I finished the QR code yesterday. It doesn't work as a QR code, but it looks fair enough like one. I might someday knit one instead, because it would be cool if it actually, you know, worked.
It was for a Nerdopolis challenge entitled "New" - we were supposed to document something new about our lives, by crafting something that represented it. This is what I wrote.
It's fairly long, so I'll cut it 2023 has been a hell of a year for me. On Valentine’s Day, I started a *very* part-time job as a math tutor. It was my first job in twelve and a half years – I hadn’t worked for so long due to depression and crushing anxiety. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t even have started THIS job if *Final Fantasy XVI* wasn’t coming out in the summer. I would need a PlayStation 5 to play it, and thus would need money to buy one. Perhaps weird motivation, but motivation nonetheless.
The first day of the job went terribly, but hey, nobody died or got hurt, so I persisted and showed up for the next day, which thankfully went better. Even so, I was already running on adrenaline that first week or so on the job because it was something SO NEW and different, after not having done any work for many years… and then the unthinkable happened on February 22nd: my beloved dad took a nasty fall in the garage, and suffered a traumatic brain injury. I spent the next three weeks shuttling between home, the hospital and work.
Dad passed away the evening of March 16th. To understand how close we were, I have to go back to my childhood. When I was born, my mom handed me over to my dad and said, “This baby’s for you, Daddy!” And sure enough, I was. I’d spend my childhood following Dad around, asking him, “What are you doing?” and he’d patiently tell me. He worked at IBM, and we were the first family in our neighborhood to get a computer at home. I’d sit and watch him, and helped him build a circuit board so we could use a full-size keyboard on our PCjr. I also spent lots of time reading his computer magazines, typing in the programs in the back so I could play games. Thus, I had my first introduction to computer programming languages.
Returning to 2023: the year went on and I was still running on adrenaline, mostly numb to the changes happening. Mom and I settled into a “new normal” routine at home. Then all hell broke loose again: on September 30th, mom ended up in the ER. It turned out to be a very nasty case of gallstones, and she was in the hospital for quite some time.
I did not cope well with this. I broke into a stress rash. I feared I would lose mom as well, and then I’d be up a creek because I live with her, and there was nobody to take me in should the worse happen.
It certainly was a wake-up call that I had to make changes in my life and return to work. So, with the help of a new therapist, I’m making steps to do exactly that. I have spent part of my inheritance money from dad on some training programs: I’m going after the Google Cybersecurity Certificate, and learning *Ruby on Rails*, a programming language.
Which brings me full circle, back to being daddy’s little girl. For this challenge, I crocheted a QR code. QR codes are a type of machine language, just like programming languages are. (Mine doesn’t actually work as a QR code but does look like one. I am including the actual QR code chart as produced by Stitch Fiddle – when you scan it, it prints the message **Code 4 Dad!** - I know dad would want me to move forward with my life, and would be happy that I am pursuing a path that includes something we both enjoyed.)
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It was for a Nerdopolis challenge entitled "New" - we were supposed to document something new about our lives, by crafting something that represented it. This is what I wrote.
It's fairly long, so I'll cut it
2023 has been a hell of a year for me. On Valentine’s Day, I started a *very* part-time job as a math tutor. It was my first job in twelve and a half years – I hadn’t worked for so long due to depression and crushing anxiety. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t even have started THIS job if *Final Fantasy XVI* wasn’t coming out in the summer. I would need a PlayStation 5 to play it, and thus would need money to buy one. Perhaps weird motivation, but motivation nonetheless.
The first day of the job went terribly, but hey, nobody died or got hurt, so I persisted and showed up for the next day, which thankfully went better. Even so, I was already running on adrenaline that first week or so on the job because it was something SO NEW and different, after not having done any work for many years… and then the unthinkable happened on February 22nd: my beloved dad took a nasty fall in the garage, and suffered a traumatic brain injury. I spent the next three weeks shuttling between home, the hospital and work.
Dad passed away the evening of March 16th. To understand how close we were, I have to go back to my childhood. When I was born, my mom handed me over to my dad and said, “This baby’s for you, Daddy!” And sure enough, I was. I’d spend my childhood following Dad around, asking him, “What are you doing?” and he’d patiently tell me. He worked at IBM, and we were the first family in our neighborhood to get a computer at home. I’d sit and watch him, and helped him build a circuit board so we could use a full-size keyboard on our PCjr. I also spent lots of time reading his computer magazines, typing in the programs in the back so I could play games. Thus, I had my first introduction to computer programming languages.
Returning to 2023: the year went on and I was still running on adrenaline, mostly numb to the changes happening. Mom and I settled into a “new normal” routine at home. Then all hell broke loose again: on September 30th, mom ended up in the ER. It turned out to be a very nasty case of gallstones, and she was in the hospital for quite some time.
I did not cope well with this. I broke into a stress rash. I feared I would lose mom as well, and then I’d be up a creek because I live with her, and there was nobody to take me in should the worse happen.
It certainly was a wake-up call that I had to make changes in my life and return to work. So, with the help of a new therapist, I’m making steps to do exactly that. I have spent part of my inheritance money from dad on some training programs: I’m going after the Google Cybersecurity Certificate, and learning *Ruby on Rails*, a programming language.
Which brings me full circle, back to being daddy’s little girl. For this challenge, I crocheted a QR code. QR codes are a type of machine language, just like programming languages are. (Mine doesn’t actually work as a QR code but does look like one. I am including the actual QR code chart as produced by Stitch Fiddle – when you scan it, it prints the message **Code 4 Dad!** - I know dad would want me to move forward with my life, and would be happy that I am pursuing a path that includes something we both enjoyed.)