It’s been a whirlwind of a week, jumping between projects. I finally wrapped up the 5S form automation, but there was no time to rest, a couple of new, interesting challenges immediately landed on my plate. It feels like I’m living and breathing in the Google ecosystem lately, with AI as my constant co-pilot for everything from coding to brainstorming architectural solutions.

It’s been a mix of satisfying wins and head-scratching problems.

  • Wrestling with legacy tech. I finished the 5S form automation, but a last-minute request to change a graph type sent me down a rabbit hole. The main culprit? Old Outlook, which uses Word’s old rendering engine. It was a pain, but I insisted on a solution that worked everywhere. It’s a good reminder: if you’re going to build something, build it right. The result is a reliable, reusable script.
  • AI-generated UIs are a game-changer. A friend suggested I try building a new multi-language “improvement suggestion” form entirely with Google Apps Script. I was skeptical, but with some help from AI, I generated the whole thing (complex branching logic and all) in a fraction of the time it would’ve taken manually. It felt like a superpower.
  • Thinking in streams, not files. On my video analysis project, I hit a wall with handling large uploads. Instead of getting bogged down with splitting files using FFMPEG, I realized I could just use an API to point to specific timestamps. This lets me process massive videos in chunks without ever actually modifying the source file. A simple idea that solves a huge headache.
  • The “is it production-ready?” reality check. My new manager is a software engineer, and he’s pushing me to think more about scale and reliability. It’s a little intimidating, and the imposter syndrome is real. But he’s right. It’s a good push to level up my thinking from “make it work” to “make it last,” especially on a project I’ve led from scratch.

This period has been a mix of deep technical dives and high-level strategy. Leaning on AI is really accelerating things, but the real growth comes from these tough challenges, whether it’s a stubborn piece of legacy software or a manager pushing me to be better. It’s a lot to juggle, but I’m learning a ton and making connections with smart people that make it all worthwhile.

Next: Building out the automated dashboard for the new improvement-suggestion form.

Tags: Google Apps Script, AI, Automation, Imposter Syndrome, Video Processing, Legacy Code