I originally wanted to submit my year-end summary before the lunar new year, but I realized that I procrastinated last year's year-end summary due to laziness. So, I must summarize 2022 for this "double year". However, it's strange that I haven't joined ByteDance yet and I'm already starting to have an ego.
Introduction#
In fact, every year I feel that the current year is magical, but the next year always comes along and says, "This year is even more magical." But that's the joy of life, isn't it?
Looking back at the title of my 2020 year-end summary, it was called "Do Good Deeds, Don't Ask About the Future." Last year, I couldn't remember the title at once, so I asked for help in the group and found that the title "Stay Simple, Stay Naive" was quite good and suitable for summarizing and looking ahead to the previous year. However, as I write these words, I realize that the person I +1Sed last year has already passed away. It feels strange in my heart.
But, once a fan, always a fan. So, let's stick with the naive +1S.
Life#
Starting from the beginning of last year, after leaving Tai Chi Graphics, I entered the life of a digital nomad. As a freelancer, the biggest advantage is that I have more time to do my own things after eliminating the time spent commuting (like sleeping (not really)).
After leaving my previous job, my girlfriend and I moved to a new house with a large terrace and great lighting. This allowed me to have time to focus on my own things.
So, with my own time last year, I started reading books that I hadn't explored much before. Some of the books that left a deep impression on me are:
- Artificial Beauty
- Immersed in Affairs: The Chinese Government and Economic Development
- Tang History is Not as Smoky as It Seems
- The Greatest Trade
- Patient's Family, Please Come In
- Yesterday's World
- Becoming a Star: Astronaut Diary
I read about 20 books in total. I realized that it's a very happy thing to slowly discover books and find an author whose style suits my taste.
In addition to reading books, I also started watching anime. This activity occupied a lot of my free time in Q3/Q4 (which means I neglected other things during that time (you guys in the group are really to blame). Of course, catching up on TV shows and watching documentaries were also part of the year. It was actually a completely new experience for me to explore the world beyond technology and sleep.
Then, two new cats joined our family last year, so now we have a total of six cats at home. It's a happy trouble for me. Petting cats is enjoyable, but it's not so enjoyable when it comes to cleaning their litter boxes and dealing with their collective illnesses.
Of course, amidst all the good things, there are some bad things too. I didn't stick to my weight loss plan last year, and I didn't follow through with my exercise plan either. It's a pity.
Since facing the reality of depression again last year, with the help of medication and a relatively free environment, I have been able to control my mental state quite well. However, maybe because it has been fifteen years since I was sexually assaulted, I had quite a few nightmares last year. I hope time will continue to heal everything. (But speaking of which, I hate the side effects of medication. They really make me uncomfortable.)
On the other hand, with my own time last year, we also acquired many things that greatly improved our quality of life at home:
- An 8*16T NAS, so my mom no longer worries about where to store my anime!
- A desktop computer with a 4090 GPU and i9-13900K CPU, which is great for work and entertainment.
- An Apple TV 4K connected to the local network NAS, my girlfriend and I watched many movies together. (Remote work is great!)
- A properly sized Android phone for reading online novels.
- A top-of-the-line 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which is great for lightweight office work and reading WeChat books. (I really didn't use it to watch iQiyi while eating instant noodles!)
Another thing worth mentioning is that I continued to participate in charity work last year. I personally donated over 10k, and the members of the charity group collectively donated over 6k to a village school. Another thing that made me very happy is that I inspired people around me to donate to support students' education. Education is the best form of charity. I don't know how long I can continue, but I will still do what I can.
Overall, life in 2022 was quite fulfilling. However, I still worry a bit. How long can my small happiness last in the face of the overall downward trend?
Relationships#
My relationship entered its fourth year. Last year, due to the Beijing epidemic, I spent a year with my classmate Jingche (literally spending every day together). Using a line from the TV series "Soldiers Sortie" that I really like:
Being together all the time is a test, anytime, anywhere, for a lifetime.
When two people spend every day together, there will inevitably be some small disagreements and conflicts due to differences in details. At times like this, mutual tolerance and understanding are needed. Speaking of which, I am grateful for Jingche's tolerance and supervision. She often nags at me to wake up, exercise, and improve many of my bad habits. Hhhhhh (mua.jpg).
Many times, when I wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, I instinctively hug Jingche. Even if she is half asleep and doesn't understand the situation, she will turn around and hug me. In a sense, Jingche's companionship is the source of courage that keeps me going.
Speaking of spending every day together, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Last year, Jingche and I spent a lot of time together walking in the park, eating out, and doing many activities together. We also went to hot springs and Universal Studios together (long live remote work!). I hope that in 2023, Jingche and I can continue to walk together smoothly, fulfill our promises to each other (I want to have an eight-pack abs.jpg), and travel and do more crafts together!
In short, I am grateful for and enjoy Jingche's love.
Work and Technology#
First, let's talk about my own changes. As mentioned earlier, at the beginning of 2022, due to my own plans and health reasons, I officially left Tai Chi Graphics (I really miss my colleagues there) and officially started my life as a digital nomad. Currently, I make a living by providing SRE services to clients. This is actually a big challenge for me. Previously, my role was more focused on being an Infra Developer, so making SRE my formal job direction is a completely new experience for me (thanks to the trust of my clients).
