niracler

Weekly Journal -> Bi-Weekly Journal -> Monthly Journal -> Bi-Monthly Journal. It's really quite the procrastination, and it's definitely not because I've been too comfortable playing games lately and don't want to write🤣. As things pile up, writing the weekly journal becomes increasingly difficult to finish.

XX => YY#

I started looking for a job on July 25, and I have now been working in Xi'an for three weeks. My life has changed a lot in these two months, and the main theme of this bi-monthly journal is to record these changes.

Job Seeking => Employed#

As an engineer who once primarily used the Shell and Awk tech stack, I am now transitioning to Node.js backend development. Although I only did Node.js backend work part-time in my previous two jobs, it is still the only technology I can use to find a job.

Two years ago, I thought, "I'll look for a job when I'm ready." After all, "the Shell and Awk tech stack is hard to find jobs with." But that in itself is a very difficult thing. Every day, in a job that requires full commitment, I have almost no energy to do what I want after work. Coupled with the rumors of an economic downturn and how hard it is to find a job, I became even more fearful.

Until the last straw that broke the camel's back appeared. After experiencing a 🍵-🦠 incident, I ultimately chose to resign. I realized that job was only bringing me pain. Since escaping was inevitable and the economic situation was worsening, the longer I waited, the harder it would be to leave. So I resolutely made a hard landing and left that job.

This also led to me stopping for three months after leaving, essentially giving myself a summer vacation. Online discussions ranged from the hardest job-seeking experience in history to only being able to find jobs with a pay cut after leaving, and endless overtime. Just thinking about these made my head hurt, so during that time, I decided to stop thinking about anything and just let three months pass. (In the end, it was my bank book that reminded me I had to get moving, after all, I might be looking for a job from August to November.)

For details, you can check my previous issues.

After I started looking for a job, I realized that my ignorance was much greater than I had imagined. My foundation in JS/TS/Node was weak, and I knew almost nothing about concepts like the onion model, the difference between type and interface, and the principles of promises. I struggled to answer questions about the frameworks and libraries I had used during interviews.

So I could only accept that I had made no progress in the past four years and work hard to change. I was very anxious during that time, even losing my appetite for meals, and I lost a few pounds of the muscle I had built up from working out. But it was precisely this "seeing the coffin and shedding tears" moment that suddenly woke me up and made me focus. I reviewed foundational knowledge, interview skills, and algorithm questions in a 3:3:2 ratio around the clock.

Although the plan was good, in reality, I often became "obsessed" when I saw job postings, scrolling through BOSS Direct Hire until I couldn't stop, resulting in scheduling 14 interviews in a week, and my review time was almost completely compressed. Especially since I applied to a bunch of small companies, even nationwide, the level of anxiety was beyond my imagination.

By the time I reached the tenth technical interview, I could finally clearly articulate my project experience and finally broke through the first interview to enter the second. I kept silently reciting the [37% Rule](37% 法则 - MBA 智库百科 (mbalib.com)), and friends from big companies kept emphasizing not to go for anything below 1XK or to go for outsourcing. I can only say, doing the right thing is really hard, and in the end, I didn't meet the standards set by my friends from big companies, so I accepted the third offer. I directly came to Xi'an.

(This is the information from BOSS, just a little record.)

This article is just a stream of consciousness, what else do you expect? How I became obsessed, how anxious and conflicted I felt about these things, and why I chose this job in Xi'an, these can only be filled in and analyzed later. In fact, I wrote a job-seeking record during that time, but I thought it wasn't good, so I deleted it. I'll 整理 it and post it later.

Guangdong => Xi'an#

Wishes always come true in unexpected ways. I once said I wanted to go to a place with subways away from Guangdong. At that time, I was thinking of Shanghai and Hangzhou. The first step after resigning was also to travel to these places. But when I actually looked for a job, I found that the difficulty of finding work in the Yangtze River Delta was very high. Small companies required in-person interviews, and large companies had higher requirements for education and skills. So I also started applying to places like Wuhan and Chengdu.

