Zen and the Art of Software Maintenance pt 2

     

Welcome to the second part of my summary of the concepts of Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceby Robert Pirsig as they apply to software development. You can read the first part here. In the book Pirsig outlines a motivating force he defines as “enthusiasm.” In the previous post we covered external forces (or “setbacks” as Pirsig calls them) that can erode your enthusiasm for a project over time. Today we’ll be covering internal forces (or “hangups”) that can drain enthusiasm.

Zen and the Art of Software Maintenance

     

I recently finished the book Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceby Robert Pirsig. The book is a semi-autobiographical work that combines philosophy and self-help with a compelling personal narrative of mental illness. It’s an excellent book that I highly recommend if you haven’t read it already. This post isn’t specifically about the book per se, but the concepts of maintenance that Pirsig outlined as they apply to Software. In the book Pirsig outlines a motivating force he broadly defines as “gumption” or enthusiasm.

FIRE

     

We’re back from Japan and I’ve had to hit the ground running. My day job is in crunch time to get a release out the door and my part-time contracting gig has no shortage of mobile work taking up my nights and weekends. Which might lead some of you to ask why. Why am I pushing myself when I could comfortably live off of the income from my day job? There’s a couple reasons.

Japan

     

This post is going to be pretty short. Our family will be in Japan next month for some much deserved rest and relaxation over spring break. While there, we plan to visit Tokyo, Nagoya, Kochi, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto, and Fuji. This will be the first time that any of us have been to Japan, and we’ve been cramming in as much Japanese culture as we can in preparation. Studio Ghibli movies, sushi and bento boxes, the Shogun miniseries, and the Shogun 2 game have all taken center stage.

Death and Taxes

     

It’s tax season again, and in the words of Benjamin Franklin “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” That’s why I figured this month I’d cover some tax “gotchas” that have snared me in previous years. I’ll specifically be addressing Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contribution limits as well as Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP) and Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) sale tax implications.