Susanna Codes

Where am I at next with water AI I have a lot going on. I have started to recap on one of the biggest themes in water AI - AI in water treatment facilities. There is so much going on there it’s unreal. There is so much untapped potential. So I am reflecting on this but this in itself is such a huge topic that I think it needs 2-4 blog posts to even begin to recap my summaries. What else? These are my themes As well as reflecting on AI in water treatment plants With 2-4 blog posts including sections to fill in and parts of other posts to read I have an article on air quality to read and write up on I have a whole load of other articles to read including my priorities and just the rest I have a piece I want to write on water quality and the quality of the soil My colleague shared with me some interesting thoughts about how to approach AI in water treatment plants. I’d like to write about this. But I don’t want it to feel too much like work…💕

Compassion Today something really beautiful happened. I met with a performance coach and it was just so beautiful. It was beautiful to be heard and to be understood. It was beautiful to be listened to. It was beautiful not to have to mask. It was so beautiful to say what was on my mind and what was really bothering me and to be heard like that. It made me realise that compassion really is the most beautiful and loveliest thing in the world. Which I have known for a long time. It was so beautiful and refreshing not to have to mask. I don’t normally mask toooo much but I do still have to mask. Why should it be that I am not good enough for the world the way I am. I realised that I was at my very strongest and most powerful when I unmask. However I do want to say that I am very lucky with colleagues who let me be who I am as I have tried to not mask for so long that I am still pretty out there anyway. My main focus with the coach has been on productivity. Obviously what I discuss is highl...

Slowing down after a year of madness I have been running for a year. Fast. High speed. Even before. I was researching a lot on the side for a while. But things went insane just under a year ago when I got laid off. I went into overdrive. I got some really cool job offers but I didn’t know they were coming and I worked so hard for them. Like a mad person. And then the skills gap appeared and I worked like a mad person. In January for a week or so I stopped working like a mad person. My performance shot up. It’s time for my performance to shoot up again So the way I see this blog forward is AI in water tech posts and spur of the moment thoughts. I like reflecting on my growth but I have so much to do. A git course. I need to evidence some stuff internally as well. And most of all I just need to do my day job. And give myself the space to do that. And the energy of course. I am going to be starting some coaching soon too. I am sure that any coach would say that eating well and sleeping an...

Things I need to improve on: Wondering if a new tool I use achieves similar outcomes to that which I have already used  Hey there. Today is my day off. I went to a dance class. And now I’m chilling in a cafe with my debugging course. Wrapping it up so I can focus fully on my git course. Of course I will revisit it. But I need the bulk of it to be done. I wasn’t going to write any blog posts today but here I am. I have stuff I need to get done. Comparing Tools  Okay so in case you haven’t figured it out - I flopped on Alembic. It was such a pretty stupid thing to do. I know new technologies. I am good with them. But I skipped the docs, skipped the tutorial, failed to identify it as an ORM, didn’t realise it was the tool we used as the ORM for my whole repo, and spent four hours working late on trying to fix it - twice. I am not allowed to work late anymore. And I just so epically and badly failed to match my Alembic commands back to what I was trying to do with the outcome. Dep...

Today I used my beautiful new technique of explaining code to myself I learned this technique not last Friday but the one before. I owe so much of it to my former boss.  I got a vague ticket and I am trying to get better at working with those (still not crazily super vague but vague by my standards). And I struggled with it at first. It was a very new type of work for me. But he said to me: “explain what the code is doing.” And he let me write it out to him. And that was when I realised - and we both realised - something groundbreaking.  I believe. We realised that I read code like I read text. If there’s a bit of it I can take it in. But if there’s a lot of it - If there’s a lot of it, well then I haven’t actually read it and processed it until I have written it out and explained what it is saying. And I can do that. Well I’m a blogger right? Writing about code comes naturally to me. And of course I do it in work channels and not on my blog.  But my boss’s kindness and h...

It feels so much better... It feels so much better to be doing the job properly. It feels so much better to be doing the research myself and to be doing as much research myself as possible before asking questions AND TO BE ASKING STRUCTURED QUESTIONS It feels SO MUCH BETTER to be doing as much as I possibly be can before asking any questions and to be GOING AS FAR AS POSSIBLE ON MY OWN It feels SO MUCH BETTER to be MAPPING GIT COMMANDS TOWARDS WHAT I ACTUALLY WANT THEM TO DO And not just knowing basic commands and using them in most cases but not actually knowing what they do And not being able to carry on if something goes wrong with them and I don't know what to do Obviously chat GPT can help with commands and with or without it I have done complex rebases, resets, merges, cherry picks But it FEELS SO DIFFERENT TO BE ACTUALLY GETTING IT AND TO BE ACTUALLY LOGICALLY MAPPING IT OUT AND PLANNING IT OUT AFTER ALL It feels so much better to actually know what I am doing To know what h...

