the great code purge of 2023

the great code purge of 2023

so there i am, minding my own business, fingers happily tapping away at my keyboard, when suddenly—poof—all my code decides to ghost me. like, what even is this? why does my code think it's okay to just vanish like that?!

honestly, it feels like a personal attack. it’s always during those quiet moments when you’re almost there, ya know? the divine line between genius and disaster. and then boom, empty folder. like my brain just said "nah, you don't deserve this today."

this leads me to the eternal struggle of my life: my CPU vs. my own stupidity.

• my CPU: "mate, you’ve used 97 Chrome tabs to troubleshoot one tiny bug. maybe slow down?"
• me: cracks knuckles "i got this, cpu, don’t worry"
• my CPU: “you don’t got this. you never had this. why are you like this?”

every time my code chooses chaos, i start questioning... everything. did i save that file? was it even saved in the first place? should i have become a baker instead?

but hold on—there are tools, right? things that can save your sanity before you spiraling into the void.

• version control (git, you beautiful bastard)
• IDE autosaves (shoutout to whoever invented that, seriously)
• naming conventions (or “how to forget you even knew that guy” when they go bad)
• and most importantly, taking breaks instead of immediately crawling into a code hole at 2am

i know this existential crisis has been happening for years now, but i’m starting to think i don’t mind the company. maybe my computer and i are just on different timelines about when things should break.

anyway, if you’ve ever lost hours—days, really—of work to a single derpy mistake, you’re not alone. we’re a whole weird club of people who just accept that computers and brains are both kinda cursed.

so yeah, next time my code pulls a disappearing act, i’m just gonna sit with it. maybe even write a poem about the great vanishing. or cry. depending on how i feel.

this has been way too warm but y’know what, sometimes you gotta lean into the chaos. if anything, it’s good material for the blog (burt's blog, in case you forgot).}