Siftie Spotlight: Patrick Marx, Staff Software Engineer
This is part of a monthly series in which we get to know Sifties.
Patrick Marx is a Staff Software Engineer and has been with Sift for two years. If he could eat just one food for the rest of his life, it would be pho, because it’s delicious and wouldn’t be too hard on the body to eat every day.
What’s something that happened or something that someone said that changed how you view the world?
“Don’t panic” from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I used to have it written on the wall in my dorm. If you keep that in the back of your mind it kind of self organizes and prevents things from going wrong – and things can only go so wrong. If things aren’t ok at work or home, don’t worry too much. You can fix it, just need a good attitude.
What movie can you watch over and over without getting tired of it?
I’ve seen The Rock 10+ times at least. I’m due to watch it again soon. Classic Hans Zimmer soundtrack and terrible one-liners that are so good. When I moved out here I went on a tour of Alcatraz, which was basically a tour of the movie: “This is where he stabs that one guy, this is where he breaks out of prison.”
What are five things that make you happy?
- Italian food
- Mountains
- Lakes
- Good company
- Heavy metal, good music
What was your first job?
I worked at Subway as a Sandwich Artist. I was pretty good at it too, I think. I did it for two summers. The first time I was on a night shift with people who didn’t care about appearances, they showed me that you could take a handful of bacon, microwave it, and eat it. You also get a free six-inch sub every four hours you work, but you tend to keep making the same sandwich over and over, so you start getting inventive with the sandwiches you make. Meatball marinara on everything.
What is/are your favorite animal(s) and why?
I like anything like a dog, so dogs and seals. Sea dogs. I don’t know if seals are loyal, but I like that dogs are loyal and innocent and fun, and are just generally really positive animals.
What’s the best vacation you’ve ever had?
I went with a bunch of college friends to the Domincan Republic for a week, and checked off a lot of bucket list stuff. We had a house to ourselves for 15 of us, and had a real crazy adventure trying to get to the place from the airport. They told us we had a rental van for eight but the guy gave us a two-seater pickup truck. We had to drive over mountains and in the rain, and no one could drive manual except for me and another guy so we had to take turns chasing this guide over the hills.
We went river cliff gorge jumping, diving off waterfalls, New Year’s on the beach, everything ⅓ the price of stateside. Super cool. Definitely recommend it.
