Call me Jim.
I've been a Ruby on Rails dev for about 9 years, and I was a writer and editor for over 13 years before that. My family moved to Hamburg from the US over 4 years ago to enjoy a better quality of life. Here's what I've been up to.
As a Programmer
Ledgr
This internal app handles all an agency's workflow and invoicing, from proposal creation to tax reporting
MorePresentation Style Indicator
Create a Meyers Briggs–style test and generate individual cohort reports while visusaling total statistical trends
MoreBreathing Clean
An incremental browser game that gives smokers something to do during the first 72 hours of cessation
MoreGerman Holiday Checker
Styled as a 90s internet joke page, it answers the question "Is it a German holiday today?"
MorePlowr API
An API that handles snow plow service subscriptions and solves the Travelling Salesman problem on the fly for drivers
MoreTankr API
The API powering Tankr.us, a petrol home delivery service that fills your car up in your driveway
MoreASOF
This app handle education grant registration along with relevant demographic and tax reporting
MoreSuper Dictionary
This app allows users to return dictionary results from Webster's, Oxford, Urban Dictionary and the Samuel Johnson API
MoreSamuel Johnson API
This API faithfully recreates the extremely funny Samuel Johnson Dictionary from 1775
MoreEmpathy Lab
This is a much smaller version of Presentation Style Indicator that allows admins to create and record client research surveys
MoreKruted
This app was like LinkedIn for high school student atheletes to connect with college recruiters
MoreCaseflow
This was a short project using the arcane coding UI Caseflow for legal case library management
MoreMLA Event Registration
A simple CRUD event registration app that had to interface directly with MS Access 2009
MoreAs a Grammar Pro
Social Media Manager
I wrote mom blogs for quite a long time. Tight turnarounds, strictly deadline-driven.
MoreA Little More About Me
If I had to make a list, I'd say there are three things I've taken from my education and previous career: a genuine love of fine details, the ability to abstract those details to see the greater picture, and the ability to take my ego out of any kind of rewriting process.
I took quite a long path to having eight years of experience as a Ruby on Rails dev. I graduated college with a degree in poetry--I though I'd be a college professor by now. But, honestly, the world probably doesn't need another 400-page scholarly tome about Dylan Thomas.
Having worked both in offices and remotely, I'm comfortable in both envrionments but prefer remote or hybrid. Most of my work has been deadline driven, which fits right in with agile methodologies, so I'm comfortable there, too. I have superior communication skills--I'm used to being the only expert of my realm in a discussion, so I have no reservations about holding a meeting with anyone about anything. I'm certainly a great team player and I like to think I'm fun to have around.
My German skills aren't great under most circumstances. I've studied English extensively, Latin, Spanish and French for multiple years each. German follows none of those rules, so it's taken me a little time to get an ear for it. I'd say that at the grocery store, I'm close to fluent; if the topic is time travel or wormholes, I'm advanced intermediate (I've been watching that Netflix series Dark over and over); despite developing a love for Stromberg, I'm sad to say I'm still around A1 in an office environment.