3 min read
Another day, another bug. Rather than get into the nitty gritty details, I'll just say the client code I'm trying to implement in C++ doesn't exist even as a basic template example anywhere in the entire current codebase. The only client code that ever existed that uses almost exactly what I'm using was deleted long ago and even that wasn't quite enough to help me figure out what I was supposed to do. After figuratively smashing my head into a brick wall for the entire day, I ended up getting the full client code to at least build which is better than nothing (no, not with broken parts commented out, that's cheating).
What today felt like
Although days like these (which is also what yesterday was like) are kind of frustrating since it feels like I'm getting nowhere, I like the fact that help is always available. My last internship was almost entirely me figuratively smashing my head into a wall until I figured it out since I couldn't really go to anyone for help. Here I have my entire team I can message on Hangouts or even post a message in one of the hundreds of groups for whatever relevant problem I'm having. That's how I was able to find the deleted code that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to find on my own.
Today nothing special happened besides a team outing for lunch rather than going to one of the usual cafes. It was pretty hot out with a heat index of 94 as the our SRE squad of 18 walked 11 blocks to the restaurant. Thankfully, it was air conditioned inside.
We arrived around noon and were there for an hour and a half -- not because we ate slow, but since it took so long for them to fill our order. I was the last to get my meal and had to wait an extra 5 minutes while everyone else ate, but I didn't really mind. The lunch outing was a nice break from trying to figure out my own code.
We also supposedly had fire drills today but I never heard an alarm go off so either a) it happened when my team and I were at lunch or b) I was too focused on my code with my music blasting to hear it.
... is something burning?
I notice it's getting progressively harder to pull myself away from my workstation as the problems I try to tackle get harder. I'm also getting progressively more annoyed with any kind of distraction or interruption such that I end up shutting off almost all notifications except for the important ones. I'm spending up to 12 hours at the office now just trying to make some progress.
Seeing as I can't really differentiate between exceeding expectations and being a workaholic, I talked with my mentor today about how to do a good job as an intern even when it feels like I'm stuck. This just might be the biggest challenge of the internship: trying to figure out how to have a work-life balance as a workaholic.