Mike observes caterpillar on trail | Ramblin' & Amblin' | Oct 26, 2026
Ramblin' & Amblin' Field Notes with Mike Hall (Staff Software Engineer)
Recorded on the move: engineering observations, systems architecture, and software craftsmanship reflections.
• Series Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNtb969T2-l0
• The Sound Above Curriculum: https://www.just3ws.com/series/the-sound-above/
• Canonical Profile: https://www.just3ws.com
Spoken Overview:
"That one thing that I observe in this world around me here was put there by me or for me. All of this existed. Regardless of my existence, all of the trails, this little caterpillar here, is a chain that goes back to the very..."
Recorded: October 26, 2026
The Interviewer
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
That one thing that I observe in this world around me here
was put there by me or for me. All of this existed. Regardless of my existence, all of the trails, this little
caterpillar here, is a chain that goes back to the very
beginning of time. I can move him, but I don't know where he's going.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
I move him, I might think I'm helping him. But I'm taking
away his agency. I don't know, I can't tell with caterpill
ars. Yeah, I'm linguistically biased towards masculine.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Sorry, I
didn't write the rules either. I just, uh, that's where my brain goes to first because
that's just the way I was taught by people who had decided
things about how we talk that had nothing to do with either
and wasn't involved in any of the discussions. Until I just showed up and I started being a part of the
discussions and then all I heard was how other people
talked. So I talked the same.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
This is why breaking through class barriers, breaking
through cultural barriers, because class is a culture. It's
so difficult. It's because there's so many things that were set up before
you ever arrived and they dictate the norms, the paths, the
potentials. None of it was for me, but I am here, existing within it,
nonetheless.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Everything has a reason, but it doesn't necessarily have a
purpose. Everything has a purpose, but it doesn't
necessarily have a reason. I don't know. I could talk all about the mechanics of how the trees reach
up and they scrub the air and they're made out of sunlight.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
And that there's an invisible world that's even bigger than
this below ground. So what we see here is only the tip of
the tree, you could say. Why these people came out here and why these people came
out here and did what they did. This one's an old one.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Not for me. Not for me. But they didn't have to. They just did.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Just like that caterpillar going across the trail and me
walking out here with you. Right now talking. Just talking, talking, talking, talking. Nothing is it.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Or just. Existence. It just is. It just is.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
I don't know. I don't know. A lot of people want to provide a reason, but in the end,
it's a lot of trees that just exist. All right.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Thanks. Bye.