Life update
So. It's been...over a month. I'm settling in nicely at my new job, and they are keeping me quite comfortably busy. I've been learning lots of new things as well as brushing up on older and half-remembered skills. Most recently I've been figuring out CSS, and I've determined that IE is a non-standards-compliant pain in my backside. Of course, I probably would have re(realized) this a whole lot sooner had I been keeping up with design work instead of...redirecting my focus.
I have been put in charge of my company's intranet site, which is currently lacking in real content, under-utilized by our employees (I don't know that anyone really uses it currently), and poorly designed. Internal style sheets on every page, obviously WYSIWYG-based code, and rather broken in Firefox. It isn't clean, and I rather doubt it is standards-compliant. I'll have to check the version I haven't been messing around with tomorrow.
Because of this assignment, I have also been relearning VIM, which I find to be an excellent tool for editing HTML. Syntax highlighting, very little need to switch between keyboard and mouse, and lots of functionality. All excellent points in my way of thinking. So very much improved upon my days of using Windows Notepad to edit my HTML (which weren't all that long ago, to be honest). While I know there are lots of tools out there like Dreamweaver and the like, I've always found it difficult to use them. With WYSIWYG editors the code isn't always clean, and if something goes squirrely or pear-shaped it can be harder to fix because I wasn't working with the straight code from the outset.
I will say this, though...after spending several hours using VIM almost exclusively it can be something of a challenge to remember that ESC doesn't throw me into a non-insert mode where I can use H, J, K, and L to scroll quickly through a document, and that I really can't use those keys to scroll through a webpage.
In other news, I'm still reading a lot (no surprise there), and I'm currently working my way through City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. This is the third book in Clare's The Mortal Instruments series, and I'm still not sure how I would classify the series. I like it and enjoy it, which typically means I find myself needing to buy it, but I don't really have that urge in this case. I've been borrowing the series from the library, and while I wouldn't mind reading it again (and I probably will read it again at some point), I am perfectly happy keeping it at a borrowing level.
That's probably just as well, since there are tons of books (probably literally as well as metaphorically) which I do end up buying, even if only to just have them "on hand" should the mood strike me.
I also bought myself a wire jig. I'd been eying the nice metal ones for a while, but always had trouble justifying the expense to myself. Until, that is, I was at Joann's Fabrics picking up some weaver's cloth (for punchneedle embroidery) and I noticed that all jewelry-making tools were 30% off. This included the wire jig, and brought it down to what I considered a perfectly reasonable price for a good tool, so I bought it. I'm still getting the hang of things, but I've made one thing that turned out the way it was supposed to! I want to get myself some nice copper and brass wire to make components with.
This weekend I'm going down to CT to visit kogarashi and leachonlj. Because of where I work I get Patriot's Day off (third Monday in April, also the date of the Boston Marathon), so I'm taking advantage of the long weekend. Should be loads of fun!
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Things I've done in which I am well pleased: Started teaching myself CSS for real, instead of just reading about it. Went on a walk earlier this week during my lunch hour. Made arrangements to move into an apartment.
Things that make me happy: good books, SPRING!!, knitting, learning new things, brushing up on half-remembered skills
I have been put in charge of my company's intranet site, which is currently lacking in real content, under-utilized by our employees (I don't know that anyone really uses it currently), and poorly designed. Internal style sheets on every page, obviously WYSIWYG-based code, and rather broken in Firefox. It isn't clean, and I rather doubt it is standards-compliant. I'll have to check the version I haven't been messing around with tomorrow.
Because of this assignment, I have also been relearning VIM, which I find to be an excellent tool for editing HTML. Syntax highlighting, very little need to switch between keyboard and mouse, and lots of functionality. All excellent points in my way of thinking. So very much improved upon my days of using Windows Notepad to edit my HTML (which weren't all that long ago, to be honest). While I know there are lots of tools out there like Dreamweaver and the like, I've always found it difficult to use them. With WYSIWYG editors the code isn't always clean, and if something goes squirrely or pear-shaped it can be harder to fix because I wasn't working with the straight code from the outset.
I will say this, though...after spending several hours using VIM almost exclusively it can be something of a challenge to remember that ESC doesn't throw me into a non-insert mode where I can use H, J, K, and L to scroll quickly through a document, and that I really can't use those keys to scroll through a webpage.
In other news, I'm still reading a lot (no surprise there), and I'm currently working my way through City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. This is the third book in Clare's The Mortal Instruments series, and I'm still not sure how I would classify the series. I like it and enjoy it, which typically means I find myself needing to buy it, but I don't really have that urge in this case. I've been borrowing the series from the library, and while I wouldn't mind reading it again (and I probably will read it again at some point), I am perfectly happy keeping it at a borrowing level.
That's probably just as well, since there are tons of books (probably literally as well as metaphorically) which I do end up buying, even if only to just have them "on hand" should the mood strike me.
I also bought myself a wire jig. I'd been eying the nice metal ones for a while, but always had trouble justifying the expense to myself. Until, that is, I was at Joann's Fabrics picking up some weaver's cloth (for punchneedle embroidery) and I noticed that all jewelry-making tools were 30% off. This included the wire jig, and brought it down to what I considered a perfectly reasonable price for a good tool, so I bought it. I'm still getting the hang of things, but I've made one thing that turned out the way it was supposed to! I want to get myself some nice copper and brass wire to make components with.
This weekend I'm going down to CT to visit kogarashi and leachonlj. Because of where I work I get Patriot's Day off (third Monday in April, also the date of the Boston Marathon), so I'm taking advantage of the long weekend. Should be loads of fun!
----
Things I've done in which I am well pleased: Started teaching myself CSS for real, instead of just reading about it. Went on a walk earlier this week during my lunch hour. Made arrangements to move into an apartment.
Things that make me happy: good books, SPRING!!, knitting, learning new things, brushing up on half-remembered skills