Weeknotes 21:08

July 10, 2021

Week of July 4-10

  • I started the week by enjoying the fireworks that my neighbors shot off. I wonder how much money was spent on all those beautiful displays?
  • I had a “virtual coffee” with my newest teammate, Andy. She joined LGND last week. Her focus is on interactive development (three.js, data visualizations). I enjoyed getting to know her and looking forward to working with her. I am really excited about what she brings to our development team, which has grown from 2 to 4 in the past five months.
  • I got back to work on a longer-term project this week after turning around a one-page project last week. It was nice to have a break and work on something else. But I also enjoyed jumping back into the longer-term project. I am at a stage in the project when I can turn around about a page a day. This project will launch at the end of the month. Everything seems to be on track to meet that deadline without too much craziness at the end.
  • One of the solutions I built this week involved using the WordPress REST API. I had implemented a similar solution on a project at the end of last year. The page was a listing of resources that require the user to fill out a form to receive. The design called for the form to display in a modal. I built out the resources as a custom post type. The default is for the link to go to an individual resources page. I included a data-attribute with the id of the resource custom post type on the link. Then using scripting and tapping into the API, I populate the content of the modal when the user clicks on the link. I was glad for some notes I had made to myself when I implemented a similar solution 7 months ago and was able to figure out what I needed from revisiting the script I wrote for that project.
  • I watched several videos on Greensock’s ScrollTrigger plugin from Creative Coding Club. (I highly recommend investing some money in these tutorials if you want to learn Greensock.) I have used GreenSock and ScrollTrigger on several projects over the past 4 months. I have gotten by on very basic knowledge of the plugin. But I want to grow my skills deeper so I feel confident tackling some more involved scroll animations in the future. Carl Shooff does a great job explaining Greensock and I have learned a lot from watching the videos from the different courses he has included in the Creative Coding Club membership.
  • I bought some tickets off StubHub and booked a hotel near the stadium to see the Padres play the Braves in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to spending time at the ballpark with my son. I have been a fan of the Padres since my best friend moved to San Diego when I was 8 years old. I decided to play another season with MLB The Show 20 with the Padres so I am fairly familiar with the team. There are several former Royals and Rays on their current roster. I really looking forward to going to a major league baseball game. My family frequented games in Kansas City while I was growing up. I continued that tradition with my wife and kids when we lived in Florida. The last major league game I attended was three years ago in Atlanta.

Watched

  • Black Widow – First time I have seen a movie in theaters since January 20, 2020, when I saw 1917.
  • Loki (Disney+)
  • The Bad Batch (Disney+)
  • Clarkson’s Farm (Prime Video) – I decided to give this show a try after several of the Web industry Brits I follow mentioned enjoying it. It is a bit crude at different points. It is entertaining watching this media personality try different aspects of farming.
  • Alias (Prime Video) – My wife and I have been enjoying revisiting this show. We just started season 3.
  • Enterprise (Netflix) – I am continuing to watch Enterprise sporadically through the summer. I just finished season 2 and have been debating whether I want to continue to season 3.

Reading – Current books I am reading

  • The Gospel According to Satan
  • Providence by John Piper – I picked up this book again this past week. I have been slowly working through it this year.
  • The Wax Pack – I got this one on sale a couple of weeks ago for Kindle.
  • Your Old Testament Sermon Needs to Be Saved – I started this one by my pastor a couple of weeks ago. I prayed for the writing and publishing of this book for many years. It has been a joy to be a part of the process and I am glad to finally get to read it in print.
  • On Writing Well – I have enjoyed the short chapters of advice from this book. I hope that I am able to improve my writing skills as a result of this read. I believe Aaron Gustafson had suggested it to me years ago when I worked with him at Easy Designs.

Playing

  • MLB The Show 20 – I decided to play a second franchise season with the 20 edition instead of paying for the 2021 edition. As I mentioned above, I am playing with the San Diego Padres. Just started the second month of the season and currently in second place behind the Dodgers.
  • FIFA20 – I played a few games this week with the Rangers of the Scottish Premier League.

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