myself.
The good news is in a few months we will be having the annual Grand Meetup where the whole company gets together. I’ll have a full week to meet and be with everyone! If you can’t tell I’m very much looking forward to it.
First Date – Wolfville Reservoir Park
We took the kids swimming at the Wolfville Reservoir Park recently. This is one of my favourite places in the world. Not only does it have a nice walking trail and a mountain bike course, but it also has a swimming area and an amazing view over the Minas Basin to Cape Blomidon. Even with all these wonderful things going for it none of them are the reason it is one my favourite place, the reason is more sentimental than that.
Roughly twelve years ago this is where Jen and I came for our first date. We had known each other for a while but were only coworkers / friends. We met while working together at a call centre and thankfully we had an instant messaging type program that we could use to talk to other because I don’t know if I would have ever talked to her if I had to walk up face to face. Eventually things all aligned and we ended up going out together. I was driving but she told me where to go, it was a surprise for me. We ended up at the Wolfville Reservoir Park. I had never been there before but she had been a number of times. We ended up going for a walk around the water areas and then sat on a bench with a view looking out towards Blomidon, although I didn’t pay much attention to the view.
Even though I was incredibly shy, and thought she was more there just being nice to me than actually being interested, I made the most of it. We sat there and talked for a quite a while, though I’m not really sure how long. If we could have stayed there together all night I would have never left. Despite me being to much of a coward to of make any sort of move that night, we also had our first kiss. That’s when it really changed for me. Obviously, for some reason, she was actually interested and this had the potential to something more than just one date.
Fast forward to now and I’m very thankful for that first night. We don’t end up at the park all that often, but every time we are there I take at least a minute to go sit on the same bench and remember.
Wolfville Reservoir
Wolfville Reservoir
Looking to Blomidon
Looking to Blomidon
Sandy McFadden 