Who are you, and what do you do? What do you like to do outside of work?

My name is Rosemarie Day, but I often go by Rose. I work as a Senior Developer on the Enterprise Data Platform for a living. I got interested in the data space in the senior year of my undergraduate program. I signed up for a business analytics course and have enjoyed it ever since! After working as a DevOps engineer for a while, I decided to go back to school for a master’s in data science at WPI.

Alongside me at work is often one of the dogs. Cactus usually roams the house or spends time in someone’s office. He sits alongside me at the desk in my space, enjoying the sun during the day.

After getting Cactus, I got Noodle. They are a bunch of joy and loud barks.

I spend my time writing and trying different art forms outside of work. So far, my go-to art form is quilting and bag making, as they can be very methodical and relaxing. At the start of the pandemic, I needed to find another way to grow my community as we started going into lockdown, so I began writing online. You can find me on Medium at The Day Writer.

What hardware do you use?

I live on my Mac. When I bought my first laptop, I got a MacBook Pro that I used throughout my college years. That machine lasted through so many bumps and bruises. When that machine finally died, I transitioned to a MacBook Air (M1, 2020). I don’t do too much local development on my device anymore. Instead, I use it to write. The main reason I stick with a laptop is the portability to take everything with me and travel. One of my most recent trips was to Missouri and Iowa.

For work, I use a Dell Precision 5550 with the addition of an external monitor, an Apogee mic, a ring light, and my keyboard. The ring light is mainly for calls done after the sun goes down. It has come in very handy for my calls and Toastmasters meetings, and I like that it just clips onto my monitor, which is nice. I have worked remotely for several years and currently utilize a small sit/stand desk. I found the UNICOO Rolling Laptop Cart on Amazon to be a perfect fit.

I don’t want to sit all day, so I found myself a balance board that would be a fun challenge. I use the Whirly Board Spinning Balance Board and Agility Trainer, which looks like a skateboard. When I would visit the office before the pandemic started, I got many compliments on this particular board. Its ability to spin 360 degrees makes it a bit more challenging than other balance boards and fun.

And what software?

Nothing too special. I often find myself in the cloud, either Azure or AWS, for my work. When I am not there, I spend my time writing on Medium. For my writing, I use Grammarly for editing and the Mac’s text-to-speech software to hear how my pieces sound. Often, they sound okay written, but not necessarily out loud. I found it a great way to check if things make sense. I also started using ConvertKit, which is a creator marketing platform. I started using this recently to develop a newsletter this year for those interested. That has been a fun learning experience I took on this year.

What’s your keyboard setup like? Do you use a custom layout or custom keycaps?

My layout is kind of boring. I have stayed with the default keys for the most part. I changed the main thing to have the left-hand thumb section control spacing, copy, and paste, while the right-hand thumb controls backspaces and deletes. My favorite aspect of the keyboard is the loud clicking of the keys and having the wrist rests on the side. I find it fun to listen to as I type away while also being comfortable.

What would be your dream setup?

I currently enjoy my setup as it is. I would like to have keys for Control, Alt, Delete, and others that are written out like the letters are. Right now, half of my keys are the blank ones with only a line through them.