🇵🇱 Updated May 5, 2024 from Poland!
Working at Simplebet! #
Working at Simplebet lets me work in Elixir for a company that supplies data to sports books; two things I really love! I work with an amazingly supportive team with some of the brightest in the Elixir community. We work mainly in Elixir, Phoenix, LiveView, and Surface.
Life/work balance is great and I have enough time to go deep on other things I enjoy like Compilers, Site Reliability Engineering, and more obscure programming languages (especially the ones that nobody will pay me to write).
Living in Poland #
I have been living in Krakow, Poland for the last 2 years and I really love it. We have a very modest apartment but the location is excellent. We are few hundred yards away from a beer garden, a farmer’s market, 2 regular markets and a tram stop. From the tram we can be in the city center in 20 minutes.
Poland for me has been very peaceful and very affordable. Not to mention most of Europe is less than a 2 hour flight away with RT prices starting at like $50.
I will have a full post on the move from Detroit to Krakow before too long. If you have any questions, feel free to DM on Twitter @mkumm or email me at mike @ mkumm.com.
Nauka języka polskiego (Learning Polish) #
I am finally learning to speak Polish. Progress is slow, but steady and I am finally really enjoying it. If you are also interested in learning Polish, I recommend reaching out to Glossa. They can help people in any geography to learn Polish. A special thank you to Magdalena!
Meditation Practice #
I have been practicing meditation semi-regularly for the last 10 years. I am currently rebooting (maybe we can call it “beginner’s mind?”) my practice using The Way App from Henry Shukman after listening to an interview with Kevin Rose. If you are new, or feeling a little stuck with your meditation practice, maybe give this one a try.
Current Hobbies #
Chess #
Thanks to ‘Chicago Mike’ I am really starting to enjoy chess. I am learning on Chess.com and play (losing) matches on lichess - feel free to request a game! I’m ‘mrkumm’ on both platforms.
Music Creation #
I am having a blast creating music on Ableton, I just wish I had more time to create. I also rely on tools from Rogue Amoeba, especially loopback.
(Physical) Things I Am Enjoying #
- Writing with my incredibly affordable Pilot Fountain Pen and my Bullet Journal.
- Quite possibly my favorite coffees on the planet are from Kelleran. Apologies for those not in Krakow.
- I can’t believe how much I love my MacBook Air (M3) - so light, great battery and performance. The perfect grab and go laptop.
- I finally invested in a camera that wasn’t also my phone. Love my Nikon z50 for it’s portability and the amazing photos it captures.
Currently Studying/Reading #
FrontendMasters #
Replacing YouTube time with FrontendMasters has helped me reset my passion for learning all things code related.
Strange Loops #
I am working through I Am A Strange Loop with a couple of friends. I got through about 1/2 the book about 10 years ago and have been meaning to read it through for a while. I am really looking forward to the conversations that will come from reading this book with some friends.
Compilers #
I was intimidated to start “The Dragon Book” Compilers: Principles, Techniques, & Tools but now that I have, I LOVE it. It is hard, but so incredibly well written. It is a joy to read, even if takes some additional concentrated effort to work through.
Books I am reading now #
- Read Write Own. I’m a believer
- Cursed Bunny Uncomfortable fiction, but it’s fun to read and the stories stay with you.
- Hidden Potential My first Adam Grant book. Enjoying it, but at 25% of the way in I am still waiting for the grand reveal.
- Engineering Elixir Applications I am only 3 chapters in, but wow this is a fun book! Exceedingly easy to code along with the author. I am garbage at DevOps, this book may help!