Software development can be intense. Hours of coding, debugging, and problem solving. So it’s important to have a reliable partner by your side. Mine just happens to have four legs, a tail, and a deep love for sitting on my keyboard.
Meet my pair programming buddy: Mia.
While she doesn’t know Python from JavaScript, and her idea of debugging is swatting at the mouse cursor, she’s an integral part of my daily workflow. Need someone to silently judge your messy code? She’s there. Need a warm presence to make your chair mysteriously shrink in size? She’s on it. Want to step away and think through a problem? She’s already lying on your laptop, forcing you to take a break.
Some of her specialties include:
- Code Reviews (via unimpressed stares)
- Sprint Planning (sprinting across the room for no reason)
- Keyboard Shortcuts (accidentally discovering ones I never knew existed)
Her real talent, though? Timing. Specifically, demanding tummy rubs at the exact moment I start a video call. It’s uncanny. The second I unmute, she appears out of nowhere, flops dramatically onto her back right in front of the camera, and stares like, “You know the drill.”
Ignore her and she'll start typing her own opinions into Slack. Delay too long and she’ll climb into my lap mid presentation like a fluffy little QA tester who found a bug in my attention.
When she’s not causing mild chaos, she’s supervising from a nearby windowsill, tail flicking disapprovingly at my naming conventions. Sometimes she naps on my arm while I type one handed. Sometimes she launches surprise attacks on my mouse.
Sure, she’s unpredictable, mildly unprofessional, and contributes nothing to GitHub but she’s also the reason my workdays have random bursts of laughter, movement, and soft purring in the background.
Honestly? I wouldn’t ship code without her.