Who?
Canis Ledus is indigenous to Northern Germany, where the member of the species delights in the flatness of the land. The humidity as well as the sea breeze are essential to this wild animal's survival and thrival.
While many have attempted to domesticate this noble creature, its unusual hostility to children based on primitive and visceral fear of small human beings makes it unfit as a family pet. This unfortunate condition is being currently remedied with decent exposure under the observation of capable veterinarians.
To help people is this incredible specimen's foremost desire and greatest joy in life and through stubborn determination, quick wit, and sheer audacity, she claims all things are possible. Her territorial cry generally sounds like a pleasant, "How may I help?"
Previously on Leda's Adventures
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.To write someone's story is to impose an ending, however temporary, and as tired and anxious as I am, and I suppose, we all are in one way or another, to think... to contemplate an end can be painful.
So without further ado, and with great pain and suffering, may I present:
THE STORY OF MY LIFE SO FAR
I was born in 1991 in Ukraine's beautiful capital Kyiv (home of the only valid subway system in the world). When I was 11, my family moved to Germany, and slowly fell apart. Aw.
After a failed career as a funeral director (I will take no questions about that.) and urged by everyone I knew, as well as my friends at the Agentur für Arbeit, I went to university. Following a slight misunderstanding with the automated enrolment system, I decided to consciously and willingly pursue a degree in computer science.
Still waiting for disastrous consequences, I managed to wrap up my studies with a pleasantly surprising A for the bachelor thesis appropriately named Development and Testing of a Hardware Random Number Generator by Leda Wolf formerly known as Lidiia Lazebnikova.
Drunk with power brought on by my ineffable academic success, I have quickly but nervously moved all three of my belongings to the South of Germany, as well as my German Shepherd Doakes, formerly known as alive, currently very much dead.
Working for CarGarantie in Germany's sunniest city Freiburg im Breisgau was an experience unlike another: a complex microservice architecture that was still being developed at the time, in Poland, was to be transferred to CarGarantie's own Software Engineering department consisting of maybeeee 5...? developers, and a very eager working student. (whaddup Hermann, my favorite German)
In the meantime, a very naughty CRM based on adito's finest but aging work was being used as everything. Combining XML visual changes with JavaScript data fetching didn't seem like a good idea at the time, and still isn't, but very much solidified my judgement-free Whatever Works approach to life, giving me some hefty opinions. I learned Java, using the eloquent syntax of Spring and fast bootstrapping of Boot, I also overcomplicated at least 2 internal applications with a fully React single page frontend, very fashionable at the time.
However, precipitating the new micro-service system being labeled a hugely failed investment and the devastating security incident that absolutely didn't have anything to do with me, I decided to advance my career from junior to barely competent up north in the Hansa city of Hamburg.
After a few brief stations, my new home sum.cumo enriched my life with many diverse (technologically) projects and razor-scooter-based trips through the halls. It was at that time that I understood that just doing backend would not help my Whatever Works mentality, and merely give me more hefty radical opinions, so I decided to drop backend completely.
After two years of frontend bliss with Vue.js in its many but very similar shapes, I launched a website with my new employer Tallence, but due to fundamental disagreements on the use of outdated technology, I became part of Grover, where I rekindled my long-standing affair with React, dropping Vue.js like a template-tagged ugly potato. There, I also benefitted from a wide open free architecture, as diverse and bright as the people of Grover themselves and as littered with problems as a landscape would allow. I ... loved it.
To say it was a bad time would be a lie and also in breach of the NDA I had to sign, when restructuring made my position redundant. But what I can say is that I am proud of what my team achieved, thoroughly described here by my most stoic colleague Lauri Viitala. Please clap.
My passion for testing in its appealing pyramid-shaped form became an integral part of my glorious return to backend with Node.js in its many a-splendid applications, did I mention Node.js? I think I did. Node.js!
I look forward to the next chapter that life has in store for me, but if I had any requests, I'd love a full-stack role that accommodates my eccentric (read "neurodivergent") nature and allows me to benefit from a multicultural and diverse environment with many technological challenges and minimal organisational problems. Thank you for your time.
Testimonials
I got the opportunity to work with Leda at Grover. She was my mentor during that time, and I just have good words to describe her. She is the most brilliant, honest, and funny person I've met, she helped me not only improve my technical skills, but to overcome personal challenges and blockers that didn't allow me to truly trust myself. Blockers that I didn't even know I had and she cleverly pointed out, always from a place of respect and empathy. She taught me so much, and even though we are not working together anymore, I know I am taking these learnings with me wherever I go.- Marta Gilabert Guzman
Anything nice I can say about Mother will be discounted as nepotism, however I must mention this woman's unwavering focus that makes her such an effective keyboard-clickity-clacker, she delights both in the Click as well as the Clack! Though I'm starving on an hourly basis, it does not seem to affect her dedication to the Shiny Windows. Please let the Authorities know that I am but a poor puppy that needs high-quality food.- Aira Wolf z Tuřanského dvora
I had the pleasure of working closely with Leda, and without a doubt, she stands out as one of the most exceptional individuals I've had the privilege to collaborate with. Her energy is contagious, and she knows how to keep the vibe positive and fun in our team. But don't let her playful side fool you; when it comes to work, she's all business. Leda's got this knack for seeing the big picture and making sure our projects are not just good for now but set up for success down the road. Plus, her testing skills? They're next level. Our applications are practically bulletproof because of her attention to detail. She's not just a coworker; she's a friend you can count on. Always ready to lend an ear or offer a helping hand. She consistently goes above and beyond to support her teammates. I have no doubt that she will continue to excel in her future endeavors, and I wholeheartedly endorse her for any opportunity she pursues.- Karan Hudia
What is she up to?
If you have developed a strong desire to communicate or collaborate, please don't hesitate and write to: