Hettie’s Reflections – Blog Posts

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Welcome to Hettie’s Reflections!

Hello! My name is Hettie, I was born and raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and I emigrated to the United States in October 1996. I live in Palatine, IL and work in Chicago.

I’ve been very active in the Russian blogosphere, and my American friends keep asking me when I am going to tell my story in English. Well, the time has come.

I am going to write my story for my granddaughter Nadia, and for all my American friends, who has been so supportive through all these years, and hope that my children, Igor, Vlad and Anna will help me through this journey.

My Russian blog used to have “a lot of everything”, because first, I just like to write a little something every day, reflecting on everything happening in the world around me, and second – because I believe that people trust me more knowing me as a person. Everything I’ve done in my life so far, and everything I am doing every day, made me – and still making me the person I am.

This being said, although this blog is intended mostly to record our family history, there will be still “a lot of everything” here. However, for those who is interested in the history solely, I will paste all the links to the Hettie’s Timeline page, which will hopefully allow to read all these entries in a chronological order.

The links to my interviews and videos (mostly professional) will be pasted on this page, and also for those who is interested what I am doing in my professional life, feel free to check out my blog The World of Data.

My blog Hettie’s Cooking is hardly a cooking blog, at least I do not update it often. However, some of my legendary recipes, like “Mom’s soup”, can be found there.

Enjoy 🙂

Three Weeks In September

The first three weeks of not working were complicated. Somehow, I felt both relieved and super-stressed at the same time. I reminded myself that for weeks prior to my termination, I thought about stopping working immediately pretty much all the time, and I knew I was happy not to be there anymore. And at the same time, I felt so stressed that some nights I could barely sleep.

In situations like that, I try to identify exactly what worries me and address that concern first. I knew I had enough money to retire; we discussed it with my wealth manager, and I knew 1.5 years earlier wouldn’t make a dramatic difference. One thing was healthcare. I hadn’t planned to retire before I became Medicare-eligible, and now I faced almost a year with no coverage. I felt a little bit better when I realized that even if I had self-pay COBRA for all that time, it would still be manageable because I have no dependents, and that calmed me down for a while. Then I talked to my wealth manager, and he confirmed again that I can retire in January if I want. His calculations on how much I will be able to spend each month sounded very conservative to me, but his plan was for me to leave a fortune after I pass away, which was not in my plans, so I figured that if I do not plan to leave 2 M behind, I can spend pretty much the same as I do now.

Another thing was the void of “doing nothing.” Once again, in the weeks before that, I told myself and others I had so much to do, and the thing I wanted to do least was work, so I wanted to stop working. I knew I wanted to work part-time anyway, so I started working part-time for my good friend and peer, to whom I promised a long time ago I’d do some consulting when I retired. However, onboarding with his client took forever, and I realized I missed the drama of crisis resolution.

At the same time, several other things were developing. Shortly before I left my previous job, three different people reached out to me with some potential job opportunities, and all three were interesting in some way, so I started talking to them, still not being 100% sure whether I wanted to go full-time.

One of these opportunities didn’t work right away; the other two were going, and I strongly felt about one of these two. During the interviews, I felt that that was the right match, and I thought that if this company would make me an offer, I would accept. Then, to my complete disappointment, they said they were going with someone else, but they were planning to open another position soon. At that point, I decided to reveal my availability on LinkedIn. I was still unsure, but I thought that possibly someone I knew would have an interesting project I could do part-time. I made a post as broad as possible, and I can tell right away I didn’t like what followed.

My Talk At PG Conf.EU

Most times, when I want to share something from my professional blog, I just repost it, but this time, I made a separate post with twice as many pictures, since my former colleague took several dozen!

Yesterday, I spoke about pg_acm at PGConf.EU. Speaking at the world’s biggest Postgres conference is an honor in itself, and I don’t get to present there every year, so I am incredibly thankful to the CfP committee for choosing this talk.

This talk has a long history of rejection and denial of the fact that something could be wrong with Postgres, which made me appreciate this opportunity even more.

My presentation earlier this year at Tallinn PUG definitely helped me shape it better, and I think it went as well as it could have.

Is it too much to ask?!
Can we have this option on Postgres?

Public Transportation in Valencia

I meant to write about it right away, but then got distracted by life 🙂 In short, public transportation turned out to be affordable and convenient. We took the subway from the airport to our hotel, then purchased multi-trip tickets and took the metro or a bus everywhere. The system is very similar to the one we have in Chicago, only you need to touch the card not only on your way inm but on the way out as well.

The only problem we faced was that during the evening hours, the time between trains during off-peak hours could be substantial: 20 minutes or more! The long wait was the only reason I took a cab or Uber: I did it three times.

Other than that – only positive things! I even tried to take a tram to the Valencia Postgres meetup, but then I’ve relaized how long it would take!

Checking In :)

For the benefit of my friends who follow my life trajectory on this blog – this conference is busier than anything I had before!