Last year, my work content also underwent significant changes, which made me more aware of my shortcomings. If I used to be purely an IC (individual contributor), last year my work boundaries expanded significantly. I need to consider coordination and systematization more effectively. Many times, I jokingly say that I wrote more documents in a week than I wrote code (XD).
But this is actually a good thing for me. I believe that this change in mindset will help me improve a lot.
Another significant change in 2022 was that starting from February, inspired by my friends at Xuanwo, I officially started publicly documenting my weekly life and technical learning (my boss said he would read my weekly reports (shrugs). For me, this is a good way to hold myself accountable. It's not about content-based learning, but rather about recording my insights and experiences (I've shared a lot about stability and observability). I hope to continue this practice in 2023.
In terms of technology, I personally felt that I made significant progress last year. On one hand, in the open-source community. At the beginning of the year, I started contributing to nerdctl by chance when I was looking for an alternative to Docker. In June, I was promoted to a Reviewer, and in December, I was promoted to a Committer. This was my deep involvement in an open-source community. I also discuss open-source topics with my friends, such as chatting with Xuanwo about his OpenDAL and chatting with GaoCe GG about/envy his startup project envd (he is often surprised that I have more confidence in this project than he does (it's really a great project!). I personally think that contributing code, participating in discussions, and receiving help and guidance from different people in various communities last year was an all-around improvement for me. It made me more aware of my naivety and more accepting of help and guidance from others. As I mentioned in a previous article:
Since the birth of the Internet, open source, with its idealistic nature, has truly changed the world. People from all over the world, under the banner of open source, freely express their creativity and bring about changes in this world. Sometimes, when I think about the opportunity I have to participate in such a great activity, I can't help but tremble. I am fortunate to have joined this great cause early in my career, and I hope that more and more people around me will participate, sweating together, and finding their own promised land in this messed up but beautiful world.
On the other hand, last year, I also made progress in terms of technical depth. I continued to improve my knowledge in observability and stability, and I focused on systematizing my thinking (abstracting it into methodologies). I also continued to work on interesting projects related to the kernel and eBPF (such as helping others develop small tools). I hope to continue making bold progress in 2023.
Speaking of which, one big achievement last year, which may or may not be considered technical, is that the problem-solving group I formed was particularly active. We solved problems together, donated together, recommended anime to each other (not really), and worked on open-source projects together (two members of the group became maintainers of open-source projects last year). Many times, when I encounter various problems, I vent and complain in the group. Many times, I feel grateful that in this restless era, I can meet such a group of enthusiastic and pure-hearted people. It's truly a blessing in life. Cheers to that! (But I can't handle alcohol, so I'll just pretend to drink this toast.)
That's about it. I also did many other miscellaneous things last year, such as starting to translate my first book, maintaining a daily coding practice, reading over ten research papers, organizing several group presentations, and working on my own toy projects. Many people think that being a programmer is a boring profession. But honestly, this line of work is really intoxicating.
Conclusion#
Comparing my goals at the beginning of the year and evaluating myself, I would give myself a performance rating of 3.5. Both my strengths and weaknesses are quite apparent, so let's talk about the weaknesses:
- I didn't have enough technical depth in my contributions to open source.
- I still lack discipline and spent a lot of time sleeping in, playing games, and watching anime.
- I lacked focus and often got distracted from my planned goals.
- I didn't achieve my fitness goals.
The weaknesses and areas for improvement are quite clear, and I hope to continue working hard next year. Here are some OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) that I have set for myself:
- O1: Coding Skills
- Learn front-end development and become a maintainer of an open-source front-end project.
- Continue daily Leetcode practice and ensure that I can solve at least 70% of randomly selected medium-level or higher difficulty problems without looking at the solutions.
- O2: Reading
- Reread Volume 1 of TCP.
- Finish reading CSAPP and ensure that I complete at least 80% of the exercises for each chapter.
- The remaining books are to be determined.
- O3: Sharing
- Write a netfilter-tutorial based on xdp-tutorial.
- Share at least 5 times within the group throughout the year.
- Write six meaningful blog posts.
- O4: Healthy Living
- Use exercise to reduce my weight to 145 pounds (I made a bet with a group member to donate 2,000 yuan to charity).
- Travel to at least three different places with my girlfriend.
- Try to sleep after 3 AM for no more than two days a week (currently, emmm).
Finally,
2022 was indeed quite magical, but to quote a cliché from Charles Dickens:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Honestly, I don't know what 2023 will be like or what the next few years will bring. But no matter what, love and hope will always support us through the years. Well, everything is gonna be OK.
Speaking of which, someone asked me this year what kind of person I want to become, and after thinking about it, I answered:
I hope that many years from now, when people chat with their grandchildren or mention me, they will say, "I knew someone named Saka, and he was a pretty good person." That would make me satisfied.
Stay Simple, Stay Naive, always be humble, respect life, and move forward bravely.
Goodbye, 2022. Hello, 2023.