Weeknotes 68

I’ve been in a reflective mood this week, so naturally I haven’t noted down anything to write about.

Some weeks, everything feels so relentless. I don’t know why. It’s not like anything is ever different. (Maybe that’s why.)

Actually, something’s different: I did end up buying a treadmill to use at my standing desk. I mitigated the space problem by finding one that folds in half, so when I’m not using it I can turn it sideways and slide it under the desk to use as an uncomfortable footrest.

It’s still a bit heavy and bulky and generally not an ideal object to own but I’m relieved I’m finally getting some exercise and it’s made me stop thinking about vaccinations so it’s worth it. I’m also already 2kg lighter and that helps too.

I’ve been at my job for almost a year now. In hindsight, going from CTO to anonymous technical employee has been a hard adjustment for my confidence and ego. When I was a CTO I was the most senior technical decision-maker in the company; now I’m a nobody.

That’s not objectively a bad thing because it’s all by design — my current job is much less stressful and I get far more time to do the work I most enjoy (mentoring and writing code) — but it’s still been difficult to adapt to my technical opinions mattering essentially zero to the company as a whole, even if my teammates are always polite about them.

I haven’t fully resolved this in my head yet. Because of how the law of excluded middle works, either I’ll be able to put it to bed or I won’t.

Season two of For All Mankind keeps getting better and better. I’ve fallen a few weeks behind and am looking forward to the season finale. My enthusiasm piqued Nat’s curiosity and we decided to spend some of the weekend watching it together from the beginning.

A lot of the first season is more impressive than I remembered. I think I was impatient for Things Going Wrong On The Moon the first time around, but I’m more engaged by the long chunks of terrestrial drama now that I care about the characters and understand the pace of the story. The performances are really great.