Lisbon is a beautiful city to explore. There are endless historic sights, shops, restaurants, and great bars. But to really get a sense of the culture and history of the city, it’s worth heading just outside the center to nearby Belem, home to the historic locations where discoverers of old departed across the open ocean. From Belem, Portugal’s empire grew and spread across the sea and around the world. On a sun-soaked day, it’s hard […]
This week I became officially certified as an AWS Solution Architect after passing the certification test. It certainly wasn’t easy, but now I get to hang out in the certification lounge at Amazon Web Services events like the NYC Summit and re:Invent. Ok sure, there’s also the prestige of demonstrating my knowledge of AWS and proving to myself that I have a good understanding of it, but it’s really all about getting that sweet badge […]
With ample sun, sights, and awesome food, there’s a ton to see and do in Lisbon, Portugal. The real magic of Lisbon comes from exploring its side streets and alleys, but there’s so much to experience all around that a good plan is needed. It’s also a spread out and hilly city, so making the most of it involves some walking and creative use of the public transportation. With a short amount of time or […]
A little while ago, I began managing a new team with a bunch of new team members reporting in to me. In order to help get them to know me better and understand the way I work, I decided to write a manager README. Inspired by some great engineering leadership READMEs I found online, I noted down my own values, priorities, and way of doing things so that my new team could quickly get a […]
My twins drove their Playschool car off our deck. They went out of my sight for a few moments and the next thing I knew, they were down the four steps off the deck and in the back yard crying. Thankfully they weren’t hurt at all because the car protected them. I’ll never admit it though, and will deny it to anyone who asks. I’m normally a pretty attentive parent, so of course the one […]
This post originally appeared at https://www.fatherly.com/play/toddler-cornhole-race/ Toddler Cornhole Race’ is a fast-paced, kid-friendly version of every adult’s favorite backyard BBQ game that blends a running race with tossing bean bags. As any parent who’s ever tried to play Cornhole with kids around knows, it’s not easy. Toddlers immediately gravitate to the bags, grab them off the boards in the middle of the game, and drop them into the holes. It tends to disrupt the play, […]
It took some time for me to process the news that Anthony Bourdain took his own life. I found out about it while sitting at a cafe in Porto, Portugal; a trip I had immediately turned to Bourdain’s shows for ideas and inspiration. My normal trip research begins with viewing any episodes of his shows in the locale. To me, he was a true inspiring figure as someone who championed the idea of traveling, rather […]
This post originally appeared on TheBump Most parents are afraid to travel with toddlers. The parents we know thought we were completely insane for taking our one-year-old twins on a two-week international trip. My wife and I did the unthinkable and proved them wrong and not only survived, but had a great time. I’m here to tell other parents that yes, they can do it too. We had some drizzle, some bumpy seas, and a […]
Chaos Engineering is taking over the world. Chaos Engineering provides a valuable framework and methodology to help teams better understand their complex systems and the behavior of them during real world events. It strives to help improve user experiences by validating assumptions about resiliency and detecting failures in systems before users experience these problems during a real issue. I love showing teams how to begin instituting Chaos Engineering in their organizations, but I tend to […]
This post originally appeared at https://www.fatherly.com/play/game-easiest-way-keep-toddlers-engaged-play/ ‘Toy Drop’ is a game I inadvertently discovered when my twin toddlers saw me picking up their toys and dropping them in a box ⏤ and then volunteered to help out. They were too young to actually clean up their own toys upon request, but their natural impulse to mimic kicked in and before I knew it, they started grabbing and dropping everything in sight. What would normally be […]