Time flies

[williamjm]

On Sunday I'll have been working and living in Cambridge for 5 years. Most of the time it doesn't seem that long since I left Edinburgh, it probably feels more like 3 or maybe 4 years at most.

I was reminded today that I have been here quite a long time, when one of my colleagues asked me a couple of question about the purpose of a code change I wrote back in September 2004 and I first I had absolutely no memory of making that change. Fortunately, he asked the question via e-mail (he said that he realised that if he'd just come and asked me in person I'd probably have had no idea what he was talking about) so I was able to do a bit of research before answering and after looking at the code for a bit and finding a 4-and-a-half year old weekly report in my sent e-mails folder that described a little bit of the change (although not why it was initially made) I think I was able to answer his questions reasonably well. I suppose it is one of the potential perils of working for the same company for 5 years that you can get asked questions about things you can barely even remember. At least this change seemed fairly reasonable, there have been occasions when I've looked at a bit of code I wrote a couple of years ago and wondered how I could have thought that was a good idea.

Comments

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean! I keep getting asked about things I deployed years ago and I no longer have a clue what they even are :-o

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

Just wait a few years and you'll be asked question about things in your books you don't ever remember writing ;)

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

That's already happening! Somebody today wished me "happy birthday" and congratulated me on writing something called "Hamlet"... Well, it was flattering, of course, but honestly, I don't remember a thing about it.