Laddered

Engineering ability can be boiled down into a single “level”. Levels are often based on both current ability and track record, and build on each other—a L4 engineer is expected to fulfill not only L4 expectations, but also those of L1-3. Levels are often used by management for titling and compensation bands. Levels can be either discrete or continuous, though in either case, despite the window dressing, they are often somewhat arbitrary.

When’s the last time you looked around for a new job? If the answer is “more than a year ago”, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Even if you’re happy in your current role, simply looking around offers many benefits.

Another year, another track season. This was my 12th competitive season, and my second training by myself. The 2020 and 2021 seasons melted together for me—with COVID and without meets, I didn’t take any time off in between. After my extended taper and after some time away from the track, I’m realizing just how beat down my body had been.

My last race of the season resulted in both a PR and injury—a mixed but mostly positive result. “Mixed but mostly positive” is an apt description for my entire season. Like I did last year, I’ll reflect on the past season, both successes and failures, and apply my learnings to next season.

July was busy: we hosted my parents and some friends in Montana for the first two weeks, I traveled to Des Moines for the USATF Masters Championships, and I’m writing this on the way to Chicago for a bachelor party. With Delta on the rise and lockdowns restarting, this might have been my last chance to see friends in person for a while—I’m glad that I got my travel in now.

Goal Tracking

• 🟢 Get 1% faster. I ran a personal best of 10.79 in the 100m, achieving my goal of being 1% faster on the year!
• 🔴 50% less discretionary spending. I spent 12% more on discretionary things than my 2020 average. A big chunk of that is two flights and hotel stays in Des Moines and Chicago, but then again, my 2020 average includes travel too.
• 🟡 One hour of solitary free time a day. My work-life balance continues to be fairly good, and I’ve been spending more of my free time enjoying the outdoors and reading.
• 🟢 Twice-weekly live conversations with friends. This was mostly facilitated by friends and family visiting us in Montana, and myself traveling to Iowa and Illinois. I suspect next month will be somewhat harder.

I flew into Des Moines with just one more chance to achieve my season goal: to be 1% faster than last year. I arrived two days before the meet on Thursday—I’d planned for preliminaries on Friday, but my age group (25-29) didn’t have enough competitors to need them.