Weeknotes 22:26

September 11, 2022

Week of September 4 - 10

• I enjoyed my day off on Monday. I got to sleep in, play MLB The Show, take a nap, and write a weeknote for last week.
• It was a short but productive week. I continued working on the Energy Efficiency Hub project. I only had to build a few new Gutenberg blocks for two of the pages I built this week. At the end of the week, I imported the resources from a spreadsheet using WP All Import and then manually added PDF files and video links. I was able to start the resource template on Friday so I am ahead of schedule with the project. I am going to take a break this next week from this project to work on the Kauffman Real World Learning project.
• On Tuesday, I took some time to play around with a solution for a Grid layout with leftover items. I read Michelle Barker’s article, Controlling Leftover Grid Items with Pseudo-selectors, last week and wanted to try to solve it with the :has selector. In the end, I am not sure my solutions (Grid only solution, Grid and Flexbox solution) were any better than Michelle’s but it was a fun exercise to try and to play around with :has.
• I sat in on three different interviews this week, one for a technical project manager, and two interviews with potential candidates for a WordPress developer. We are also looking for Senior Interactive Designer.
• I took advantage of some personal development time during our LGND Campfire to watch Andy Bell’s talk from All Day Hey! 2022. I am looking forward to implementing several of his ideas in a future project.
• I committed to doing a Campfire presentation in November to help educate our design team (and others) on recent developments in CSS layout. This is an application point from reading Matthias Ott’s Better Bridges article last week.

Articles I read

Web Development

• Neutrality isn’t an option when it comes to accessibility – I think I agree that this is a subject that you can be neutral about.
• What’s new in WCAG 2.2?
• Visit for a surprise – An interesting use case of how to do accessibility and still retain author intentions. I believe it is a creative solution.
• Giving your future self a little credit with progressive enhancement
• My pick of 6 must have Craft Plugins – I have not used Craft CMS in the last six years but I still like to keep an eye on it. This was a helpful article to put in my back pocket in case I need it in the future.
• Better Video Streaming With imgix
• My Wonderful HTML Email Workflow – Shout out for the MJML tool.
• Designing a complex table for mobile consumption – Some really interesting ideas on how to make this a better mobile experience.
• The last dConstruct – Hidde de Vries’ observations on the recent conference.
• Vibe Check No. 20 – Dave was one of the inspirations for me to do these weeknotes. He is doing a monthly version these days.
• “Fixing” Lists and VoiceOver and list-style-type: none – I did a little bit of research into why you need to use role=“list” when using list-style: none after seeing it in Andy Bell’s code when watching his Be the browser’s mentor, not its micromanager.

Work

• If Your Co-Workers Are ‘Quiet Quitting,’ Here’s What That Means – I had heard the term a lot recently. But like many things, it means different things to different people. To some, it seems like they are trying to establish a better balance between work and life. To other people, it seems like more disengagement and just doing the minimum that their job requires.
• Remote Work: Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too

Personal

• Time Is a River and We Are Pebbles – Interesting life reflection that is more poignant at the stage of life I find myself in.
• It’s Time to Remember Tolkien – I appreciated the commentary on the differences between Games of Thrones and the world of Tolkien. Two very different perspectives and worldviews at play. I have feared that Rings of Power would try to be too much like Game of Thrones and lose the essence of what Tolkien had created in his world.
• Tolkien Would Love the ‘Rings of Power’ World. But What About the Story? and On What Basis Could The Rings of Power Completely Fail? – Both of these authors share the same concerns as I do about how Rings of Power is going to stay true to the morality and hope of Tolkien’s world or will it succumb to a more modern interpretation that is not true to Tolkien’s vision.
• Be Still…
• Now What? How Parents Can Pray for Their College-Aged Kids – A relevant article as my second is off at college.
• How Manti Te’o’s Fake Girlfriend Helps Explain Transgenderism
• The Quiet Faith of Queen Elizabeth II

What I watched

• Be the browser’s mentor, not its micromanager – A conference talk by Andy Bell given at All Day Hey! 2022 in May.
• She-Hulk (Disney +)
• Junior Baking Show (Netflix) – We have really enjoyed watching this as a family.
• Love and Stuff (PBS) – Some parts of this hit close to home as we take care of an elderly parent in our home.
• Rings of Power (Prime) – Not as wowed but have enjoyed revisiting Middle Earth.
• Love and Thunder (Disney+) – I liked the movie better the second time around.
• Bernie Mac Show (Peacock) – We are currently in season three and I feel like the show got better as it went along. I really enjoyed the episodes we watched this week.

Podcasts I listened to

• The Shop Talk Show #522: Jay Hoffman and the History of the Web – I really enjoy Jay’s articles about the history of the Web. It was fun to hear the stories he told in this episode.
• The Shop Talk Show #528: Alex and Andrew on Working in an Agency – I am only part way through this episode but enjoyed hearing about this agency that builds a lot of WordPress sites.

Books I am reading

• The Storytelling God – I finished this one on Saturday.
• The Discerning Life – I bought this late in the week. I read the introduction and look forward to getting into it. Already a lot to think about.

Instagram

What I played

MLB The Show 21 (Braves) – I played two games of the World Series this week on MLB The Show. I won the first one 5-0 with a very solid pitching performance from Ian Anderson, who struggled a lot in the regular season. On Friday, I came from behind in the ninth inning to tie the game with a safety squeeze and later took a one-run lead. Unfortunately, I gave up a run in the bottom of the inning and had to go to extra innings. But Austin Riley came through with a two-run homer and then my reliever shut the door to win both the game and the series.

I am so excited to win with the Braves. I played with them in 2017 but lost the division series in three straight games. I did not have as good a year as I would have liked with the Braves but took the division. I had my back against the wall in the division series, down 2-0. But then I won three straight to take that series and then swept the Giants to win the National League Championship in 4 games. I won the first two games of the World Series on the road but then dropped the first two at home. I was a bit worried that the momentum had shifted.