One of the better decisions I’ve made over the past year is picking up a social hobby that does not involve drinking. The reduction in screen time and the increased social contact in person was an explicit goal, but not having it take place at a bar has been an unexpected bonus. I did not realize how easy it would be to enjoy spending time with people without any alcohol involved. I read that the younger generations are drinking less, and I hope it will be something they embrace, just like my generation is the first to not see the point of smoking.
The Democratic National Convention has concluded, and you can feel the collective sigh of relief from Chicago that nothing went wrong. It’s always gratifying when the city you love gets positive attention at a national level. It’s hard to explain to people who don’t live here why Chicago is a great city, since we get so much bad press coverage when it comes to taxes, corruption, and pension debt.
We know the city has a shitty history when it comes to political leadership. We know taxes are too high. You don’t need to remind us. But people also seem to forget that we’re a midwestern city with an ocean view. We have real public transit. You can actually walk places and don’t need a car. We’re mostly insulated from extreme weather. At some point you just have to accept that Chicago is a great place to live if you value walkable communities and culture.
It’s unseasonably wonderful for mid-August in Chicago. It’s also the weekend of the Air and Water Show. I suspect the lake front will be extra crowded this weekend with people watching the Blue Angels do their routine. If you’ve never had a chance to see fighter jets flying over the lake it’s pretty amazing. It’s worth coming into the city at least once to witness the event. Seeing F-18s flying together in tight formations against the backdrop of the Chicago skyline and the lake is just plain cool.
Vibes. Aura. Rizz.
The words has successfully integrated themselves into our daily conversation. As a software engineer I’ve been trained to rely on data. We pepper our code with logging and telemetry so we can make decisions based on data. We setup infrastructure to collect, aggregate, and visualize data. All to help us make decisions based on data instead of emotion.
I’ve come to accept that vibes matter. Nobody likes to feel sad and negative. People like to have other people in the room that give off good vibes. You want to stay employed and play well with others? Embrace the vibes. We have become a vibes culture.