One of the things I really like about my new job is pair programming. On Tuesday of this week, there was a bit of a panic as we tried to figure out how we were going to get work done with everyone in different locations due to the impending snow storm on Wednesday. To me, it was almost comical. I mean, I had been working from home for the last 6 or so years. I never had someone looking over my shoulder as I wrote code. One day wasn’t going to be a big deal… was it? Given the way this team has worked for the last few years, there really was no plan for how to operate when we aren’t all in the same room.

There was talk of iChat and sharing screens and some other not-so-simple-to-setup environment stuff, but in the end we coordinated what we were working on via chat and agreed we’d pair up on Thursday to review changes/updates we made or wanted to make. Even though I ended up doing the same on Thursday (no plow on my street all day, I couldn’t leave the house!), I was able to be productive and reviewed my work today with some team members.

It was weird working from home again. It was definitely different – I had to use my home laptop and my office space was a bit of a wreck. It took a little while to get totally setup with the VPN etc, but I ended up cranking out some good work.

My final conclusion is that I really like pairing, and working in an open space. Maybe I have great teammates, maybe I’m still in the honeymoon phase of pair programming, who knows, but for now, I’m loving it.

Tags: pair programming, snow, team

Worst parts of my new job:

1. No more personal bathroom
2. Coordinating my attire
3. Not being able to pick through leftovers for lunch
4. I can’t (easily) hit the gym at say 11am.
5. No laptop, no cell phone
6. No one cared if I had bad breath when working from home!

Best parts of my new job:

1. The people – incredibly smart, and unbelievable willing to take time out of their day to explain how something works or why something was done a certain way. The openness is infectious.
2. Pair programming with really smart people, like David Black
3. No email. OK not ZERO email, but with everyone working in the same place, email is rarely used.
4. No conference calls. Literally none. I had one on my first day which was a “Welcome to Boeing” deal, but zero since.
5. Ruby & Rails – No more Java, no more WebSphere Portal
6. No laptop, no cell phone. My day is now done when I walk out the door. I can VPN in to check my mail, but see #3

It comes as no surprise to me that the toughest things am dealing with so far are all related to no longer working from home. I’m not completely over the fact that I now get up at 6 & get into the office at 7:30, but I think I am getting used to it. I feel like an old man sometimes going to bed before 10, but I could be doing worse.

Of course the title of this post was written to make you want to read it. I’m really enjoying the new job but need gimmicks to get people to come read my stuff