Pushing Bits and Steel
I enjoy coding, I hardly see myself doing anything else for a living. I get satisfaction from pushing bits, transforming data and most of my work is 100% virtual. I am very proud of some of my code that runs uninterrupted for years or that I get to work with genetic algorithms and neural networks to solve some obscure, math problem. I have an almost ideal geeky job. It is quite difficult to explain what I do to regular people and the fact that I usually work on backend stuff does not help at all.
I am working on a small project – nothing complicated (some php&mysql stuff). It is the type of project where most of the challenge is in getting the requirements and helping the client to define the job. This particular case is even easier as the client has good IT skills and knows what he wants.
Today I got a pleasant surprise. He made a small movie about his work. It takes a lot of effort, technology and coordination to load a huge ship with heavy steel coils and keep track of everything in an environment that leaves little room for mistakes. He integrated everything (including my work) to make things run efficiently and the result is something to be proud of.
I got a very pleasant feeling to see how my work touches the real world in such a raw way (tons of steel, a big ship and the ocean …) and it is an interesting change from usual 100% virtual stuff. This movie changed the project from a simple job to something a bit special.