Yearnote 2022

Year 2023 is here. So, how was 2022? Allow me to review my year.

On the photos: there’s one photo for each month, in chronological order.

Professionally

In January 2022 I wrote this:

For many years, I’ve focused on building web services in Clojure. However, I feel that I’ve done enough of it for now and more interesting problems and bigger impact await elsewhere. Thus I’d like to turn a new page in my career. I didn’t quite manage to do it in 2021, but there were a few starts.

The new page got turned. In April, I left my job of six years at Metosin (the Clojure consultancy). After a month and a half of job search, I landed at Oura Health (the smart ring company) where I work on data storage and access.

Here’s what I learned about job search:

It’s a lot of work! Leaving my previous job without having the next one lined up was the right choice for me so I was able to properly focus on the search and the interviews. I’d recommend it if you’re in a position financially and otherwise to do so.
Cold applications are waste of time. I did get the new job by sending an application, but most of my other applications didn’t even get a response. Networking on Twitter worked much better and uncovered many interesting opportunities.

The start at the new job was rocky. It’s not so easy to get to know your coworkers when you are a remote worker joining during the summer vacation season and I was certainly second-guessing my choice of employer when the company announced layoffs a week after I started. Once the summer was over, I was bit by a tick, got infected with TBE and ended up on a long sick leave.

Luckily I recovered well. I got back to work and started to finally get up to speed. I got to know my teammates and people beyond my team and learned or re-learned the tech that we’re using (Python, various AWS services). I even got a nice data migration project under my belt.

Blogging and microblogging

While I was looking for work, I wrote a few posts about databases. I thought they turned out well:

I didn’t blog much in the latter half of the year. I was busy at work and I didn’t have much to say. I hope to get back to blogging soon, though. I’ve learned a few lessons worth sharing and it would be great to participate in the software engineering community’s intellectual discourse.

After Elon Musk took over Twitter, I lost my interest in posting there. I don’t think any single platform can fully replace Twitter, but there’s a nice thing going on right now with Fediverse. I migrated there and you can follow me at @Miikka@mastodon.social.

Hobbies

I first tried bouldering in late 2021. In 2022, it really became my thing. I spent a lot of time at the climbing gym, doing at least one session almost every week, often more. I ventured out a few times, too.

What I like about bouldering is the feeling of progress and mastery it gives you. I’ve surprised myself by how strong I’ve become (not very strong, but I wasn’t very strong to begin with) and it feels great to be able to climb a difficult route after enough practice.

I did a few kayaking trips, visited Amsterdam, sailed, read a bunch of books and completed a Discworld Pareto Read.

Something I didn’t do was photography. I’m a bit bummed about it! I wish I had taken more photos of things I’ve done and friends I’ve spent time with. In 2023, I want to take more photos.

Best of 2022

Just some good things that have stuck with me.

Best mämmi experience: I made mämmi myself and it turned out well! Still, not worth the effort, I’ll just buy it the next time.
Best wine bar experience: Let Me Wine’s pop-up wine bar at Harju8. They had created a smoky atmosphere by using a fog machine. It was so cool and the wine was great, but it was so hard to breathe in there that we had to leave after having only one glass.
Best taco experience: Bacalar in Amsterdam-Noord. The tacos with meat were great but the vegetarion options were even better. And they served me my favorite drink, a mezcal negroni!
Best reading experience: Radalla by Iida Sofia Hirvonen. Hirvonen’s command of language is something special.
Best music experience: Far Star by Gilad Hekselman. I love this kind of rich yet simple jazz.

What about 2023?

I’ve enjoyed my work a lot lately and I hope that continues and I can grow my impact and influence inside the company. It would be great to find ways to write and talk about my work externally, too.

I’m going to continue bouldering a lot. I didn’t have time for a proper hike in 2022 and that’s something I would like to rectify in 2023. Or maybe I’ll do a big kayaking trip.

Traditional commentary on Finnish politics

In each yearnote, I express (lack of) surprise at the current cabinet of the goverment of Finland.

Sanna Marin’s cabinet held together like I expected, although there were a few close calls. The patient safety act debacle was one, and so was the time when the MPs of Center Party (a cabinet member) voted against the nature conservation act proposed by the cabinet.

However, I don’t think that they will hold together until the next parliamentary election in April. Instead, I think the cabinet will fall apart right before the election in such a way that it does not really affect any policymaking but may score the parties some points for the election.