I hardly wrote a line in the past two days, and even when I get to the hotel room, I have to send a whole bunch of not-exactly-personal emails, mostly related to PG DATA and my meetups.

Well… I have a long flight back on Sunday!

Prairie Postgres Is Two! (Professional blog repost)

Two Years of Community Building!

Walking Around In Valencia

We were very lucky to have a nice, warm day on Saturday. Initially, I didn’t plan any touristy activities for Saturday, but with the miserable weather forecast for the next two days, we decided to alter our plans.

Continue reading “Walking Around In Valencia” →

Valencia!

I am in Spain for the first time! It’s warm, and I love it. Severe weather is expected tonight, and it will rain for the next two days, but today was perfect! Our flight left Helsinki at 6:20 AM (and we were happy to find out that the European lounge opens at 5 AM, and even the Platinum Corner was open :)). It was a direct flight, so we were there early and had time to walk around. We even climbed the Valencia Cathedral Tower! (207 steps up!)

The conference will take place at Palacio de Congresos, and most participants stay at the Sercotel Scorolla Palace hotel, right next to the venue. As often happens, when I checked the AARP website, I found a better deal than the conference discount and reserved a huge corner room with a view. Funny story, I forgot that I already paid for this reservation and forgot about the room size, so I was surprised twice 🙂

Window view

While we were waiting for our room, we walked around a little bit.

Looking at our conference venue from the hotel
First paella 🙂

More coming shortly!

In Helsinki

Although I am not working a “real” job these days, I booked several days in Valo because I still need to work on many other things, even if these things are not “real” work (define real!). In addition to an office, Valo gives me a free gym, unlimited coffee drinks, including cappuccino and espresso, and an absolutely delightful breakfast and lunch buffet at a discounted price. Honestly, if I had it at home, I would rarely cook.

However, this time, I do not need to rush, and I do not need to ask to extend my hours, and I have some other life as well :). I can leave before 5 PM, and randomly wander the city.

On Tuesday, I didn’t go to coworking at all, and Boris and I biked to IKEA, had lunch there, and biked back

And on Thursday, we managed to fit in a (shorter) bike ride after I was done with my “not real” work, and then went to a concert at the Helsinki Music Center. I’ve been there multiple times, but each time, I love it more and more, and admire how well-thought-out each and every piece is!

Previously, Boris used to get ticket in the middle, and although the visibility is great from each corner, we found that you cnt’ hear a soloist well enough when you are facing the back of the orchestra (and the soloist). This time, he got the tickets in the second row, right in the middle, so it was a paradise!

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra presented three pieces: Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks concerto, Mozart’s Clarnet quintet, and the best part – Folk songs by Luciano Berio, sang by Fluer Barron. She was absolutely magical, I just can’t get over it! She was also playing harp, and the last note she sang was the first note picked up by harp, and it all sounded like nothing you can imagine! I didn;t find any recordings, so you have to believe me! A magical evening!

It Feels Warm

Many years ago, when Boris first moved to Finland, he told me he liked nothing more than feeling the warmth the moment he stepped through the building’s front door. In Russia, the hallways were never heated; it used to be still cold until you entered your apartment (I do not know whether it changed later, or whether it became the norm for newer constructions/remodeling).

It is not always the case in the US either, and I agree with Boris that that’s a distinct Finnish thing. But it’s more than that. Somehow, any public space, whether it’s a shopping mall, a library, or a train station, feels incredibly warm and welcoming, especially in the cold weather. I don’t know any other place in the world where I would feel this good, even when it’s cold, dark, and rainy. Just step inside any place, and you feel it.

Are You Doing SQL?

The weirdest and funniest thing happened to me in Chicago last week.

I was waiting for a Red Line train at Roosevelt when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a very queer person coming down. Queerness isn’t unusual, of course, but this particular outfit was not exactly for the weather (I would question a bare chest at 67 F outside, but whatever). He sat down on a bench to wait for a train, and suddenly, he addressed me: “Excuse me, are you doing SQL?”

I am used to people noticing my laptop on the CTA, and even recognizing me, but my laptop was inside my backpack. I nervously looked down at my clothes, but I didn’t even wear a Postgres hoodie or anything with Blue Elephant on it. Finally, I replied, “What exactly do you mean?”

— You are running this SQL thing on Wednesdays, don’t you?

— Yes, I am! But how do you know? I do not have anything that says “Postgres” on me.

— I’ve been to your events a couple of times. I remember you; it just took me some time to place you.

We talked a little bit about my meetup and others. I am so embarrassed that I do not remember people (and yes, he didn’t come to our meetups in a pink tutu, but still). As it turns out, I don’t even remember many people I briefly communicated with at my former firm. When they reach out on LinkedIn and say we talked, I often can’t recall either the conversation or the person, and I feel horrible about it. And no, that’s not the “I am way too popular” thing; it’s just something I need to work on.