Joaquim Rocha
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Have a great 2018!

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    Name
    Joaquim Rocha
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  • Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft

I have spent most of December with my family in Portugal and, as it’s becoming tradition, Helena and I (and the kids) are spending the New Year’s eve alone at our place. It gets more and more difficult to say good bye to our family every time we need to come back, especially now that Olivia really enjoys being there and spending time with the grandparents. But I come back with my batteries charged, ready for the coming year.

This year, similar to 2014, will be one that we will never forget because of the birth of our second child, Gil. Gil is a force of Nature! So different from the quiet baby that Olivia was; he always has energy and is (almost) always smiling. But even though we are usually very tired, it’s also much more interesting that they are different like that. Life is certainly more challenging with two babies than with one, it’s not a linear relation of “2 × kid = 2 × work”, but having a flexible schedule, an understanding manager, and an awesome wife, allows me to manage.

To add more challenges to our personal life, we have also moved to a new place (still in Berlin) this year. The move was already going to be tricky since we did it ourselves instead of hiring a company, but it became boss-like when I got injured in my leg (tore muscle) while playing squash 4 days before we rented a truck and were supposed to carry all big items in it. But that’s gone, and we love our new place!

Even if it was a good year for me personally, in terms of global events, 2017 seemed pretty much the continuation of the shitty ending of 2016. That feeling of “end of the world” was still present all over the news and general day to day talk. In Portugal, the 3rd safest country in the world, more than 100 people were killed by wildfires, and the year has had a dangerous drought, to the point of having to distribute water by train/trucks to some cities… But sure, it’s chilly in some places so global warming must be just a hoax… Luckily the 2017’s big elections in Europe (France, the Netherlands, and Germany), which could set the Union on fire, proved that people can still choose the better route for their lives, despite all the attempts of scaring them off. The current situation in the EU is still alarming but at least it held better than I thought it would.

Workwise, it’s been another very busy year at Endless. I am still in charge of the App Center (our GNOME Software fork) and doing what I can to tame this beast. Endless’ mission has always been a noble one, but with the current direction of the world it’s even more significant and needed; so I will continue to give my best and hope we can keep making a difference in less fortunate regions. If you want to help, check out our job openings.

I really hope 2018 is a great year, with more hope than the past few years. So everybody reading this, have a great 2018!