June 2024 in review

This is the twentieth post in my Month in review series.

This month was mostly cozy at home and around Santa Fe, Taos, Albuquerque. Lots of trees and flowers are blooming in Santa Fe, it’s spectacular and smells really nice.

I went on a 2-night solo backpacking trip to Santa Fe Baldy peak, and wrote a separate blog post about it here.

I was quite burnt out and stressed out at work for a few weeks, but in a good way. We’re doing good business and have good partners, but stakes are high (in cost and impact) and the project is quite complex. At least I’m better now and I had time to rest and reflect about how to re-adjust. I get to write custom programs and tools to help with the systems migration and data transformation. It’s very rewarding, but it’s also hard and taxing.

I haven’t programmed in a long time so it’s nice to revisit this hobby, and to learn something new. I’m learning how to design, create and program graphical user interfaces (GUIs) using Python, which I already know very well. I’ve mostly written server programs and command-line interfaces though (so no windows and buttons, just text on a terminal). I see lots of demand and opportunities for creating custom graphical interfaces for the custom code that I write. So I started myself on a learning track to build custom App plugins for Grafana. But for that, I have to learn in order: Javascrip, Typescript, and the React framework. I also want to study UI (user interface), UX (user experience) design, Information Architecture, and use the Model-View-Presenter program architecture pattern. Then I can learn how to write an App plugin for Grafana, for myself, or future work projects.

Month activities

Photography

Vanity plates

Here’s a little collection of fun vanity plates I photographed in New Mexico, mostly in Santa Fe.

Month favorites

• Dinner at a friend’s house.
• Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy.
  • We were entertained with actors reading poetry, and themed cocktails.
• Santa Fe Farmer’s Market.
• Engagement party.
  • We had friends over for snacks, cake and drinks.
• The Rose Garden is in full bloom.
• Day trip in Taos.
  • There are thrift stores, book stores, coffee shops, restaurants, arts and crafts, street artists. It’s a very touristic and pretty small town.
• Dinner at 315 Restaurant.
• Backpacking and hiking Santa Fe Baldy.
  • I wrote a separate post for this:
    Santa Fe Baldy
• Cat sitting.
  • We went four or five times to feed a friend’s cat at their house during their trip out of town.
• Lunches at La Fogata.
  • It’s a New Mexican restaurant we overlooked before, but some friends took us there, and it turns out it’s delicious and we went back like 3 or 4 times.