Things I need to improve on: software engineering, part 2 Okay so the last time I wrote about this I forgot one really crucial question out: “can you describe what you want to happen and what needs to be called and where to get to the next step?” Can you describe what you want to happen and what needs to be called and where to get to the next step? So anyway on the post that I wrote yesterday I want to write some more. I am about to approach a new piece of code and I don't really understand it and so this seems like a perfect moment. So I need to When arriving at a ticket or a large problem Take a look at the code And then I need to: Think about the outcome that is trying to be achieved  Try to identify  what currently exists what parts of the codebase are talking to each other AND WHAT IS THE POINT OF EACH PART So I am just about to do this now with a new ticket. It should be really hard. But let me give it a go. I know. Let me try and do it for a bit and then write some more...

Reflecting: mapping cli commands to outcomes This is a quick blog post to reflect on yesterdays blog post on custom commands because this has been life changing for me.  Mapping an output to a cli command logically in my head was like a missing step for me. It was like a missing piece in my puzzle Because suddenly I can see that I need to view the whole of the codebase in that way as well. Every line or lines of code has a desired output and a desired outcome.  And it all makes sense. Why it all makes sense  I am bursting and exploding with gratitude for my former line manager who wrote this all out for me just before he left. Everything is all making sense And combined with my git course this is supercharged. This is superpowered. This morning I checked out a new branch. And even my git course had made me more aware of my branch. This was good cos I had been on the wrong one. So I checked out a new branch and went This command is makeing a copy of all of the files and Fo...

Sinnerman I interrupt my posts on software engineering. On my neurodiversity. On AI in water tech. On renewable energy. And on my extreme dedication to my growth and my growth mindset and focusing on all the bits that I don’t know. To talk to you about Nina Simone. Sorry. I won’t do it again. Sorry. Maybe. Because “Sinnerman” is music. It is music like I’ve never heard it before.  I don’t think I truly had heard music until I heard this song. Because everybody alive should hear this song. Everybody alive should hear this song. But while we’re here I am nervous about tomorrow I got a bit stuck on my ticket on Friday but I was really really tired and now I have a new strategy I have a reflective blog post I would like to write tomorrow And I have a fair few more to go I need to write my reflections on Friday, Friday had at least two plot twists I need to finish my current ticket Do the Alembic tutorial Write a proposal if time Do the last ticket Ask for more tickets I don’t know when...

Things I need to improve on: Mapping back the commands I use in a tool to what it is I am trying to achieve with the tool I would like to dedicate this blog post and all of my subsequent blog posts on things I need to improve on to two really wonderful men: my current new line manager and my former line manager - two really wonderful and kind and supportive men without whom I would not be where I am today. I am so so grateful to them for supporting me so much. I am so grateful to them for supporting me to achieve everything I have achieved - and for giving me such clear direct guidance and structured feedback. I am really so so grateful to them. Right. So I messed up recently. I messed up on git and Alembic combined and it sort of exposed knowledge gaps in both. I mean first things first. I thought I knew git and I didn’t. It’s one thing to do basic git commands and even do rebases or whatever and do cool stuff. It’s another thing to do extremely complex things with git and really unde...

Habits I need to build: taking breaks Over the first week of January I worked perfectly. I was autonomous, quick, and was able to solve things completely independently. I was asked to reflect on what I did that week. The answers may actually surprise you. Before I proceed: “Susanna why do you blog about such personal stuff?” Because I want to succeed. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Over the year I have had two responses to things that I feel deeply ashamed of. I have apologised and talked through why these things happened and promised to never do them again. Other than that I have nothing to hide. I came in for a role. I got a role. There were some knowledge and skills gaps and discrepancies and I struggled as a neurodivergent person to adapt to an unstructured company. Only to realise quite recently that that can be a great thing for me. And hope that I haven’t left it too late. But as you can see I have been trying all along the way. I have left no stone unturned. And...

Something Has Changed Something has changed and I don’t know what. Something has changed - water technology has changed everything for me. Something about working with water technology feels so right. I can’t explain it. I love renewable energy. But water just feels so magic. So powerful. Water just feels another level deep. Another layer deep. If you’ve been reading my blogs you’ll know I’ve had challenges with my role. I jumped too fast too high and just a little bit too hard. But that’s how we grow right. And you can see I’ve been putting the effort in. 24/7. 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. It’s tricky. I have been told I need to stop doing my work work on time. And I agree. At 5.30-6. Maybe a little bit before.  I just get exhausted. I break things. I send unproductive messages. But most of all. I drain all my batteries. If I stop when I am tired I preserve so much energy. My former line manager who I have loved so much has said to me: you have to stop working on time. Your ...

