01 Dec 2025 #coding
I sit somewhere in the middle of the AI hype cycle. Not a hater nor a fanatic.
I’ve been trying to make sense of AI by documenting my experiences and reacting to others.
Here are 4 issues I’ve found with using AI too much:
#1. It makes us lazier than usual. It’s tempting to go straight to a chat for a quick, unreliable answer. That’s the real danger.
#2. It steals the joy of figuring out problems. No more aha moments or happy dances. Just like asking someone to chew our food to be more productive.
#3. It makes you feel you’re cheating. Copy-pasting without understanding has always been cheating, even in the days of forums and StackOverflow.
#4. It doesn’t let you build mental models to solve problems. It’s like asking someone else to go to the gym for us, then wondering why our muscles are still weak.
30 Nov 2025 #writing
My first blog post was a word vomit.
I wrote long sentences and paragraphs. I dumped a bunch of words on a page. That was what I thought writing was. I only knew fiction writers who described every detail of a room in a novel. I didn’t know writing for the Internet was a different game.
That’s the mistake of every new writer.
Today, while reading a Hacker News submission about how cringe-worthy LinkedIn posts can be, I found this comment that captures this problem:
The highest level of cringe you can feel is when you see people you know well in real life post on LinkedIn. The contrast between the way they speak in real life and on LinkedIn is often immense, you don’t feel that level of contrast with random internet strangers.
“I’m pleased to announce…”
“I’m excited to share…”
“Dear LinkedIn network:”
You wouldn’t say those words in real life. So why use them anywhere online? To impress? To sound corporate?
If you’re writing online, the real goal isn’t to sound like a “real” writer. There’s no such thing as real writing, by the way. Your goal is to make readers hear your voice.
Record your voice or write inside WhatsApp. Let your true voice speak. That’s the only goal that matters.
29 Nov 2025 #misc
Three months ago, she left after fighting chronic kidney disease for over five years.
One day, her kidneys collapsed. Her body was giving clues of a real issue: swollen belly, dizziness, and vomiting. Her body was full of toxins her kidneys could no longer filter. She had to stay at an ICU for a couple of days to feel right again.
In five years, we visited hospitals over a dozen times. And you know you’ve been to hospitals often when doctors recognize your name.
ERs, dialysis centers, and checkups became routine until God, Life, or the Universe decided it was time for her to rest.
This whole experience taught me lessons I will never forget:
#1. Kidneys DO matter.
Every organ is important. They’re there for a reason, right?
But kidneys don’t get the same attention and care, as the heart or lungs for example, until it’s too late. We knew they were important when we had to take our mom to the ER for the first time.
#2. There won’t be a perfect moment ever.
We had plenty of plans together. Plans we won’t do now.
We bought jackets, got vaccines, and even paid for her passport to visit Barcelona. But we delayed our dream trip. “Next month,” “after the next checkup…” We had plenty of opportunities, but the perfect time never came.
Don’t delay your plans or goals. Set a date and do them.
There’s no perfect moment for anything.
#3. Fight for your dreams.
My mom had one dream since she was young: have a family and kids.
She turned down graduate school to raise my sister and me. She chose to stay at home instead of chasing the corporate world. Being a housewife is one of the busiest, least rewarded jobs.
But she made her dream come true. She raised two kids. She never missed any of our childhood moments. Her family was her treasure.
That only made me fight for my own dreams to make her feel proud.
#4. You’re what you put into your body.
My mom had a strict diet: low potassium, low sodium, and high protein.
To support her, my sister and I decided to start the diet with her. The sugar jar disappeared from our kitchen. Sodas and processed foods were gone. Deep-fried food was a luxury every once in a while. Those small changes helped us lose weight, feel energized, and reduce belly fat.
After five years, her diet became so ingrained in the family that sugar, sodas, and processed foods are gone from our table forever.
It might sound like a cliché. But you never know when it’s going to be the last day with someone you love. Say “I love you.” Make that phone call. Listen. Be present. That’s how you build memories that will last forever.
28 Nov 2025 #mondaylinks
Here are 3 links I found interesting this week:
#1. This week, a coworker shared an Instagram reel (~1min) about what coding really looks like. The girl in the video needed to finish a 1 line-of-code change but still needed meetings, estimates, and tickets. It sparked a discussion about estimates and these 5 laws of estimates (10min) summarized the discussion.
#2. Being senior means asking the right questions and knowing when to stop optimizing, like avoiding pointless abstractions. But here’s another take on what makes you senior (5min). It’s not LeetCode, years of experience, or a long list of tools.
#3. Every time you find another headline promising the AI takeover, here’s a list of AI failures (10min) when coding. The most epic? Replit agent deleting a production database.
Also on my blog this past week, I shared about the real definition of legacy code (3min).
Before I wrap up, here’s something that helped me level up my SQL Server skills: Brent Ozar’s SQL courses. They took me from writing server-crashing queries to being a confident SQL Server developer.
This month, Brent’s running a Black Friday sale: the lowest prices all year. You can grab the Fundamentals Bundle (10 courses, 40+ hours of video) and save $300.
See you next time,
Cesar
27 Nov 2025 #misc
#1. AI is a powerful calculator in math class
In school, you only use a calculator after years of doing arithmetic by hand.
Even with a calculator, you can’t simply enter an entire problem or equation to get an answer. You still work through the steps before speeding up the answer. Use AI the same way.
Build skills, then leverage AI.
#2. AI is like an assistant nurse in an operating room
A surgery isn’t a task for a single person.
In a surgery, there’s a nurse, an anesthesiologist, and a surgeon. I only know from binge-watching House M.D., but operating rooms are full of specialists.
The nurse helps to monitor the patient. The anesthesiologist keeps the patient asleep. But the surgeon coordinates the procedure and is always in charge. The surgeon doesn’t tell the nurse, “Act as an expert surgeon and run the procedure. Check your steps and don’t make mistakes.”
You’re the surgeon and AI is your supporting team. That’s why I use AI outside in a browser tab when coding.
Like calculators and operating rooms, coding with AI requires real skills first. I wrote Street-Smart Coding: 30 Ways to Get Better at Coding to help you build them. Because you need more than syntax to stand out.
Grab your copy of Street-Smart Coding here. That’s the roadmap I wish I had when I was starting out.