Blog on Sasha Katsnelson

News Diet

Thu, 09 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Today I start my news diet. Trying to keep up with the US, Spanish, New York, global, and tech news on the 25-hour-cycle has become too exhausting. Despite feeling like an ostrich burying my head in the sand, I will try to ignore the news 6-days per week and spend an hour or two over the weekend catching up on important stories. Specifically, I will endeavor:

not to scroll left on my android phone’s home screen
not to open news links that aren’t relevant to my immediate tasks
not to engage with social media that isn’t immediately and personally relevant to me
to avoid taking a stance in conversations about current events

Let’s see how it goes and if I manage to maintain my diet + cheat-day for a few weeks.

Thoughts on Product Management Interviews

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Product managers have a few different jobs depending on the organization we’re working with, but inevitably we find ourselves doing a lot of organizing and a lot of communicating. In the course of my career I’ve been through all kinds of product interviews - they almost all follow a common pattern: Introduction Call → Fit and/or Tech Interview → Homework → Fit and/or Tech Interviews (repeat) → Senior Manager conversation → Offer → Negotiation

Spanish Puns (part 1)

Wed, 17 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Acaparcador - alguien que ocupa mas que un estacionamiento

Etymology of Nuance

Mon, 15 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t know if it’s because I’m trained to think this way - but I carry with me the idea that adding description of a word or concept should lead to a sharper picture. More complicated concepts frequently require refinement to accurately define them. When I’m trying to describe a concept or situation that will require loads of additional description, I frequently rely on the word nuance (or in Spanish, matiz).

Bitcoin for Muggles

Tue, 19 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

If witches and wizards made Bitcoin - it might look something like this:

Imagine a simple leather journal with a small red gem embedded in the cover. All of the pages except the last one are full - columns of hard-to-understand runes and numbers stretch from edge to edge. You notice thirty-two entries organized in two columns on each page, each entry consisting of 2 runes and a number. On the last page every so often, another line appears - rune, rune, number - and when the page fills, the journal shimmers and a new page is added.

Real Life Tells the Best Stories

Sun, 19 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I fell completely in love with my neighbor 4 years ago today. Unfortunately we were only neighbors for three hours… just enough time to fly from Athens to Zurich.

In fact, we almost missed each other – I had left my passport in my hostel and spent a nail-biting 40 minutes sitting on my backpack at the taxi drop-off imagining the boarding line shrinking and my flight leaving without me. My taxi-courier arrived, I handed him all of my remaining Euros, and tore through the airport to my gate. I made it in time to board and had even caught my breath enough to smile as the Swiss Airlines flight-attendant swiped my boarding pass.

Abandoned and Set Adrift

Tue, 01 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Thinking is really hard. After a long day of work and then expending energy maintaining relationships, my body, and my home - I don’t always have much left to do the research necessary to form sensible, well-informed opinions about topics that I feel are important.

Health-care, police violence, taxation, welfare, immigration, and the list goes on - I have intuitions about the effects of various policies based on what I have read in the moments of distraction between things I should be doing - but I know that those are informed by my filter bubble.

How To Move to Spain - pt 10

Mon, 31 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

With a plan to head to LA for a wedding the timing seemed perfect: 3 weeks before I leave, I get to pick up my NIE. Unfortunately, during the educational previous visit my birth-date was entered incorrectly, an oversight that was only discovered by the woman who checked my passport before declining to hand me my ID card. Seizing on an opportunity to embarrass a rival, this titan of office politics shouted across the floor “There’s a mistake in this one, [name redacted]”

Madrid's 21 Districts

Mon, 31 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Madrid’s got a similar structure to my former home, but the boroughs of New York are quite a bit larger than Madrid’s districts (there are only 5 vs. the 21 districts). Each of the Districts are broken up into Wards which are roughly equivalent to the various neighborhoods in New York e.g., Park Slope or the East Village.

Madrid’s Manhattan is made up of about 7 of these Districts. In this very rough map you’ll see the central districts 1 through 7 spiral out from Centro which is #1.

How To Move to Spain - pt 9

Fri, 16 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Finally, Elena and I made it back to the immigration police station, payment in hand; went through the relaxed security system; and were ushered directly towards one of the seated workers. Sitting down across from her, Elena explained the situation and handed over my paperwork (in blazingly fast Spanish). “You live together?” our agent asked - “and you’re not married?” Our agent’s expression shifted slowly from bored to confused as she saw my visa - “what kind of visa is this?” - “so you’re not allowed to work?”

