A fun and ridiculous story I wanted to share.
-- San Francisco, 7am
"Be right there guys, just making some tea.β
I just rolled out of bed. Late for my mastermind call. Again.
Four of us get together on gHangouts every other Thursday at 7am. I'm late every time. 7am is way too early. But it's the only time everyone can make it.
We often skip weeks.
Thorben was in the hot seat today. He just launched a new beginners course for a Java framework. Hibernate or something.
I envy those Java guys. Their tech changes at a glacial pace compared to the JavaScript world. We talked about that as well.
-- San Francisco, 9am
I open iA Writer. Just enough time to write an article for ReactViz.Holiday Day 9 about declarative transitions with React and D3 and why you need to use Math.random() to make your animation look natural.
Did you know Americans spend more than $800,000,000 on candy for Easter? Crazy.
-- San Francisco, 9:45am
"You should pack"
steam comes out of my ears
"Okay then. Do you want something from Starbucks?"
aaaa stop talking I'm trying to focus can't you see I have to finish this before I can start packing
-- San Francisco, 10:05am
A wild chai appears. My girlfriend knows me very well β€οΈ
-- San Francisco, 10:45am
Article done. Shipped off to Will the editor. He'll turn it into an email, put it up on Facebook, give it a little boost.
I used Twitter to host some videos. We can't figure out how to get gifs to work in MDX on Gatsby. That took care of the Twitter share. Two birds one stone!
Here's why adding randomness to your animations matters π
β Swizec Teller (@Swizec) December 13, 2018
This chart of candy buying habits in the US is not random at all. Delay based purely on array index. pic.twitter.com/pTTWxovaSp
-- San Francisco, 11:05am
Ah crap, why'd I agree to a meeting today? That was dumb. Agh now I don't have time to pack. Should I take the bike? No, too much overhead. Uber? Aaah waiting will stress me out too much. I'll just walk. It's only a mile.
-- San Francisco, 11:30am
"Hey Guillermo, I'm having some trouble finding your office.β
Meeting up with the Zeit team was fun. I love their now-cli tool, and it was foolish to agree to meet up today, but I was curious what they wanted to chat about.
This could be the start of something beautiful. Or it could be nothing. You never know.
-- San Francisco, 12:45pm
Girlfriend brings salads! Yay
She was right. We never would've made brunch. How did I think that was gonna work out?
Flight leaves in 3 hours. Good thing it's delayed. Still haven't packed.
Flight to Europe in 3 hours. Still gotta pack π
β Swizec Teller (@Swizec) December 13, 2018
What do you think Iβll forget?
Asking Twitter what they think I'd forget worked perfectly. The hive mind reminded me of everything I would have forgotten.
Missed my 5-minute journal though :(
Packed for 2 weeks of Europe in one backpack and one suitcase. Great success! Half the suitcase is Christmas presents. π
-- San Francisco, 1:42pm
Boarding starts in 60 minutes. Uber says I'll be at airport in 38 minutes.
We got dis! πͺ
-- Oakland, 2:11pm
Woo made it! Plenty of time to spare. Flight isn't even until 3:50pm.
"Sir, your suitcase is too heavy"
My what now?
"You're 7 kilo over. It's \\\$15/kg for extra
Ugh, okay, fine. Whatever.
"You can do an extra bag for \\\$100"
Yeah, but I don't have an extra bag, do I?
"Very well then. That will be \\\$105."
k
"And you're flying to Paris, is that correct, sir?"
Erm, actually it's to Ljubljana. But I bought my tickets separately. Is there any way you can check my bag through to final destination?
"We can't do that. You'll have to pick the bags up at the airport.β
But my next flight is an hour after this one lands because of the delay.
"Sorry, sir. Nothing we can do"
:|
-- Oakland, 2:38pm
Made it to the gate 13 whole minutes before boarding starts!
