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Marc Clifton wrote: Do you experience this "I can't retain this stuff because there's so much / different things to work on every day" problem?
Great Ghu, yes!
Over the last five years my company has whittled my group from 17 people down to 5, one of whom does not write code. My group has also acquired responsibility for several products that used to be outside our purview. The final result is that each of us has numerous areas of concern, all active and wanting attention. I spend less than 25% of my time maintaining code that I wrote. Most of my time is on other products and code bases. A lot of that time is spent organizing, learning, and trying not to feel contempt for those code bases.
Keeping notes for context is critical for me. Partially this is because of the rant in the previous paragraph, and part of it is due to my *cough* advancing *cough* middle age.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Well, yes and no. As a freelancer, normally the lead (or only) tech person on a project and working remotely, I not only frequently had multiple clients in parallel, but multiple issues for each client. (I say "had" as I'm semi-retired now and can pretty much complete one task before starting the next one).
In that environment I had no "management tool" imposed upon me, but it was necessary to accurately account for time spent and the tasks worked on, so I could bill clients and justify those bills. After lots of different online tools, I eventually settled on a very basic Excel solution, with a sheet per client and a row per discrete "task" or "issue". Initially I heaped loads of detail into this, and added SQL Queries, notes, replication instructions etc into separate notepad documents with names related to the client / issue.
This made me feel comfortable, as everything was meticulously documented, but took ages. For some clients the overhead was such that I had to add items to the invoice relating to keeping these records. After a few years it dawned on me, however, that my reference rate back to these copious notes was very low. Things changed so that eventually I kept just a very simple approximation of time spent, was more "generous" with in-code documentation, and particularly in notes when committing changes to source control. On those few occasions when I do now need to refer back to previous tasks, I can quickly check the issue description in Excel to get the date, then use source control searches to find code changed on that date, and do code Diffs and review comments to refresh my memory of what was going on.
For some projects, I can still relate the module, method names and bits of code for certain projects. For others, I can barely remember (or in some cases not at all) who the client was, or even the task. I've found that with experience, I've learnt to identify the things I need to remember in "working memory" and the things I need invest no long-term memory to.
In summary I find the trick is not so much finding the ideal tool, but learning the difference between those things that need remembering and those that don't, and being a bit ruthless about not over-documenting stuff that in all likelihood I will never need to recall - but keeping some clues - a cookie trail of sorts - that would allow me to piece together steps taken should I ever really need to.
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Marc Clifton wrote: JIRA sucks for preserving notes, as completed tasks disappear from any ability to search for them, as far as I can tell
You (or your Jira admin) are definitely using Jira wrong. Long-term storage and searchable-archive is one of Jira's most important and useful features, in my experience. Completed tasks are definitely searchable, unless your admin has set up your Jira-server in a very strange way. I strongly advise watching a refresher tutorial on Jira queries & JQL. I consider Jira-fu to be an essential skill for a productive developer.
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beam me up scottie... clickity[^]
Close to 3000 photos of some amazing places and thing.
I do all my own stunts, but never intentionally!
JaxCoder.com
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Not as back as you think, link 404'ed on me.
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me too
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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All coffee starts with the Coffea plant[^], and the processing that is given to it.
First it is planted, then four years later it can be harvested, then pulp is removed*, fermented, dried, milled, roasted, ground, and finally brewed.
Regular is made from the beans of the Coffea plant.
Decaf is made from the soil in which the plant grows.
* this is normally via the wet or dry method, but the alimentary canal of small cats can be used instead.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Decaff replaces the heartburn-inducing caffeine with other heartburn-inducing chemicals.
It's a neat trick!
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain
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OriginalGriff wrote: but the alimentary canal of small cats can be used instead
although it is called "cat-coffee" they are not cats. They actually look like rats
Quote: Kopi luwak (Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈkopi ˈlu.aʔ]), or civet coffee, is coffee that includes partially digested coffee cherries, eaten by the Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus)
And I must say... it was damned good coffee. But I don't feel paying the price again.
I was in Sumatra and bought it direct in the source (and was still elephanting expensive)
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
modified 9-May-19 6:54am.
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It was the Executive Summary: accuracy is not important.
It's supposed to be very good - but I've not tried it.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Wich only proves that you can get anything down with just a squirt of Maunder Catchup.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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OriginalGriff wrote: It's supposed to be very good
It is (at least in my opinion), but the relation quality-price is not balanced.
I just checked... in Munich it is sold at 380€ / Kg
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Nelek wrote: They actually look like rats
hmmm, possums maybe.
almost tried it, waiting in Jakarta airport with about a million rupiah that I no longer needed (about US$20 at the time) and saw Kofi Luwak for that exact price, almost,
but then I found a store that sold Nongshim Cup noodles for about RP 100,000 (free hot water). Seeing as this trip failed to talk my way into the business class lounge and was a bit peckish decided on the noodles instead of the cat sh*t coffee.
but they do say it's good, and at $20 (small but not tiny cup) actually not such a bad price
- the next time I was there couple of weeks later the price had doubled to 2.5 million. (think it was an intro offer)
that was 5 years back, so far never been back that way since.
BTW: if you're wondering: yes, Jakarta airport sucks. pretty sure bet it hasn't improved in the last 5 years.
Message Signature
(Click to edit ->)
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Not 100% sure but I think I paid 60€ for 200 or 250 gr coffee. (8 years ago)
In Munich there is a couple of places who have it, at 20 or 25€ an espresso.
Lopatir wrote: BTW: if you're wondering: yes, Jakarta airport sucks. pretty sure bet it hasn't improved in the last 5 years.
I know... I was there too (and in economy, no lounge  )
Edit:
I just checked... Munich price: 380€ / Kg 
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
modified 10-May-19 1:26am.
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Decaf is what you get when decow delivers.
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I had to read that slowly, and it sounded like "come for da bul" 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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OriginalGriff wrote: Decaf is made from the soil in which the plant grows.
I think you're being generous.
"Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity."
- Hanlon's Razor
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I assume he meant night soil[^]. 
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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OriginalGriff wrote: Decaf is made from the soil in which the plant grows.
and we all know what farmers put in the soil to kick it up a notch; goes without saying. 
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I always found the origins of decaf[^] amusing.
My guess is it actually went something along the lines of this:- Merchant thinks his expensive cargo of coffee was ruined upon discovering it soaking in cold sea water upon delivery (who hasn't had a package left out in the rain by the delivery person?)
- Next he wonders if some of the loss can be recouped by somehow passing it off the unwashed masses (Like any good business owner, how to turn a loss into a gain?)
- Has one of his "co-workers" (employees) brew a pot to see how much they will need to mask the taste but realizes it doesn't taste THAT bad compared to actual coffee
- Merchant dupes the public by selling them pre-used defective coffee beans
It would be like going to an auto dealer and letting yourself get talked into buying a brand new car with only one previous owner and no engine. 
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I don't even drink the stuff and I wonder WHY anyone would drink coffee with no caffeine.
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All coffee is the Devil's diarrhea!
=========================================================
I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
=========================================================
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Good coffee is:
As black as sin
Hotter than Hell
Sweeter than love
So you got 2 out of 3 right... 
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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It's very similar to smelling the roses while wearing gas mask
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