How To Move to Spain - pt 7

Mon, 24 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Because the Visa is officially only valid for 90 days from the date you stated as the entry-date to Spain - the last step to legally residing in Spain for a year is getting your DNI (your Spanish SSN - technically assigned on your Visa) and your NIE (national identity-card).

Once you’ve got your Padron you can apply for the DNI. There are three steps:

Pay for your DNI application at a bank
Submit your DNI application at the DNI office
Pick-up your DNI application at the office DNI

The office for the application is in the neighborhood of Aluche, to the South of Madrid’s City Center, in a joint police-station/immigration-detention-center/visa-processing-station.

How To Move to Spain - pt 8

Mon, 24 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a good route to follow… our process wasn’t so efficient… Comically, if you ask for directions to the DNI office, even the police will only point you vaguely in the direction of this odd building. It felt like everyone was a bit embarrassed or confused by the whole thing. In one conversation with a policeman in a marked car:

“Officer, can you point us to the DNI offices?”

“They’re that way” [gestures along the road]

Annoying Journalism

Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s how much money doctors actually make - it’s a catchy headline, but it summarizes a single article and then passes it off as research…

I don’t mean to pick on Business Insider in particular, but this is a great example of the kind of journalism that I’ve found frustrating. BI has an annual article that pretends to analyze doctor salaries - 2016, 2017. In 2017, it’s just pulling two charts from a single Medscape article and then describing them… there’s a lot of interesting content discoverable with a google search or even a look at the Medscape references. The articles miss a ton of nuance, e.g., controlling for specialty, seniority, hours worked, and some other factors black male physicians earn 35% less than their white male counterparts, a significantly larger gap than the 13% the BI article indicates - but women don’t have a disparity in pay between black and white doctors (more here).

Legazpi, Madrid

Mon, 17 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Subway stops and plazas have been the most-used landmarks when I’ve asked for directions and one of the most important plazas in my neighborhood is Legazpi (also the name of the neighborhood centered around the plaza). It’s named for the Spanish explorer and politician who made Manilla the capital of the Philippines.

It’s located at the beginning of Chopera (which follows the North shore of the River Manzanares) and Delicias (connecting to the Atocha train station). Also, the Matadero entrance sits right on the plaza - it’s a converted slaughterhouse, now a cultural center - a bit reminiscent of the Highline, it helps me deal with my home-sickness! It’s also next to MadridRio - a wonderful river-side park for running, wandering around, or grabbing a beer.

How To Move to Spain - pt 6

Mon, 10 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Another painless part of immigrating was getting my proof of residency or Padron. I (well, Elena really) made an appointment at our local municipal police station. In our neighborhood, Arganzuela, the local police are conveniently located a short walk through Madrid Rio from our house. We took a number when we arrived just like everyone else, but the web insists that you need an appointment. There is a slightly high-tech, touch-screen ticketing system - you choose your category of service and then sit in a room with enough chairs and free wi-fi for about 20 minutes before meeting your agent.

How To Move to Spain - pt 5

Sat, 01 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Moving to Spain was mostly painless. After living in a small bedroom in Manhattan and leaving all communal property with my roommates - I managed the whole move with just four bags. Elena checked one bag for me and I carried two large backpacks and a single messenger bag - I get a bit nervous every time I check a bag because of some rough experiences as a management consultant - but it all worked out!

Nebo Note Taking

Sat, 01 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I spent quite a bit of time playing with Nebo and have enjoyed the experience. The controls aren’t quite as precise or intuitive as I’d like ideally, but it’s a huge step towards making my note-taking a purely digital experience. I think that the value I get from having my iPad as my paper and as shareable, searchable text is high enough that I’m willing to deal with the recognition errors in many cases.

Spanish Fried Rice

Sat, 01 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Spanish fried rice. Arroz con espinaca, chorizo, queso semi-curado, maíz, ajo, huevo, aceite de sésamo, y salsa de soja.

How To Move to Spain - pt 4

Thu, 16 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Submissions were pretty painless, I had an appointment to submit my papers and the consulate office in New York wasn’t completely full - it took about 45 minutes including re-filling out two forms that I’d filled incorrectly between arriving and heading out.

One point that I hadn’t considered when I applied was: The later the start-date of your Visa, the more time you’ll have to get your NIE (the year-long Visa is actually only valid for 90 days, more on this later). I didn’t realize any of these timing issues and it created some urgency in Madrid because I had to leave for a wedding in LA almost exactly 90 days after arriving in Spain.

