So that same problem I got close to solving last night?
Solved it.
But not by myself, after all. After a whole lot of tinkering this morning, I solved some of the related problems, but still got stuck on something related to a Regular Expression (linked, if you really want to know, but you don't, trust me.)
Regular expressions are the devil's arithmetic. They're complex, weirdly formatted expressions that manipulate text values. They're often insanely complex, and just a total bitchfest to figure out.
The good news is that I figured out that it was a regular expression problem. I saw with my one co-worker, C. looking over the logs of the application, and he caught the critical error that pointed to that. So I tinkered a while, and then C. called over two other developers, and we all hammered at it for a while. Closer, but it still wasn't working.
I reached out to my friend Sukima, who is a genius and a programmer, and asked if he had good "Regex-Fu". He sure does.
The following exchange happened.
My amazingly humble, smart, selfless friend actually chided himself for not being faster and more efficient in helping me.
How lovely, silly, giving, and wonderful.
Really, I'm just in awe of how fortunate I am.
- I really do have the skills to do this stuff. Sometimes I don't believe it, but I really do. I did the majority of the heavy lifting on this problem.
- Part of having those skills is having the skill of interdependent thinking. I knew when it was worth my while to seek help elsewhere.
- I'm amazed at the resources at my disposal. There are total strangers, colleagues, and close friends all around who I can rely on to do the work I need to do.
- Because of #3 there, I'm in touch with a certain truth: the universe is not a malevolent place. (It's not benevolent either. Rather, if I'm paying attention, and fully mindful, I have more allies and advantages than I might otherwise realize.)
To celebrate my good fortune, I went out for sushi. Where I got this good fortune:
"You will be singled out for promotion."
Man do I have a lot to be grateful for.