Let me briefly list my current living situation:

1. Commute: My place is 2 kilometers from the company, a 25-minute walk or an 8-minute bike ride. The subway station is right at the entrance of the community, making transportation very convenient.
2. Shared Living: My roommates are all pretty nice, and I can freely use their kitchenware, creating a good atmosphere. I even had a detailed conversation with one of the guys for over an hour. However, there are some issues with the water heater, light bulbs, range hood, air conditioning, etc., and I reported them all for repair within two weeks.
3. Room: I rented a 33-square-meter room for about 10% of my salary. This room used to be a living room with a balcony, and it's really spacious, not at all a depressing room. (Unfortunately, it's not easy to take good photos of it.)
4. Weather: The temperature here is similar to Guangdong, but once it gets cold, I'll need to buy some jackets. I hardly wore a down jacket in Guangdong. (Finally, I can experience weather beyond summer, cold air, and the return of the south.)
5. Food: There are various cuisines near the park, and I try different dishes every day. The chain stores in the mall are pretty much the same nationwide, so adapting is not a problem. It might also be because I had already eaten a variety of foods in Dongguan, Shenzhen, and Zhongshan. So there’s no place I find unpalatable.
6. Interpersonal Relationships: I’ve always been a cyber electronic person, a true two-dimensional camera, and I don't have many ties offline, even having more online relationships. So where I live doesn't really affect me. (But later I can invite friends to Xi'an for tourism; I’ve become a pioneer in expanding my social circle in Xi'an.)

However, there are fewer exhibitions, concerts, or technical conferences in Xi'an, which is a bit regrettable. (By the way, aren't these the most important unexpected things?) One of the few benefits is that reality doesn't make my life feel so unbearable; perhaps here I can find some unique value in myself.

Anyway, if anyone comes to Xi'an to play, feel free to invite me for a meal or something.

(My company didn't send mooncakes, but my housemates brought some, thank you very much.)

Jack of All Trades => Specialist Mage#

Recently, I've been playing "Baldur's Gate 3," and my self-created character is a bard. The reason for choosing this profession is simply that it is too versatile—lockpicking, persuasion, healing, and frontline combat, it can do it all. Although it is not specialized, it is worry-free, one can replace three in the team. However, in more industrialized companies, they don't need a specialist mage who can output and also has some handy skills to steal things. Companies need specialized talents focused on a single field rather than a jack of all trades who can handle small tasks.

How to put it, it's like a carpenter who makes wooden chairs finding a job on an ergonomic chair production line. The carpenter's skills are actually on the skill tree of a technical leader, but due to only being able to run a small business before, and not having enough education, experience, or assets to open a factory and design a production line, the production line cannot offer him more pay than other workers just because he can "design and make a chair from scratch." In fact, he might even earn less than job seekers coming from other factories, at least they have experience working on the production line and won't overthink things.

(This is a jack of all trades character, who is flashy but useless in terms of output.)

Let me briefly talk about some differences:

1. Different Question Setters: Finally, there are product managers; in my previous two jobs, it was programmers doubling as product managers. I proposed requirements to myself and then implemented them. This feeling was really super unstable. Now, the psychological burden is much lighter.
2. PR Reviewed by Others: Previously, submitting a PR felt like playing a game of "Three Kingdoms" alone. The lord was myself, and the loyal ministers, rebels, and spies were all me. I had to constantly imagine, "What if a senior engineer came to review my code?" Although it did get better with GPT's assistance later, when both the referee and the athlete are the same person, progress can easily slow down.
3. First Time Using Breakpoints: Previously, I relied on print statements for debugging, but here I was guided to use breakpoints directly instead of printing a bunch of things every time.
4. No Need to Worry About CICD: These are operations-related tasks; I finally don't have to worry about builds and online environment issues, and I also don't have to deal with server security vulnerabilities, certificate expiration dates, etc. It feels a bit like the comfort I had when I first started using Cloudflare. I just need to focus on code implementation.
5. More Focused: I thought about my previous tech stack. It was a bunch of tricks, but I didn't delve into any of them. Back then, shell, node, awk, and docker were all on the same level for me; I didn't go deep into any one area.
   6.... There should be many more.

