Yesterday I mentioned a pair of Apprenticeship Patterns so I figured I’d stick with the theme and discuss one more I’m working on: Sweeping the Floors.

While I continue learning and working on my coding chops I want to be able to help out any way I can, which sometimes involves non-coding tasks. At 8th Light all of the apprentices chip in to help out around the office and especially during 8th Light University. Not only do many hands make light work but it’s also just a lot of fun and builds up the camaraderie. Plus, nothing says team-building exercise like taking out the trash together only to end up trapped in the freight elevator… and subsequently rescued by fellow 8th Light'ers.

The past couple of days I’ve taken on internet duty since at 8th Light “we crush the internets"™ (new company motto?). Well, not really, but we have had to add some bandwidth as more teams and clients are coming through the office. I’m a hardware geek from way back when and it’s been a heck of a puzzle to figure out the best way to keep everything humming.

Today we made one big jump that went well, tomorrow we’ll make another jump, and then Thursday will be the dry run before Friday’s big test with Uncle Bob speaking at 8th Light University.

I’ve been making some good progress on my apprenticeship app, but "sweeping the floors” provides a few distractions that gives my brain a bit of a break and helps split up the day.