Ask HN: What motivates you, what are you working towards? |
Ask HN: What motivates you, what are you working towards? |
Right now I'm trying to create more effective ways of keeping track of bureaucratic changes. I want to have an official line of communication with the various offices in Berlin. It would make my work so much easier. Instead of trying to figure out what they want, I could just ask them. This has been surprisingly difficult to implement. They are completely indifferent to people doing their work for them.
I'd also like to collaborate with the administration to create a more effective bureaucracy. This, too, has been a frustrating process so far. Nonetheless I persevere and hope that we can eventually get something off the ground, even if it's just a slightly improved form.
I want to put in the hard work now so that I can leave it as-is indefinitely and I never have to be bitten by "sorry we're shutting down this service" or "hey, we redesigned the whole UI for fun!" or "you must download this update or your service will stop working".
Deploying FLOSS software on your own infra can also be a good way to contribute something back: there are usually some things you need to do for your setup that aren't yet covered by the project itself. Eg, I just deployed an open-source RSS reader on a private k8s cluster and didn't yet have a Helm chart. So I will make that open source for whoever wants to deploy that same RSS reader on k8s without having to reinvent the wheel.
Deploying everything on k3s running on dedicated servers has also been a great way to better understand how Kubernetes works. Coming from the AWS world, it's an interesting challenge—there's so much I have to figure out now that AWS used to handle for me (PKI, load-balancing, private DNS, etc).
So I'm working towards setting myself up for the future non-working years. Buying tools to support hobbies, gaining woodworking skills, learning to kayak, improving my exercise and eating habits to stay strong. All so when I do stop doing the tech day job, whether that be in 5 years or 5 days, I am already in the shape I need to be in, with the tools and expertise needed to be productive with my time doing things that are different than how I spent my working days.
Recently, I've been working with two former colleagues to build a search engine that indexes the entire web's HTML—a fascinating technical challenge on its own. Equally intriguing is figuring out how to attract our first customers.
It works with 90% of the bikes/motor brands on the market, so I assumed that some people here might be interested, if they got a non-functional batteries but they still want to use their e-bike?
We believe that everybody should have control about stuff they own, and we should fight against planned obsolescence!
Here are a few videos about our founder on the battery itself, why we built it, and how to assemble it:
- What is the Gouach Battery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsuW1NPkvNk
- Presentation of the pack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLoCihE0eIA
- Presentation of the fireproof and waterproof casing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDJpt7RDbRM
Here are the juicy bits: https://docs.gouach.com
We'd love some feedback from the e-bike DIY builder community
Oh, and it's launching as a Kickstarter in September and there is an offer for early-backers here https://get.gouach.com/1 for a 25% discount on the battery!
You can follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gouach.batteries to get the latest news!
Edit: just noticed the regdate, sorry for the lecture :)
It's not a motivation, but reminds me to keep on the chase
Burning myself out trying to end the rat race as soon as I can.
I am working towards two major goals.
First, I feel healthy right now in both my body and mind, but I didn't used to. I partied pretty hard through my 20s, while still experiencing plenty of success in my career, and that made me feel pretty cool. Eventually the exhaustion and added stress caught up to me in my early 30s and reduced the quality of my relationships and career progress. I never want to feel that way again, but it's difficult to change so much of my identity on a dime. So, my first goal is to fully habituate a set of actions I consider healthy and to do so so deeply that taking those actions is an extension of my identity rather than effort I feel I need to continually exert in an attempt to change.
Second, I need to create a piece of software that I can use as a means of self-expression. I've been in software development all my life. I have created or contributed to several pieces of software which have affected the lives of millions only for them to be shut down due to external forces. I find it deeply, deeply frustrating to meet new people, explain who I am and what I'm about, but then fail to have anything tangible that I can point them towards and go, "Look! This is who I am. This is what I create. This is me." How did I get to this point? I've spent the better part of my life working on projects considered wildly successful, but money is hardly an identity. I'm over it. I will create something, even if it's niche and unpopular, that isn't dependent on external factors, like a third party API or extreme capital, so that I am able to continually express who I am through my craft.
So, yeah. Those are my goals. What am I working on?
Well, I've quit habits related to drinking alcohol, smoking weed, and consuming caffeine and Adderall. I run 20-30 miles a week, built a home gym and lift weights three times a week, but I don't work on flexibility as much as I should. I used to do yoga, but it slipped off my radar, and I'd like to get back into it. I track all my macros/micros, eat enough protein, avoid sugar, and generally eat really clean, but every few weeks I'll cave in and have a greasy pizza or giant burger. I would like to get better at managing my emotions and caloric intake so that I don't lose out to these cravings. I have pretty good sleep hygiene and try to be winding down at 9/getting up at 6, but I often fall asleep on the couch when I'd prefer to wind down with a good book in my bed. I have tried, repeatedly, to practice more mindfulness through meditation and journaling, but these habits haven't stuck for me yet. I aspire to grow into these goals and I'm confident I'll establish more goals for myself as I continue to improve.
And I've started tinkering around with making a game of sorts. I know it's going to be a simulation of an ant colony that runs 24/7, like a Tamagotchi, but I haven't succeeded in designing compelling game mechanics as of yet. I want it to feel like I'm caring for a digital pet, for there to be a sense of pride and responsibility in keeping my pet alive, and to increase my mindfulness of self-care through the act of continually caring for my pet. To me, it feels similar to how dog owners go for more walks because they establish routines with their furry friends, but digitally and with an emphasis on mental acuteness. I've spent an awful lot of time getting excited about convoluted ideas in this area, and most have ultimately fizzled out or failed to converge into coherent gameplay, but the process of exploring what sounds interesting to me, and how to gamify self-care, has been quite good. I am hopeful that sometime in my life I'll find a way to create a compelling, digital pet that helps me and others continually care for themselves through the act of continually caring for their pets.
That's all I got! Thanks for the question. Cheers