The Perils Of Being A Geek Introvert

I'm behind. I should have written more about the conference already, I should have done quite a few other things... but the truth is that the conference took a lot out of me. I didn't realize how much. It's difficult for other people to understand, perhaps, but people drain me. It's not that I don't like people, they just seem to leave me like an empty husk when I overexert extroversion. It's supposedly a classic sign of being an INTJ.

So I'm behind, and while I should apologize, I needed some time to recharge. Friday, I spent time spelunking Drupal code to fix a search index problem; I expect that it will be updated when the new version gets out of beta, but it was a good way to spend the day after the conference for me. It was interesting, and maybe even fruitful for future projects - though the Drupal search module will be changing significantly to give better search results. My problem is that the sites I deal with don't deal with just a few hundred nodes - for example, KnowProSE.com is approaching 12,000 nodes rapidly - but in future instances, I'll be populating thousands of nodes at a time for some clients. The search indexing has to work out of the box, and I think I've come up with a few strategies for that.

Friday night, there was a get together for the speakers of the conference at Pier 1, and I thought the day before that I would attend... but my heart wasn't in it. I'm sure that there were interesting people there - I did want to meet them again under less formal circumstances; I am not a very formal person to begin with. I fully intended to go, but by the time I looked up from code, it was already way past the time to go, so... I didn't. I suppose most people would be disappointed, but I wasn't... it was sort of a solution for me. Besides, meeting over drinks isn't something I particularly enjoy unless it's within a close group of people. Coffee is my drug of choice - and not instant coffee. Coffee, some leisure time, and some quiet surroundings so I can hear myself think.

In large groups, keeping track of everything is difficult. Others tell me that I handle groups well, but I'm much happier with smaller groups where I can pay attention to details. I usually need time away from people to get myself 'recharged'. So yesterday was code, and today was time spent with Johann, a cousin who is like a brother... the 'Tool Store' had a sale - 20% off of everything in the store - so we went and picked up a few things that we needed and had lunch. Steaks. Big steaks. And while I am always upset that I can't get a Coke at any of these franchised places, I convinced the server to get me some lemonade (since they serve Lynchburg Lemonade...). Why the hell I can't have a Coke with fried chicken, pizza or steaks is something that makes me think I should start taking my own Coca Cola with me. I mean... I don't hate Pepsi, I just don't like it - and these franchises just irritate the hell out of me when I can't get what I want when I'm paying them. In Trinidad, it's probably because the people who own the related businesses are all related.

I can give them some creative ideas on exactly where they can stick their Pepsi. At least give me an option. But people are generally sheep... they generally choose the least evil thing instead of demand what they want.

The rest of the day was spent doing some organization, sanding down the table I built for another room (marine ply and an iron frame is better than an oak desk to me. Space!). I went and rented some pirated movies - just watched 'Lord of War', about to watch 'Jarhead'. Oh, if you have a problem with that sort of piracy, it's not my fault. I can't rent a non-pirated DVD if I try. I'll write more on that in another entry.

Time to watch 'Jarhead'. Hold all my calls.