Ruby DCamp 2013

I've been pretty busy these past 2 weeks and have been just getting over a serious illness.

Ruby DCamp, yes I was one of the "chosen" only 78 people from around the country and some from Europe get to attend Ruby DCamp each year, and yours truly got to go. First let me say, it was either "nerd heaven" or "nerd hell" depending on your take on the matter. I was warned that I would see some "nerdness" that might be slightly unsettling :-)

Over the weekend I got to learn some: Kung Fu, the ancient game of 'go', Rspec testing, Lots of pair programming, Conway's game of life, how an 'unconference' works, had great food, played Frisbee golf, and got to hang out and talk to some of the coolest/nerdiest people I've ever met :-)

My little kid Ian ended up getting really sick and I had to go home a day early but all in all, I highly recommend going if you can find a way in. A shout out to Chris Mar for taking the time to slowly walk me through Rspec testing, he has an awesome way of bringing things down to your level and making them very easy to understand. That 45 minute pairing session with Chris was worth going to the entire camp on it's own!

I was surprised when I first started trying to learn to code, how every programmer/engineer I talked to who would always "get philosophical" on me whenever trying to explain or describe something. I thought it was interesting to see that it's not just a "local" thing. There were moments when I thought I was in a "theology seminary" and others at an "atheist" convention. Programming and design is all around us in life, I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see these type of conversations prevalent in the development community.

Anyway, had another great day at ZipList, kicking butt learning lots everyday and enjoying it! I can't believe it's been just over 2 months working here now, and to think I haven't picked up a single horse's hoof in the past 6 weeks! I hope to continue that streak for the rest of my life :-)

I'm doing a Google hangout with Dustin James the guy I'm mentoring from Canada who is going to get hired using the "road map" outlined in my book. I am so excited to get this whole thing moving along. I never wanted to be a "teacher" growing up and work at a school, but I realize as time goes on I do love teaching/coaching in general whether or not it's in an academic enviroment.

I'll let you guys know how it goes :-)    

-Josh