I’m sitting on the porch this morning, what’s left of it, enjoying a cool breeze and my morning coffee. The dogs are being their usual lazy selves, just chillin with me.
For the past week I’ve lived in the fog of COVID. It’s staying power is surprising. I felt pretty good a few days back only to hit a wall the next day.
Anywho, I hope you enjoy the links.
The Bulwark: “‘Team Normal’ is the latest example of a delusion that was ingrained deep within the Republican ruling class during the Trump era. It was filled with, as I categorized them in Why We Did It, “messiahs” and “junior messiahs” who told themselves they were one of the good ones, trying to nudge things in the right direction—from the inside.”
[Times Union - Maureen Dowd](https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Maureen-Dowd-Donald-Trump-American-Monster-17236057.php ?utm_source=rob-fahrni): “It never for a moment crossed Donald Trump’s mind that an American president committing sedition would be a debilitating, corrosive thing for the country. It was just another way for the Emperor of Chaos to burnish his title.”
[Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/11/pence-trump-jan-6-lawyer-memo-00038996 ?utm_source=rob-fahrni): “In the three-page document, attorney Greg Jacob concluded that if Pence were to embrace Trump’s demand that he single-handedly block or delay the counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6, he would be breaking multiple provisions of the Electoral Count Act, the law that has governed the transfer of power since 1887.”
We’re three days into a seven day presentation of crimes committed by and for the Trump Administration.
Trumpism needs to be burned to the ground. It has no place in the United States.
Trump, at a minimum, must be disqualified from running for any public office. He is a danger to the Republic.
No matter how this plays out I feel like we’re a stones throw away from civil war. It seems unavoidable. I hope I’m wrong.
Platformer: “Will Twitter’s mostly remote workforce be able to continue working from home? Maybe, if they’re ‘excellent,’ Musk said, according to Bloomberg’s live blog. But it’s ‘much better if you are on location physically,’ he said, according to the New York Times ’ Mike Isaac.”
Apple employees - Tim, we think Apple's culture needs to change
— Michael Gartenberg (@Gartenberg) June 17, 2022
Tim - I need to hear to your thoughts so Apple remains the best place to work.
Space X employees - Elon, we think some of your public statements hurt our company culture.
Elon - You're all fired.
Axios: “Our thought bubble: If Musk had anything new to tell the world about his plans, he didn’t choose to share it with his future employees, and rather than wooing them, he threw down a gauntlet: ‘If someone is getting useful things done, great. if not, why are they at the company?’”
So the guy who flirted with buying this site to 'defend free speech' just fired a bunch of his spaceship employees for speaking out to criticize his behavior and failing leadership? Got it.
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) June 17, 2022
As the boss you can do whatever the heck you want, especially if your company is privately held.
I don’t think this will end well for Musk. The “excellent” employees may bail out right along with the “normal” employees.
Heck, it may never come to Musk having any influence over Twitter staffing or the company as a whole. He balked at completing his agreed upon deal.
Here’s hoping he fails, pays Twitter a bunch of money because of his failure, and slinks away, back to his cave.
Linux Journal: “Linus coded in seclusion for a brief time, then shared his new conception with the world. Within days of beginning the project in June of 2005, Linus' git revision control system had become fully self-hosting. Within weeks, it was ready to host Linux kernel development. Within a couple months, it reached full functionality.”
The amount of amazing software created by Linus Torvalds is incredible. Every project I’ve worked on for years and years has used git as its revision control system.
Heck, I’d imagine most software development teams use it in some capacity. Wild.
Oh, yeah, and he created that little OS called Linux. Minor stuff.😳
Vox: “Andres is back to the office three days a week, and like many knowledge workers, he’s not happy about it. He says that while he and the other executive assistants at his Boston law firm have been forced back, the attorneys haven’t been following the rules. That’s partly because the rules don’t quite make sense, and people in all types of jobs are only coming in because they have to, not because there’s a good reason to go in.”
Last week at WillowTree our remote only branch had a quarterly on-site, our first. I was really excited about it. It was like going back to school after summer. I was all in.
I finally got to meet folks I had never met face to face, hug some necks, and enjoy pairing with people on code, all in person.
All-in-all it was a great week.
That Friday I tested positive for COVID. It absolutely sucks and makes me want to stay home forever, never returning to the office.
All this time I’ve been so cautious. I masked early on when others didn’t, then one day I let my guard down and didn’t mask. After that I just threw caution to the wind like everybody else and went maskless.
Of course I was the ONLY person at the on-site to get COVID. Yep, as of today I’m the only reported case. While that is very comforting, it’s also surprising.
Anywho. Being back at work with people was nice. I still prefer my home office, with my home food, and my short commute. Sounds like others do as well.
I’m grateful WillowTree saw the benefit of having remote employees. 🧡