Knowledge Net

Thu, 16 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I find that when I’m trying to remember things I automatically add patterns as a mnemonic overlay. E.g., when I’m trying to remember a phone number I will frequently attach a pattern I noticed in the digits (e.g., it’s mostly the primes in a row or it’s 3 digits followed by their product). Arbitrary/random data (like phone numbers) are some of the hardest things to remember, but for vocabulary, historical events, and even facts about people I’m socializing with - usually there are lots more patterns to choose from.

Seeing Theory

Thu, 16 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Understanding Probability and Statistics is core to being an active and effective member of society. Many concepts are counter-intuitive and don’t really click until we’ve heard a few different explanations, proofs, or visualizations. Seeing Theory offers some readily available and free visualizations of a fundamental concepts.

It’s not terribly useful as a standalone lesson, but if you’re already studying probability and statistics it’ll offer another angle for poking at these ideas that your professor may have a hard time articulating on a chalkboard.

How To Move to Spain - pt 3

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Getting a triple-stamped criminal record from the NY State was an adventure in convoluted bureaucracy.

This was a comically long process that took around 7 hours of activity spanning a month or so. First I had to get the NYS police to send me a criminal background check - apparently this is easier than getting it from the FBI, but I didn’t even explore the federal route. You can’t ask the police for your criminal record - you have to go to an out-sourced vendor: IdentoGo and make an appointment at your closest finger-printing center. The closest to me was at W35th St - they were professional and got to me right at my appointment time. One set of fingerprints and $62 later - I was ready to wait for the security check.

Skirts and Dresses

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Un vestido que algo falta es una falda

99 Problems

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

A useful trick for remembering gender:

El Problema es una palabra masculina y otra palabras que terminan con “-ma” son excepciones de la regla de palabras que terminan con “-a” “poema, dilema”

La Solucion es lo contrario de este y es una palabra feminina, como otras palabras que terminan con “-ion”

Understanding Madrid

Fri, 03 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

After more than a decade being spoiled by Manhattan’s highly organized and sensibly gridded streets, I’m trying to find my way around Madrid, my new home. Some long-time Madrileños have suggested a locations to orient my understanding of the city:

The neighborhoods here are as distinct in style, smell, and population as they are in New York - so I’ll be working through them starting with my home - Arganzuela
Getting to know the subway- most of the neighborhoods correspond to several subway stops (and unlike New York they’re named with little sense or reason) - and long-time residents tend to give directions relative to those stops and…

How To Move to Spain - pt 2

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

There are many papers and details to put together for the visa, but in general, you’re trying to show that you’re not a criminal and that you’re not going to be a drain on the Spanish economy. Specifically, it ends up being relatively easy with a couple of exceptions.

**1. Two national visa application forms. ** I applied for the visa for non-lucrative purposes for reasons described in the previous blog post.

How To Move to Spain - pt 1

Thu, 23 Feb 2017 00:00:00 +0000

The visa process is a bit confusing and if you’re not working for a company that’s sponsoring your visa (and presumably leaning on their legal team to deal with the paperwork) there are a few different routes available. In all cases the process looks something like this:

Choose a visa to pursue
Gather documents and sign-up for stuff
Show I’m not a criminal
Submit everything to the consulate, wait, and get my visa
Move to Spain
Get my proof of residence
Get your NIE in theory…
Paying for my NIE
Getting my NIE
Picking up my NIE (done for the year)

1. Choose a Visa

In The Beginning

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I moved to Spain in December 2016 and there were a few hurdles and details that I would have overlooked without substantial help from knowledgeable and Spanish-speaking people. Over the next few posts, I’ll talk about my experience of getting a Spanish Visa in the U.S. and figuring out what I needed to do after arriving in Madrid. Before diving too deeply into the immigration process - here’s the story of why I moved to Madrid in the first place!

Grocery Store Queues

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

More grocery stores should move to a non-gameable queuing system. It seems that there is no agreement on the best setup as the stores I see in New York have wildly different systems. E.g.:

My neighborhood supermarket has 8 registers with their own lines, 1 of them is express
Wholefoods on 25th and 7th has 4 lines for 10 active registers, and 1 line for 4 express registers
Trader Joe’s on 21st and 6th has 2 lines for 10 active registers, and no express lines

For the shopper, the best grocery-shopping experience is focusing on picking out food and then getting out as quickly as possible. I don’t want to think about which lane is best and I don’t want to feel stupid/unlucky for choosing the wrong lane. Also, extremely long lines can be annoying as constantly moving a few steps at a time is quite frustrating.