I’ve written before how my job has helped teach me some valuable lessons that applied to parenting. The technology I interact with on a daily basis, the processes and frameworks we use, and the lessons I’ve learned managing a team have all inspired me to apply these to how I’m raising my kids. I’ve brought home A/B testing, machine learning, and agile practices to help learn and become a better dad.

It may be April Fool’s Day, but my run today was no joke. From the moment I left the house I knew something was up and things kept getting weirder the further I went. For a mere three mile run, it sure was eventful and strange. I hope things get back to normal tomorrow. We like almost all of our neighbors. On our left and across from us are some of the nicest, helpful, friendly people we know.

It takes a special kind of crazy person to run distances like a half marathon. We wake up at 4:30 am to get to the start line before the sun is up and any sane person is up either. It really takes a special kind of crazy person to do this while wearing a five foot inflatable donut. These are the fellow maniacs I find myself lining up with at 6:45 in the morning in front of the Montclair Bread Company while the strong smell of baking donuts wafts through the air.

Danes, my people, are the happiest people on Earth. Maybe it’s the beautiful Danish summer when the sun hardly sets. Maybe it’s the coffee. Maybe it’s the Baltic Sea air. Or maybe, it’s the Danish culture of hygge. Hygge is a unique concept that only exists in Denmark. The closest translation would be something like a combination of coziness and homey-ness. Hygge is the comfort you feel in a favorite worn in pair of pajamas while sitting in front of the fireplace with a good book and some candles on.

You walk down the aisle of the plane to your seat; 16D, the bulkhead seat with the bassinet of course, and plop down four bags; the cooler bag of bottles, a tote with the five favorite Dr. Seuss books, a diaper bag, and one with a change of clothes for the inevitable spit up or blow out. You had to check your own bag with a book and headphones, but you won’t need these anyway.

Not everyone visits Las Vegas for debauchery, gambling, and nightlife. Some of us just want to enjoy the culinary scene, find some decent beer, and enjoy the less seedy options the city and surrounding area offer. For those of us, there is actually plenty to do in and around Las Vegas, though you might have a hard time finding it anywhere. Those hidden gems are absolutely worth the effort to find.

First time parents get a lot of stuff for their kids and themselves. Friends and family members send gifts and items aimed to help parents get through the first few months without too much difficulty. Parents themselves buy lots of products that they think will help them get through this time. But which actually work? There are a handful of items we either got or bought for ourselves that ended up being especially useful or necessary in the first few months of our twins’ lives.

When you see Norway, the majestic scenery of the fjords is breathtaking. Lush, verdant green mountains rising above crystal clear blue water with stark gray rock faces and cliffs hanging above landscape that appears to never have been touched by human hands, it may be one of the most serene and pristine places left on earth. From the lively flora around the Fjords to the harsh desolate moon-like landscape in the north above the arctic circle where windswept rocky plains lead to the cliffs overlooking the North Sea, it can also feel like the end of the world, and technically for Europe, it is.

Devops, the software development methodology in which engineers are not only responsible for architecting and building software, but also infrastructure and operational tasks like fleet management, logging, and monitoring, can teach parents a lot about how to educate their children and be better partners in their development. In this process, developers take on additional roles and responsibilities from typical IT responsibilities in an effort to improve the end to end quality and speed of delivery of features for users.

What I learned about the growth mindset from 400 interviews and how it’s helping me raise my kids 400 interviews in 5.5 years. I would have never thought it was possible, especially after where I started. The previous 6 years, my only interviewing experience was attempting to interview someone over coffee in a programming language I didn’t know with no idea of what I was supposed to be evaluating. Thanks to a considerably better interview process, the 400 I’ve done in my current job have been much better.