Welcome to the team, Jardine

Why did you move to Bad Dinosaur?

It was the culture, I got similar vibes from the people in Bad Dinosaur as I did with my previous company: talented, ambitious people, who have a moral compass, who like to do a good job rather than just float through the day. It’s my kind of environment.

How did you get into development?

I did a degree in English which in hindsight was a bit worthless in terms of future employability. I think I always knew I wanted some sort of career in tech because I was always interested in it. I had dabbled in self-learning web development for a while, but it wasn’t until 2017 after some travelling and reflecting that I developed the drive to properly give it a go. I enrolled in CodeClan and it’s been all go since then. 

How do you feel about starting remotely?

Pretty apprehensive at first but it’s been totally fine. I’ve got a pretty good set up here because I spend a lot of time here. I've got two monitors, plus a laptop screen, so it’s very well kitted out.

Got any interesting hobbies?

Ordinarily, I’m very outdoorsy. I like hiking and snowboarding but haven’t been able to do either in ages because of the pandemic. Last time I did a big hike was Kilimanjaro. It was every bit as awesome as I had hoped, I loved it. Since then I haven't been able to do a lot of stuff, so one of my recent projects has been 3D printing board games. I made a version of Settlers of Catan, it was loads of fun to do but it must have taken hundreds of hours. It’s fair to say I’m looking forward to things opening up again.

Favourite computer game?

It’s a toss up between the Total War franchise and (channeling my inner 12 year old boy) Rocket League. It’s just a great one to pick up and play. The games are only five minutes long and you can start the next one with just one click, so you can end up playing for ages. There’s always space for “one more” so it tends to turn into an hour. 

What was the last book you read?

I’m in the middle of reading Dune, it was the first true science fiction novel, there’s a film coming out about it later this year directed by Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner) and I want to read the book before I see the film. The last series I finished was the Harry Potter series, I didn’t read them as a kid but I had seen the movies. I finally got round to seeing what all the hype was about, thankfully I remembered very little so there weren’t too many spoilers. 

If you could live anywhere aside from Edinburgh, where would it be?

The ideal scenario would be to live next to mountains but still be close enough to a city so that I can still snowboard. Victoria in Canada, or South Island in New Zealand would both be great options as they’re only an hour or so from the city. 

What gig are you most looking forward to once we can again?

Recently I got back into Fat Freddy’s Drop, they’re a really great summer band to listen to, and I’d love to go to one of their gigs. I saw them once before in Manchester in 2011, but I didn't really know that much about them at the time, so I want to see them again and really appreciate them. 

What's your favourite dinosaur?

Can I get back to you one this one? I know nothing about dinosaurs.

Would you rather have a rewind button or a pause button on your life?

I don’t think it really matters when things go wrong, it all seems to work out in the end. I think I’d prefer to have a pause button so that when things are a bit hecticI can just stop for a moment with Zeus and Ziggy, the cats, and just enjoy the sunshine.