Lena ReinhardInterview
Director of Engineering, CircleCI
Adapted from Lena Reinhard's interview on Uses This, published 1 October 2019. The kit is drawn from their answers and each reason is an excerpt, lightly edited. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full interview ↗
Is this you? Claim this kit →Hardware
My MacBook Pro 2018, 13", is a very good laptop for all I need, and handles those days with lots of open applications and endless browser tabs very gracefully.
I'm considering getting a second Dell UltraSharp Monitor U2415, for extra-large spreadsheet editing.
I'm in a lot of virtual meetings, and the Logitech C920 HD webcam helps me be there.
The Apple Magic Keyboard is bad for my hand posture and I dislike the tactile experience, I need to make the time to find a new keyboard sometime.
Wireless Trackball M570+ 5 others
I got the Logitech M570 trackball years ago when I had issues with my hands and wrists and like it a lot, especially the trackball is great (I love a speedy mouse).
Using my Bose SoundSport In-Ear Headphones for meetings, of all things, is very ironic, but they're really great for this purpose: the soft ear pieces make them great to wear for long stretches of time.
I use an iPhone XS with a pair of Sony MDR earphones for music and phone calls.
3.2 Quart Cast Iron Combo Cooker
Pan: Lodge Cast Iron Combo Cooker makes bread baking and making pan pizza so much fun.
Knife: I got a Swiss Army Camper knife as a present over 20 years ago, and it still accompanies me on every hike.
Camera: A Canon EOS 6D, with my favourite lenses (50mm 1.4, 35mm 2.0), has been a trusted companion for many years.
By far the chunkiest piece of hardware I own is my piano, a Kawai CA58, which I enjoy very much.
Bag: I carry things around in Frank by Aly Capellino, and it goes very smoothly from grocery shopping, to work meetings, to bike trips, to travels.
Suitcase: I travel quite frequently for work, and a Samsonite Neopulse Spinner in S travels with me.
Communication
Productivity
To-dos: – I manage all my work tasks through Todoist to maintain my intricate weekday-based task management system.
Reading: – I read a lot online, and Pocket is one of my all-time favourite apps.
I use it for note taking at workshops, panels, conferences, as well as for research on my conference talks, which eventually go into Keynote.
Notes
Note-taking, writing, blogging, conference speaking: – I LOVE Notability – being able to write using the pencil with my iPad, but also add images, type text, draw, highlight, all in one app, still amazes me, and fits my writing style very well.
Design
Media
Other
Ever since, my main focus has been supporting distributed engineering organisations around the world, currently as Director of Engineering at CircleCI.
I love RSS feeds and use Reeder for my daily dose of blog posts by friends, short stories, food content, and local news.
Tracking progress: – I got into sleep tracking by accident and have been using Sleep Cycle for almost nine years now.