Let’s go!

Hello everyone, I thought it was time for a decent update!

When we last spoke, I recognized that I needed some time to re-energize and I took some time in 2022 but it wasn’t quite enough and I made plans to take more time off as soon as I could.

The original idea was to take six months off at the end of 2023, but I got to January 2023 and didn’t feel like I would make it.

So instead I decided to take some time now and for a few months just work on SoSa, the house and myself!

Accountability

In my last update I described “The Loop” and how I was constantly afraid of over working and so I would avoid any work outside of work.

I know SoSa is my “lifes work” but if I take my entire life to finish building it, then what’s the point?
So I’ve been trying to find ways to make myself more accountable!

The first thing I’ve done is made sure I spend at least an hour every week working on SoSa, most weeks i’ll spend more but even an hour a week makes a huge difference over months and a year.

A friend also suggested starting a twitch stream, to get people collaborating with me and talk through my problems…

So about 2 weeks ago, I started a Twitch and a Youtube channel and we’ve already done about 5 or 6 hours on SoSa!

It’s helped keep me focused on stuff I was struggling to motivate myself to do, it’s chill, we just sit there, chatting, listening to music and watching me code badly.

If that’s your sort of thing, I also game then you can follow me on Twitch here:
https://www.twitch.tv/mahybe

And I’ll be uploading some of it YouTube along with home renovation videos
https://www.youtube.com/@mahybe

Designer

I have started looking for a designer again to help get the UX/UI right.

Our previous designer was great and I’ll miss working with them but unfortunately they don’t have enough time to commit to SoSa.

So if you know someone that might be a good fit get them to drop their portfolio and hourly rate to [email protected]

Auth Service

In the last update, We finished all of this

• Registration
• Forgotten password
• User / Password Login
• Imgur Login
• Reddit Login
• Google Login
• Facebook Login
• Hot Reloading
• JWT based sessions

But the next bit, Unit tests, I really struggled to motivate myself through.
Since starting the stream 2 weeks ago most of those are finished now and I’m just trying to get coverage as high as possible.

What’s next with SoSa?

We still have all the services left to build

• Profile Service
• Messaging Service
• Community Service
• Notification Service
• Inventory Service

And for the Auth service I still need

• Documentation
• Deployment scripts

But backend stuff is getting a bit monotonous so…. I am going to work to break up the monotony by working on the desktop / mobile app, hopefully along side the designer designing things.

That will help keep things moving and will give me something more visual to show and something to share around.

James

Some of you like to know how i’m doing, I’m good!

I’m really glad I have taken this time off, it’s the longest I have been out of work since I was 13, about 25 years!

I’m closing up on my 40s and I really don’t want to still be fat into my 40s.

This is me in 2007 (sleeveless top) I was much happier and healthier but at some point around 2011/2012 I lost control of my weight and it’s spiraled ever since.

So I have taken control and i am now doing monthly fitness updates to track my progress.

This is a multi-year journey with 2023 being the first year of me making positive lifestyle changes.

The house is also well under way, I’m working on replacing the entire first floor, once that’s out of the way I should be able to actually start decorating

Tomorrow, I have someone coming to replace the lead water pipes under my property and soon someone else replacing the old gas pipes.

I should see significant progress over March and April on the house which is super exciting!

If you have made it this far, thank you so much for reading my ramblings, you’re great and I love you

James