2024

✨ Hey, it’s time for one of those posts I make each year. ✨

In January we went to Hawaii, and this time we took some friends which was a really good idea. They motivated us to do more things. Max and I also hopped over to visit my old boss Ed Ho for a day. It was (apparently unusually) pouring with rain most of the day, but we still got to watch whales and try shaved ice. ⛄

In February, we got our Vision Pro, which blew Jack’s mind. It is so expensive, but we’d both fallen in love with the keynote announcement. I’ve always loved VR, though I’ve usually been too poor or just in the wrong place to try it out. It’s pretty amazing, though not comfortable enough for me to use for any real work. Jack has taken ownership, and mostly uses it for piano practice. He’s pretty good!

🌑 We flew to Texas to see the eclipse! It was cloudy but we got lucky with a break in the clouds for the whole duration. It lasted ages, and was as breathtaking as the one we saw in Oregon a few years ago. We came within 20mins of our Alderney friends, but didn’t manage to meet up which sounds absurd when you think about the usual 6000miles between us, but with traffic and kids and the unknowns of eclipse planning, it happens.

🛠️ In April I left Frec and joined Figma. Switching jobs is always traumatic, but I think this was a great move. Last year I’d tried to practice my interviewing by applying to a few companies that I didn’t want to work at, but even with nothing on the line it’s exhausting to go through the process. Figma was the place I really wanted to work: I love the product but see a lot that needs improvement, the team there is full of really smart folks who are interested in solving the right challenges, and the WASM/C++ codebase is really fun to get into.

🌆 The Figma team is remote - but we have some offices. This year, I got to visit the NYC office for a couple of offsites. It was my first time travelling without the boys for ⩠years⩠. I took advantage by running and walking the city every day and just clearing my head. Hopefully I can do that again in 2025.

🏃‍♂️ I took Jack with me to run Bay-to-Breakers, the San Francisco run across the city, from the bay on the east side to Ocean Beach on the west. It’s a long way and he did really well. We averted our eyes from all the naked men, we enjoyed spotting weird costumes, and we walked a little bit (but not much). There was a creep who kept bugging Jack, which spoiled things a little, but overall it was a good run.

🐮Jack was the cow in his school play, Into the Woods, which looked torturous.

🌍 In summer, we went to England. Max freaked out about flying and I had to physically lift and carry him, kicking and screaming and begging, to the taxi. I didn’t enjoy it, but he calmed down after that and we had a good trip. We stayed near Primrose Hill, then headed to Waldringfield for a little sailing and camping, then came back to London for a night in the Renaissance at St Pancras before flying home. Madame Tussaud’s was fun. We might skip England next year, just because it’s a lot of work. I do all the planning and booking and navigation and driving and it’s very stressful.

🌳 I decided to build a treehouse this summer, and did so. It’s not a house - just a platform. But it’s high up in a tree, so it’s a real treehouse, with no props on the ground at all. I made a workshop in a perma-tent, and really enjoyed solving problems and learning about how to put it together.

🎡 For thanksgiving we went to Disneyland. Mostly it was fine, but my goodness such a lot of money. Max freaked out because he was afraid of drops, so didn’t try any rides at all.

For other entertainment this year, we went to Six Flags (for the animals), I took Jack to a magic show, we hunted cybertrucks, we went to see Clue, we escaped rooms, we went to see the Warriors lose, we dressed up for halloween. In January, we’re going to see Hamilton again. It’s Max’s first time, and he’s already learned some of the songs. 🎤

⚡ Last year, Max was planning to build real-life Mariokart. This year, he’s putting together an animal-themed team of superheroes called the Zoetic League. In the summer, we made some Top-Trumps cards with his drawings. During winter break, we’re planning a comic book.

🤔 In 2025, who knows? Hopefully we’ll ship some great stuff at work. I’ll probably focus on health (mental, digestive, strength) a bit more.

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