Seasons: A Case Study of Using AI in a Water Treatment Plant This case study is really exciting! This one is really exciting omg wow! This case study looks at a specific water treatment facility in Drayton Valley, Canada. This water treatment plant wants to both reduce their environmental impact and save some money. This one is going to be a bit of a harder read for me as it is less structured than most of the other articles (neurodiversity!) but let me do my best please - thanks. One huge gap that I can see in water technology is technology in water treatment facilities.  I am not sure just how much this is being done in the UK at the moment but as many of my previous blogs say, and as all the articles I am reading at the moment seem to suggest, AI in water treatment is one of the biggest opportunities we have for the technology. The main things that stand out are obviously leaks and leak prevention, maintenance of infrastructure, optimising water flow, balancing supply and demand...

Fan the Flame Inside of Me I love software engineering. And it feels so good to be doing it again.  “But what do you mean Susanna. You’ve always been doing software engineering.” Hm. Not sure. When I do my git course I feel like I’m doing software engineering. When I do my errors and debugging course I feel like I’m doing software engineering. So at work… up until recently I haven’t felt like I was doing software engineering at times.  My job is amazing. I definitely have a software engineering role. But I didn’t quite get how to apply my tools and skills to the actual real world problems. And so I was floundering. And that is not fun. That is not software engineering. Software engineering is using your tools and skills to solve things. And it’s like… I have a git problem, what are my git tools? I have a coding problem, what are my problem solving tools? But I love software engineering. I love software engineering more than anything. I love software engineering more than anyth...

Adapting more to my own working style The thing about neurodivergent people or at least AuDHD is that we can't work at a steady pace. I can't work like a normal person. I can do 20 hours work in 3 hours (or at least getting there with experience) but I can't work for 20 hours consistently to get that 20 hours of work done. This is one of the great things about my employer although it took some time for me to see this and understand this. The trust at where I work is amazing. One of our values is "get shit done". (This always makes the good little girl inside of me flinch). No-one cares if you spent 4 hours on something or 46 hours on it. (I'm exaggerating...). The main thing is to "get shit done." I struggled so much to adapt to this role. I wish that I had understood this before, and sooner. I guess that the main thing is that I have got to this now. I am writing this right now before I read some code. And I feel guilty. But the right thing to do is...

In the Water, I find Fire Who am I without renewable energy? I had to ask myself this question last year when my company laid off half its employees.  I didn’t know who I was anymore. Not without renewable energy. But I did everything I could to stay in it. The time in between jobs allowed me to experiment. Travel around the UK a bit. Reconnect with old hobbies. Rediscover my femininity a bit - be someone who wasn’t always working. But I fought to stay in renewable energy. A part of myself has been telling myself that I am in renewable energy still and that’s great because I am. But I am mostly in water. And that was hard for me to accept that. Because I love renewable energy so so much. And I couldn’t imagine my life without it. But now I can. Not because I don’t love it But because I need to give myself to something more too and that is water Because in the water I find my passion In the water, I find my fire In the water, I find my self again In the water, I find my Self So let’...

Things I need to improve on: software engineering part 1 Of all the things that I need to improve on and I have a whole list of these lined up. Perhaps just general software engineering is one of them. When I get to a new piece of code that symbolises a new ticket or a large problem I need to: Think about the outcome that is being achieved  Try to identify: What currently exists? What systems/ parts of the codebase are talking to each other? I’ll repeat: Try to identify: What currently exists And then try to identify: What systems/parts of the codebase are talking to each other? Try: Try drawing it out Can you: Can you describe what is happening? Can you describe what is happening and point each step in that description to where that is happening in the code? Can you describe what is happening and point each step in that description to where that is happening in the code? CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND POINT EACH STEP IN THAT DESCRIPTION TO WHERE THAT IS HAPPENING IN THE CO...

