This is the website of zachary cohen (zacharyc). The name coming from the old unix idea of creating a username with first name and last initial. I’ve been using it is since the start of my career, nearly two decades ago.
This website contains information about me and my interests. Blog posts will rang in topic including the following:
Software Engineering
Acroyoga
Cheerleading
Photography
Dogs
New Years Resolutions
Science Topics
Opinions
Most posts are relatively brief, but every once in a while I’ll dive into a topic. I also have a list of my projects.
I will be updating the content of this site as regularly as I can.
Letting Go
Forgive the vagueness of this post, but this week has been a hard week where I’ve had to let go of a big commitment in my life. It’s personal. I’m devastated and hurting, but I know this was the path forward. Letting it go was hard for me, and it comes with many complex emotions, including fear of abandoning people who depend on me. I’m shirking some responsibility that I had previously assumed....
Cedar Unit Testing
Almost 13 years ago, my life changed. I had recently left Motorola after Google acquired us and was looking for my next opportunity when I found a company called Cabulious, which was pretty quickly renamed to Flywheel. When I joined, they asked me if I’d be interested in working on the mobile team, specifically iOS, despite having minimal experience in Objective-C.
When I joined the company, they sent me to New York to work with our Pivotal Labs Team (we could only get the team in NY, not the one in California, because they were too busy)....
Learning Banjo
A friend gifted me a banjo a few months ago, and I’m obsessed with it. I have tried a bunch of musical instruments in my life but stuck with none. I did the viola for a year in fourth grade. I tried piano for a semester in 10th grade, and I’ve picked up several ukuleles in my time. None of them have gotten me to practice.
The Banjo is a different being....
Habits and Failing
It’s only 22 days into the new year, and I’m already failing at my habits. This happens to most people who set up New Year’s resolutions and start trying to execute them. Where I often fail is that missing any number of days will cause me to challenge the point of making the habit.
So far, I’m tracking four habits:
Doing 425 active / 500 total calories on the Elliptical Writing somewhere public (sharing instead of consuming) Reading for at least 10 minutes (not on a computer) Practicing the Banjo I started before the end of the year but haven’t recorded every day in my chart....
Newport Dog Park Meetups
I love my dog. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I should be doing for my dog. One of the things I do is get my dog out twice a day, and usually to the dog park. In Newport, RI, that is hard because no dog parks exist. The closest is in Portsmouth, about 25 minutes drive each way. If we stay for about an hour, that is double the time when you include driving....