The work atmosphere is really great (you can tell the founder is an idealist):

1. Working Hours: I arrive at the office at 8:45 AM, and I wait half an hour for someone to show up. I was teased for being "too early," as they usually arrive around 9:20. Then by 7 PM, most people have left (I leave at 6:50). After 8 PM, no issues are ringing. I initially thought it was just the first day, but after three weeks, it has been like this every day, and it's still a two-day weekend. (Finally free from the previous demands of "full commitment to work.")
2. No Daily Reports: There is a meeting every afternoon at 5:30 PM to discuss daily progress and any encountered issues.
3. Technical Sharing: The technical atmosphere feels pretty good; there is a technical sharing session every other Wednesday afternoon for an hour. (That's during work hours, and it has been going on for nearly two hundred sessions.) The knowledge base also has a huge amount of daily learning. It seems that if you write good articles and meet the criteria to post on the company blog, you can even earn bonuses. It feels like I can really study technology after work instead of spending all day writing business code. (Now, to keep up, I need to read at least five technical weekly reports every day.)
4. Employee Turnover: It feels like I was hired right after someone left. It's not the kind of company that hires constantly with high turnover. (Even when I asked, everyone had partners, which is really enviable.)

August was really hellish, but I finally found a good place to settle down (did the champagne pop too early?~)

So, what was the cost?

MacOS => Windows#

In the three weekends since coming to Xi'an, I did three things: ordered an air fryer for cooking, built a Windows desktop to unlock more possibilities, and played a game of "Civilization 6" with an online friend. So today (this weekend), I started writing this article.

Why build a desktop? Mainly to run large models (and of course, for gaming).

(Thanks to @lotu-2433 for helping me build the desktop; I can play Black Myth: Wukong Civilization 6 on a huge map now.)

My Own Book#

During my job search, I did many "clearly priced" self-introductions, constantly emphasizing my self-worth. However, the first task after joining was to write a simple article introducing myself, and this self-introduction, which is unrelated to value, made me feel awkward.

How to see the shape of the Earth from the Earth? After all, we are in it, often like looking at ourselves through a microscope, seeing only the wrinkles of life, but it's hard to summarize ourselves with a single curve. I once wrote a self-introduction on xlog, and looking back, I couldn't help but mock myself: "Who is this?"

In fact, I have always dreamed of designing a worldview and characters like a novelist. Perhaps I should start with designing my own character.

(This is the MBTI result I took at the beginning of the year; aside from I and O, the other tendencies are not obvious.)

In these three weeks, I have also made some records; perhaps there are intersections and causal relationships between these points, but I don't want to delve into them for now:

