My first Zeboot diaries entry was characterized as “all new beginnings”. This one, now called Z | ECC, appears to be signed by the elements, the unstoppable force of nature.
Day 0: Earth, wind and… water
I had been days heads down into code and not much to weather news in the US. Well, next time I advise travelers to do pay attention to the news. Also check, that your connecting airport is located where you think it is. Maps diffusely transform in one’s mind and suddenly objects appear to be much less closer than where they really are.
A bumpy beginning
It's 2024 but it is still hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that we hop on winged tubes of steel and aluminum that rise to the sky and get you safe and sound on the opposite side of the planet.
Austral America, meaning the part of Latin America from the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires and downwards, is currently the coldest region of earth. Our human brain -or at least mine- struggles sometimes with timezones and season changes on hemispheres. The glacial feeling of every morning can’t reason with the fact that our earthly neighbors up north will be opposite and most certainly mirrored whether events
When I heard “Hurricane” my mind took me to islands and Palm trees of the east coast and the Caribbean. Definitely not Houston. As I arrived to the Ministro Pistarini airport the worst news came in the form that developers hate most: notifications
"Your flight was cancelled"
Chaos was ensured: flights to one of the most used connecting routs to the US when not taking off because of the weather conditions. I suddenly realized that the breath taking penalty round won single-handily by DIBU Martinez had made the “Scaloneta” fans jump to the next flight available to the USA. I was probably missing zeboot.. I mean Z | ECC or part of it and they were missing the game of their lives. I’m not going to bore you with the details of the administrative stuff but everyone willing to get to where they were heading had to either wait for the storm to calm or find other flight that flew around the massive system of clouds, rain, wind and electrical activity
The human emotion meets safety
"This is unacceptable" said a profoundly saddened father to the attendant. A mom and a dad were going to surprise their son living abroad by running into him at the game, but that was not apparently happening.
This reminded me of Zcash protocol development meeting the urgencies of daily life. Taylor Hornsby talked about how we could learn the lessons of aviation security and safety, and apply it to Zcash development during his Keynote at ZCON 4.
The person explaining why "this was totally and fortunately acceptable" reminded me of Daira-Emma Hopwood. Ze's work is very hard. Not only because ze is in charge of maintaining this "perpetual privacy preserving engine" that is the Zcash protocol, with its moon math and all, ze also has to balance the different forces of daily life urges and their influence in protocol development
Many protocol and application feature requests in Zcash are like this fathers’ claims: A highly attendible request with deep and truthful reasons but yet unsustainable or even dangerous implications for the people requesting it or the system as a whole.
A protocol or core developer has to be able balance the urge with the safety, understand the underlying requirement, evaluate its feasibility and tell the person making the request why it cannot be done as stated and (hopefully) how it could be done instead.
Protocol developers juggle with "don't let be perfect be the enemy of good" and "safety first” all the time as part of their work to maintain and keep Zcash up to date and also future proof.
Sometimes the hurry of daily necessities drives us to overlook or underestimate risks. Even though it might lead to some frustration, it is always preferable to listen to the people like the air controllers (or Daira-Emma), than being caught mid-flight by a Hurricane.
Roundabout and retry
The driver that took me to the airport took me back home, but I was not giving up. The Earth is not flat and there must have be a way to both avoid the weather conditions and the “Scaloneta” fans. Fortunately kit from the ZavaX bridge proved he was really good at connecting point A with point B.
Kit sent me a few routes that could serve me well and not only that! He also gave me awesome advice on how to deal with customer service. I started to look for flights and a Lima - San Diego that I had originally excluded as “too long, too many plane changes” was now my ticket to Z|ECC. Yes, I ended up crawling back on despair and begging they’d take me (LoL). Finally, in the midst of a very cold winter night, I finally was heading back to the airport and hopefully to the summit.
My first stop was the VIP lounge from where to recharge my energy and call customer service from my original flight and follow the strategy that Kit from ZavaX bridge had given me (which worked! Thanks Kit!). I was on hold while I was staring at the departures screen. Every flight nearby mine started to turn red.
What a nightmare!! -I screamed- people stared at me, I was shocked by a Lima flight that looked as cancelled as a 1990's celebrity trying to make a comeback into the 2020's.
My soul came back to my body the moment I could realize that the flight number was different (although the airline, time and city were the same).
Boarded the first of many planes to come. Lima, here we go! The stop was short but I knew my way around this huge and ever growing airport of Peru. The aeropuerto Chavez is really big, a connecting hub for all of Peru and also for South America. Don't hesitate visit Peru when you can, it is a place like no other, where the mountain deserts of Los Andes open up to the Pacific Ocean. Great Surf spots as well for those who want a seaside adventure. Lima combines great city life with amazing world class surf breaks. Where was I? Oh, yes! I'm on a plane I can't complain 🎶
We have "San Diego" at home
Everyone tells me that I'm blessed because planes are like a cradle to me. The thing takes off and I simply fall asleep. After 4 or 5 hours of sleep, I decided to watch a movie. San Diego, is not a city to me or for any other that loves football. San Diego is the one and only, Diego Maradona.
Diego Maradona is a documentary from film maker Asif Capadia that tells the story of Diego and his arrival to Napoli. Maradona took the poorest city of Italy to the glory by winning the scudetto. Becoming a God the city and its people. The most human of all gods, the most godly of all humans. A story of a quick rise of a boy from the Villa Fiorito slum into fame, a tale of high and low moments of a football player that made its fans feel that they could touch heaven with their owns hands.
Maradona’s life is a story of rise, fall and redemption. Besides crying during the whole film, I couldn't avoid thinking of the Zcash Journey. The moon math and the groundwork. Ups and downs. Life.
Los Angeles is plural, but I definitely had one
When I got to LAX was already burned out from so much traveling. I decided it was for the best just to ask for directions. Well, it seemed that everyone pointed me to the opposite side. Originally had plenty of time to board the next plane. Ended up running like a crazy guy anyway. it was a good training opportunity. Fortunately, plane was a bit delayed and I made it.
After more than 20 hours of roaming around the continent, San Diego received me by night with a beautiful warm weather. The next day started early up in the morning.
