Caitlin BaileyFront End Developer

Work

So work has been a bit funny this year because I've been working on a number of long-term projects and the two biggest ones haven't launched yet. As far as projects that have launched, here's the highlights:

  • FenceScreen.com - Updated the site wrapper and did a homepage refresh in January
  • Baldwin Evolved - Baldwin microsite (worked w/ another dev)
  • USC Bridge - Redesign for USC Bridge Institute. I just helped finish this one up to meet a tight deadline.

Over the course of the year, I've taken on some responsibilities to help meet the title I got a year ago (Lead Front End Developer). Time is now scheduled into my week to help out other developers on the team with questions. (So important! This means I can help people without falling behind on the other projects I'm scheduled to work on.) Since Web Advanced is hiring, I'm starting with tweaks to our interview process, and as new projects are kicked off I'm also determining both front-end tech stack and resourcing for each. In the new year I'll also be renewing focus on code reviews to try to get them happening more regularly across the whole team.

Web Advanced paid for me to take the full Web Accessibility curriculum on dequeuniversity.com, including the IAAP Certification exam prep course, and then a few months ago took the exam! Honestly, that was pretty terrifying since I haven't taken an exam like that since before I graduated from UMass. While studying for it, I wasn't entirely sure I even remembered how to study for an exam. I'm glad I made the push to do it. I found out a few weeks ago that I passed, so now I'm certified!

The next step of course is to work on ways to integrate accessibility into each of our projects while being sure it is not an afterthought, and also continuing my accessibility learning.

Personal

Outside of work, I've been doing a lot more coding at home and have overall been trying to manage my time at home better. I had mixed results with that, but I still managed to get some good stuff done.

  • Love Nikki Style - I got to practice with Vue and also learned how to make APIs with this project. Unfortuantely, without having some sort of API/db I could hook into with the existing clothes in the game it was difficult to keep up with. But it was a great project for learning.
  • DotA Roster - More practice with Vue here (not live anywhere yet) - I decided to build a roster page for my World of Warcraft guide using the WoW API. I absolutely adore using Vue and didn't know how fun a JS framework could be until I started using it, so it was a no brainer for a second project.
  • I did Wes Bos's Javascript30 (well to be fair, I did about 2/3 of it and then started running into exercises that used the webcam, microphone, etc and I don't always have one of those handy)
  • Then I bought all of Wes Bos's other courses (Node, React, ES6) because I really enjoy the way he teaches. I'm about halfway through the React one and started going through the ES6 course with coworkers. Node will be my next project after the React course is finished.

I had some non-coding related successes and fun as well:

  • Finally read all of the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga (I had the first 8 or so books from ages ago, bought the rest on Amazon, and then binged them all in 1-2 days)
  • Read 7 other books, including Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist and Mira Grant's Into the Drowning Deep
  • Beat some video games! Adventure Capitalists (I completed Earth), Stardew Valley, Nova Covert Ops (SC2 extra missions), The Last Guardian, Horizon Zero Dawn, Mass Effect: Andromeda, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Dream Daddy, Pyre, Tokyo Dark, Kingdom: New Lands, Orwell, and Destiny 2. The Last Guardian gets a special mention as a result of me waiting for it since 2009 or something, and Horizon Zero Dawn and Breath of the Wild were probably two of my favorite games I played the past year. (Divinity Original Sin 2 is another fave, but I haven't finished it yet so it doesn't get to officially join this list.)
  • Watched a bunch of movies in and out of the theater. 2017's highlights were Get Out, Logan, Wonder Woman, Baby Driver, The Big Sick, Coco, Star Wars The Last Jedi, and Evangelion 1.11.
  • Some fantastic TV in 2017 as well. A few of my favorites have concluded (The Mindy Project, New Girl). In general I am loving my TV selection lately. Easily my favorite television show of the year though ended up being an animated show that I watched with my husband and daughter during meals -- Steven Universe.
  • Last but not least, I played a lot of awesome board games (though I'm sure I did not even being to touch the amount of games my husband would have preferred I played, since he's been obsessed with them lately). The biggest hits for me in 2017 were the Arkham Horror LCG, Fog of Love, and Junk Art.

2017 had a lot of other events too. My husband and I have officially been together for 15 years. We bought a house in February. One of my best friends got married. We had our first family Halloween costume (Bob's Burgers themed - I was Linda, my husband was Bob, and our daughter was Louise). I had to say goodbye to Kitty, a cat I grew up with who came to live with me at the end of 2016 with the hopes of giving her a longer life. I did succeed in that (she probably would not have made it to 2017 otherwise) but unfortunately what we hoped was a polyp in her ear ended up being cancer. I paid off my student loans, went car camping for the first time with some friends, and also met up for the first time with a long-time internet friend who I think I first met when I was in 9th or 10th grade. I'm going to see her again in a few weeks for the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert, so I can't wait!

Hoping for a 2018 that is a little less intense at a macro level, but hopefully at a personal level everything is at least as good. I also hope I don't have to bid farewell to any more of my furry friends for at least a few more years, because that shit sucks.