1. Optimism in Escaping Reality: I inherited my mother's personality, often naively believing that I am lucky, but in reality, I am just foolishly optimistic. I have never seriously considered buying a car, a house, finding a partner, or getting married, always thinking that things will work out naturally. Four years have passed, and all that has increased is my age. ( Identified as living in the moment, with no future plans )
2. Unreasonable Expectations of Myself: Should I say it's strong desire? Wanting to do everything but not doing anything well, as the saying goes, "high aspirations but low abilities." Tool control should also reflect this personality. So, novelists don't have to do it for real but just think about it; it's truly the profession I long for. ( Identified as fantasizing about being a comic book character )
3. Need to Draft Conversations: When communicating face-to-face, I pay too much attention to others' thoughts, leading to CPU overload and causing me to stutter. In my previous company, I even needed to write a script for 1-on-1 meetings with my boss, and once I sent the script to the other party in advance, it shocked them. ( Identified as lacking on-the-spot adaptability and fearing mistakes, with too little offline life )
4. Not a Fan of Trends: If I discover a work after it becomes popular, I probably won't like it. Many times, I only start watching when the hype is dying down. A goddess I really liked repeatedly recommended "Kill la Kill" to me, but I only watched it eight years later. I also wrote an article about related thoughts. ( Identified as unable to keep up with others, only able to find niche directions )
5. Love for Long Stories: I don't like movies because they are too short; I finish them too quickly, and many interesting points can't be expanded upon. I have a habit of accidentally spending an entire night finishing a serialized manga that has been running for over a decade. That feeling is like going on a cyber trip to another world. ( Identified as thinking of another world, but only thinking, not wanting to take risks )
6. Completely Lacking Financial Awareness: It's hard to explain why this is; the reason should be related to the previous escape from reality and strong desire, combined with what I wrote earlier about people X community X objects, I feel like I'm about to become a consumerism blogger. ( Identified as being influenced by the minority, easily controlled by the trend of buying things )
7. Talkative: Once I encounter a topic of interest, I can't stop chatting, and everyone is welcome to come talk to me. ( Identified as lonely, finding possible followers and starting to preach incessantly )
8. Enjoying Fun: I rarely feel bored; my life is filled with my interests and hobbies, and there are so many things I want to do that I can only do them randomly. Perhaps my last job was the source of my pain and confusion. When I party with friends, I always think, why hasn't it disbanded yet? The boss at home is still waiting for me to play. ( Identified as living in my own world, only seeing myself )
9. Relying on Intuition: Yes, I'm the type who buys PC components and thinks about assembling them without looking at the manual, even though it's my first time. I approach tasks with a mindset of "I think, I feel." When playing games, I like to look at best practice guides from the start and copy them. ( Identified as having an empty head with no original thoughts )

In summary, I'm just a couch potato, fantasizing about getting the script of a comic book character. Before job hunting, when I heard various news about job-seeking difficulties and economic downturns, I always thought, I definitely won't be like that, the fire won't reach me. But in reality, I couldn't express any of my advantages during interviews. ( Identified as an ordinary person )

(I started practicing calligraphy; this month's random topic is practicing writing. I hadn't written for a long time, and after finishing two calligraphy sheets, my hand went numb.)

👀 What Else Have I Watched#

📚 🎬 📺 Works#

🌐 Articles#

• “Air Fryers are Truly a Great Invention” ｜ Minority Member π+Prime - Hmm, I definitely didn't order the air fryer because I read this article~~
• 【Build Guide】The Best Build Guide on the Internet, No Exceptions_哔哩哔哩_bilibili - Also catching up on this.
• Raycast - Store - A lot more plugins have appeared after a while.
• Nx: Smart Monorepos · Fast CI - Trying out monorepo.
• After Renting for 6 Years, I Compiled This "Rental Guide" - Minority - An article from six years ago, but still these checklists.
• Chinese Physical Society Journal Network - The Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences established China's first internet server and the first website in April 1994.
• Introduction - JavaScript Tutorial - Wangdao - Starting to learn JavaScript.
• P5R: LIFE CHANGED | Major Breakthrough - P5R is a game I almost brushed past; I deliberately avoided its content, wanting to leave an opportunity to play it.
• linuxmint/timeshift - I still haven't figured out how rsync handles file modifications during synchronization.
• After Supply Chain Poisoning, What Choices Do We Have Left? - Kagurazaka Tamamo
• Three Words SunGuts - YouTube - The content seems pretty good, just in time to help me change some daily postures and bad habits in exercise.

Afterword#

Alright, I've finished writing; it's also a way to account for the start of my new life. Will it still be incoherent? I wrote from nine in the morning until ten at night.

(This is what I tried after getting the air fryer.)