Boom π₯ at gate 13min before boarding even starts
β Swizec Teller (@Swizec) December 13, 2018
Liiiiiike a glove
-- Oakland, 2:40pm
I'm bored. I came too early.
-- Oakland, 2:41pm
Announcement Norwegian flight 7080 to Paris CDG is boarding at Gate 8, NOT Gate 3 as originally announced. Expect boarding in about 40 minutes
Wait β¦ shit. I'm missing my flight from Paris. There's no way we're making this. If we're leaving 40 minutes later than the already late departure, that means we land 30min after my flight leaves.
Noooooooooooo
-- Oakland, 2:50pm
Mom, I think I'm gonna miss it. No, I'm not sure what else to do. Next flight is a day later. No, tickets to nearby airports are like $400.
I dunno. I'll let you know when I get there.
-- Oakland, 3:35pm
A drunk Norwegian fellow waiting for my flight gets escorted out of the airport.
Β―\_(γ)_/Β―
-- Oakland, 4:20pm
Yaaay, we're boarding.
-- Oakland, 4:25pm
Why aren't we leaving!? Why is everyone taking so long? Why is an entire Boeing Dreamliner worth of people conspiring against me just to make me miss my flight. MOVE FASTER.
-- Oakland, 4:50pm
Takeoff.
It's weird knowing you've missed your flight 13 hours before it happens.
-- Flight 7080, 5:30pmβ¦
Oh great. My neighbor is one of those people. Tweed jacket on a flight. Mildly disgusted look on his face. Reading high brow geopolitical magazines titled Do nuclear weapons matter?. Complains about every little thing.
He doesn't just throw away half his lunch. He also loudly complains. Takes a bite of his chocolate muffin. "Ew this is disgusting!". Puts it down.
ITS AN AIRPLANE MUFFIN WHAT DID YOU EXPECT
-- Paris, 11:50am
We did it! The Dreamliner landed before my next flight!
Ok landed in Paris. Got 50min to finish taxiing, go get lugagge at baggage claim, go back through security, and make my next flight.
β Swizec Teller (@Swizec) December 14, 2018
π€ pic.twitter.com/7NkVTUVpi4
50 minutes to: Get off the plane. Pick up my bags. Go to my terminal. Go back through security. Run to the gate. Board the plane.
TAXI FASTER WHY IS THIS TAKING SO LONG
-- Paris, 11:55pm
WHY IS EVERYONE JUST STANDING THERE MOVE PEOPLE
-- Paris, 12:00pm
WHERE THE HELL ARE WE WHY ISNβT THERE A GATE GANGPLANK THING WHAT WE HAVE TO TAKE A BUS TO THE TERMINAL I AM DOOMED
Shit, it's cold too. 1 Celsius.
-- Paris, 12:05pm
WHY IS THIS CORRIDOR SO LONG WHY IS THIS AIRPORT SO CONFUSING WHY DOES EVERYTHING SUCK TODAY
-- Paris, 12:15pm
It's done. I'm doomed. I stand here waiting for my bags and my bags aren't showing up and boarding starts in 25 minutes and I'm doomed and there's nothing I can do.
-- Paris, 12:20pm
GOT MY BAGS RUN FOREST RUN
-- Paris, 12:23pm
Holy shit passport control. Can the universe possibly put any more obstacles in my way?!
The cute border agent smiled at me though, so that's a win.
-- Paris, 12:30pm
WHAT I HAVE TO TAKE A TRAIN TO MY TERMINAL
Oh good the train's already here.
-- Paris, 12:35pm
Oh come on Terminal 2 is aaaaall the way on the opposite side of the airport!? Literally all the stops away??
-- Paris, 12:40pm
Made it to Terminal 2. We got dis! Where is 2G. Run run run
-- Paris, 12:45pm
WHAT I HAVE TO TAKE A BUS TO G
Oh good bus is here already
-- Paris, 12:50pm
Bye bye flight. Missed it. Departure at 12:50pm and here I am stuck on an airport bus that isn't moving. What the hell are we waiting for?
