One Little Victory

(Cue Rush Song)

So I've got a new project in the works: it's quite exciting to me, and I get to work with one of my oldest friends. Perhaps more importantly, it'll be a great learning experience, and one that will be personally rewarding. I'll provide more updates as time goes on and the project gets to a more tangible state.

Anyway, as the first steps in working on this new project I need to gain some experience with Docker and Kubernetes, keep plugging away at C# generally, and start flexing my Oqtane muscles more. So I fire up WSL, try to spin up some Docker fun, and after hours of banging my head against the wall, I find out that despite my processor supporting AMD Virtualization and it being on in the BIOS, it doesn't support KVM virtualization, which was causing all the errors. Fun.

So I decided I'd spin it up on my Windows 11 Laptop. First thing I do, check the processor specs, and boom, supports KVM! But again, hours of banging my head against a wall, and I keep walking from one error to another. I finally did get it running (mostly, still some arguments from Kubernetes happening) but my experiment with containerization has not gone smoothly, and I needed a win.

So I pivoted, followed a tutorial, and spun up a Hello, World module for Oqtane! Did some work with Blazor more generally, too, to get used to the ecosystem and design principles. Went from frustration to hype in a matter of minutes. Sometimes it pays to pivot. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the Simpsons. Lisa is at military school, struggling with the physical aspect of it. Bart says to her "I thought you were looking for a challenge!" and she replies "Duh, a challenge I could do."

My fight with Docker and Kubernetes isn't a done deal by any stretch: I'll resume the fight tomorrow, naturally. But sometimes a quick pivot to a new problem, or even away from coding/tech entirely, can refresh the mind and be a positive experience.

So, moral of the story: if you keep banging your head against the wall, look around on the wall and try to find a door, or a window, or at least a new section of wall to bang your head against for a few minutes, just to keep things fresh. You'll thank me later.