Thanks!
To borrow a thought from Post Benedict XVI, I don't know how much more time and strength I'll have, so should say now what I have to say. I worked for forty years in the software industry: as a documentor, a developer, and a test-automation specialist. Most of that work mattered at the time; some was leading-edge (sometimes, bleeding-edge). Now all that work is dead and gone -- and that's okay; that's the way of all software. When I "got retired," I first tried working on some projects of my own, blogging, and posting to some tech sites. That work was low-impact to begin with, and rapidly became much lower-impact. I was amazed at how quickly the search engines forgot about me (think, "red shift"). Then I realized that I should be working to improve the documentation for the Ruby core and Standard Library -- which will not be forgotten anytime soon. So for five years now, I've been doing that. Profuse thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way. I'm not going to try to name the many careful reviewers who have kept me on the straight and narrow in this work; if I tried to do so, I would surely mistakenly leave out someone I should have included. Those who study longevity say that a sense of purpose is crucial to well-being. My purpose in this work has made my life interesting and pleasant, and I'm sure has also made it longer. So once again, Thanks!
To borrow a thought from Post Benedict XVI, I don't know how much more time and strength I'll have, so should say now what I have to say.
I worked for forty years in the software industry: as a documentor, a developer, and a test-automation specialist. Most of that work mattered at the time; some was leading-edge (sometimes, bleeding-edge). Now all that work is dead and gone -- and that's okay; that's the way of all software.
When I "got retired," I first tried working on some projects of my own, blogging, and posting to some tech sites. That work was low-impact to begin with, and rapidly became much lower-impact. I was amazed at how quickly the search engines forgot about me (think, "red shift").
Then I realized that I should be working to improve the documentation for the Ruby core and Standard Library -- which will not be forgotten anytime soon. So for five years now, I've been doing that.
Profuse thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way. I'm not going to try to name the many careful reviewers who have kept me on the straight and narrow in this work; if I tried to do so, I would surely mistakenly leave out someone I should have included.
Those who study longevity say that a sense of purpose is crucial to well-being. My purpose in this work has made my life interesting and pleasant, and I'm sure has also made it longer. So once again, Thanks!