Flight just left unless there is delay and Iβm on the last bus thing to the right terminal pic.twitter.com/FP8We2C6yf
β Swizec Teller (@Swizec) December 14, 2018
-- 2G, 12:58pm
"Bonjour monsieur"
Bonjour. Yeah I think I missed my flight. Previous flight had a delay.
"Oh that is terrible monsieur. What airline?"
Norwegian.
"Oh, but this is not the same contract you see"
I know. Is there anything you can do though? Other flights? Options?
"Monsieur, you will have to go to the ticketing office to change your flight. We are baggage drop-off"
Wheβ¦
"The Ljubljana flight, you say? You are in luck! It is delayed. They leave at 1:40pm."
What seriously!? I made it!?
"Go to my colleague over there. Hurry, sir.β
Bonjour.
"Sir your bag is too heavy"
Err ... does it count if I already paid the other airline for it? awkward smile
shakes head
Sigh, then I guess what can I do ...
"You can also take 2 kilos out of your bag and take them with you. But hurry."
Nowhere to put them. I'll just pay.
-- 2G, 1:20pm
Mum yah I made the flight! Come pick me up at the airport around 3:30pm.
Yessssssthis flight is delayed too so I totally made it!
β Swizec Teller (@Swizec) December 14, 2018
Never give up. It ainβt over until the fat lady sings π€πΌ pic.twitter.com/NkXgoUIlsJ
Never give up. It ain't over until it's over.
Remember the song.
A sensible person would change their flight. A sensible person would go straight to ticketing after landing. A sensible person wouldn't have made this flight.
Don't be a sensible person. Be a lucky person instead.
π
Continue reading about Never give up
Semantically similar articles hand-picked by GPT-4
- When the universe tries to communicate, or how I almost didn't get home
- A flight
- I went through YC as an intern, here's what I learned
- 4 years of coding in San Francisco, lessons learned
- 2022 year in review
Learned something new?
Read more Software Engineering Lessons from Production
I write articles with real insight into the career and skills of a modern software engineer. "Raw and honest from the heart!" as one reader described them. Fueled by lessons learned over 20 years of building production code for side-projects, small businesses, and hyper growth startups. Both successful and not.
Subscribe below π
Software Engineering Lessons from Production
Join Swizec's Newsletter and get insightful emails π on mindsets, tactics, and technical skills for your career. Real lessons from building production software. No bullshit.
"Man, love your simple writing! Yours is the only newsletter I open and only blog that I give a fuck to read & scroll till the end. And wow always take away lessons with me. Inspiring! And very relatable. π"
Have a burning question that you think I can answer? Hit me up on twitter and I'll do my best.
Who am I and who do I help? I'm Swizec Teller and I turn coders into engineers with "Raw and honest from the heart!" writing. No bullshit. Real insights into the career and skills of a modern software engineer.
Want to become a true senior engineer? Take ownership, have autonomy, and be a force multiplier on your team. The Senior Engineer Mindset ebook can help π swizec.com/senior-mindset. These are the shifts in mindset that unlocked my career.
Curious about Serverless and the modern backend? Check out Serverless Handbook, for frontend engineers π ServerlessHandbook.dev
Want to Stop copy pasting D3 examples and create data visualizations of your own? Learn how to build scalable dataviz React components your whole team can understand with React for Data Visualization
Want to get my best emails on JavaScript, React, Serverless, Fullstack Web, or Indie Hacking? Check out swizec.com/collections
Did someone amazing share this letter with you? Wonderful! You can sign up for my weekly letters for software engineers on their path to greatness, here: swizec.com/blog
Want to brush up on your modern JavaScript syntax? Check out my interactive cheatsheet: es6cheatsheet.com
By the way, just in case no one has told you it yet today: I love and appreciate you for who you are β€οΈ