“It is ok to not know how to do something your job is to figure it out” It is ok to not know how to do something your job is to figure it out. This is some of the best feedback I have ever received in my entire life.  It is also an amazing software engineering tip too. Really. Like seriously. For everyone. One of the biggest ways I have messed up in my software engineering role is by being afraid of not knowing what to do. “This has happened. I’ve messed up.” That’s okay. My job is to figure out how to do it. “I don’t know how to do this with Alembic.” That’s okay. It’s my job to figure out how to do it. That’s the point of being a software engineer. It’s the whole job. Being comfortable with the unknown 

AI in Water Tech: Predicting Risks, Revisiting Old Favourites, And Venturing Further in AI Logic OMG I am starting a new article and it is so exciting! And do you know what no matter what - no MATTER what - is going on in my life - I find it impossible to not get excited about starting a new article on water tech. This article has a pretty neat explanation of what AI is.  It says that AI is a computer that has the capability of performing more traditionally "human" tasks: Reasoning Problem Solving Learning I am still yet to learn what "reasoning" really is - in life as well as in computers. But I will get there. Even though the model of Chat GPT that I use has "Advanced reasoning skills." But anyway. All algorithms can make calculations. AI introduces the learning part. However, the article says, and this is what I have always firmly believed about energy, and now I see no reason why it shouldn't apply to water too: That AI is now an ESSENTIAL part of ...

Water Loss in Water Systems (and AI) We all know that water gets lost in bigger quantities in larger water systems. Right?  This can be caused by:  Aging infrastructure Leaks Storage overflows - if there is too much water in the storage container than this will overflow as well - kind of like if we have too much going on we will become overwhelmed External interference - construction or road works can damage water infrastructure Extreme events - natural disasters like earthquakes and floods can damage our water infrastructure AI can allow us to monitor this data in real time and use predictive models to simulate future leaks. When we know how infrastructure is expected to work, we can spot things in real time before they escalate. For example, if unusually high consumption is spotted in a certain area of the network then there is a sign a leak is going on. Simulating models can also help us to build better infrastructure in the future. The more data we have for this the better...

AI for Predicting Demand in Water Distribution Networks Ooof! What a weekend its been.  I wrote 5 articles on AI in Water Tech. I wrote two personal introspective blog posts - including one focused on accessibility and one ticket at a time. I wrote some urgent notes for work - not something I want to do on a weekend but it had to be done. Next week it will be better. I also didn't get to wrap up properly on Friday and that fed into my weekend - need a clear to do list and tabs closed by the end of the week or else I can't stop. I need to use my standup update workflow tomorrow and I need to be in on time. So let me just wrap this water tech thing up quickly please - I wanted to just finish one more reflection piece. AI in Water Distribution Networks I am so interested in this. I am interested in AI and how it can be used to monitor and optimise water networks in real time. It's just to me that there is a lot going on here and I am trying to unpick it and wrap it all up. AI ...

Into the Woods, Part 2 You are probably thinking “who is this crazy girl and why is she always blogging.” The answer is because I don’t have a choice. This is how I learn things. This is how I process stuff. I have to learn things very quickly. The world isn’t adapted to my style of learning. I take some time to learn things. And then do even better if they have some time to “sit”. Unfortunately the world doesn’t work like that. My job doesn’t work like that and neither have any of the three companies I have worked for. So I have to learn.  I have to learn things quickly. I have to consolidate them, of course. Of course the blog serves other purposes. I can learn technical skills into it like Python or FastAPI. I can learn amazing soft skills into it and trust me the feedback I have had this year has been immense and I have consolidated nearly every single little bit into it, step by step. And there’s other things too. I can share anything I learn into it. I can learn about AI in r...

"Everyone Deserves A Chance To Fly" (UNLIMITED): Why One Ticket At A Time Is Working For Me I am making no apologies. I am brilliant, I am strong, I am talented. I work very very hard. I have worked almost non stop in the past year. I deserve everything I get. And I have so much more to prove. Sometimes I get misunderstood or my talents take a little bit longer to prove. But I keep on going anyway. I have so much respect for myself. I am so proud of myself. I keep on going no matter what. I don't know anyone else who keeps on going like I do, I don't know anyone else who is persistent like I am in spite of the great great challenges that I face. Many of the great challenges I faced to get here have never been mentioned on here. I know I deserve so much more. I have given everything I can this year. I have given everything I've got. The results are showing and that's all I can do.  I am brilliant. I am proud of myself. I love myself. I respect myself. I am real...

Continuing to Deep Dive Into Water Quality in AI and Water Tech Good morning! So last night I got tired and had to stop after revising the effects of seasonal changes in water quality. I want to do a lot of things today - need to do one or two main household tasks and have a dance class this afternoon (yayyyyyyy - I can't wait! And I can't wait to go to my favourite cafe nearby afterwards too - I never thought I'd say this on here but #self-care ❤️), so THIS IS MY LAST POST FOR THE DAY ON WATER TECH ANYWAY - but here are my thoughts. And continuing on water quality. This is all very exciting and fresh. Because anything could happen in this field and it is so exciting to be here while it is so fresh and still all new. And I am so excited to be here. And I can't wait to see where we will go next. So here we are. Let me continue. Challenging Factors Involved In Water Quality Changes in raw water source can contribute to maintaining water quality and to the challenges aroun...