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Jan. 31st, 2026 05:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zkaBig news! I've wisely decided to not order a Pebble Round 2, because I'm an adult who makes sound financial decisions, and I refuse to waste my diminishing wealth on toys with low-contrast, desaturated screens. I'm publically sharing this to affirm my commitment, and make it real.
Instead, I choose to waste money on experiences! We finally scheduled a vacation, a real vacation, not the kind where you return more exhausted. We'll be in Brighton, UK for a week in February.
This morning we booked the trains, all the way from Amsterdam to Brighton Central. I was ready to scream because of course every website is terrible, and inconsistent, and nothing works. You must mAgicAlly kNOw how to interpret the bad UI and vagueries.
Quick example: our Thameslink tickets (London ⇔ Brighton) have different station codes in each direction on the London end ("THK" vs "STP"), hmm. Did their web tool divert us to the wrong station in London ??!!? Thankfully Reddit knew the answer: "THK" is an abbreviation for "Thameslink", you can freely board at a half-dozen stations in the central London area, including our connecting station (STP). FfFffffff
This morning stressed me out, to a level disporportionate to the actual threat or frustration we were experiencing. This is a clear sign that I'm still recovering from intense burnout. I hate technology, and all the bad UI and dynamic pricing scams, but mostly I hate that I'm still dealing with this, and probably will be shouldering this curse for a while. So far I've had 3 Psychosomatische Fysiotherapie sessions to treat burnout, it helps but progress is slow.
There's a old contractor joke, where your normal work cycle is starving for 3–6 months, then suddenly every client contacts you simultaneously. It finally happened to me! I'll be spending Monday responding to email requests and writing proposals, w00t.
I'm gathering my sewing projects in one digital place: https://gram.social/zka . The petrol blue coat is finished, it kinda sucks so there's no photos yet, more on this later...
We're running out of reasons to stay in the suburbs of Amsterdam, so we're preparing for a big move when our lease ends in June. There are 3 possibilities, and since I'm Big Daddy Laptop-Breadwinner, it depends on how my work unfolds:
Today == recovery day. No bike rides, no nothing! Just shoving pastries and vla in my face.
Did you know? In 1672, the leading ruler of the Dutch people was lynched by a mob, then the mob cut up his corpse and ate it. His name was Johan de Witt, don't read this article if you're squeamish, sorry.
Instead, I choose to waste money on experiences! We finally scheduled a vacation, a real vacation, not the kind where you return more exhausted. We'll be in Brighton, UK for a week in February.
This morning we booked the trains, all the way from Amsterdam to Brighton Central. I was ready to scream because of course every website is terrible, and inconsistent, and nothing works. You must mAgicAlly kNOw how to interpret the bad UI and vagueries.
Quick example: our Thameslink tickets (London ⇔ Brighton) have different station codes in each direction on the London end ("THK" vs "STP"), hmm. Did their web tool divert us to the wrong station in London ??!!? Thankfully Reddit knew the answer: "THK" is an abbreviation for "Thameslink", you can freely board at a half-dozen stations in the central London area, including our connecting station (STP). FfFffffff
This morning stressed me out, to a level disporportionate to the actual threat or frustration we were experiencing. This is a clear sign that I'm still recovering from intense burnout. I hate technology, and all the bad UI and dynamic pricing scams, but mostly I hate that I'm still dealing with this, and probably will be shouldering this curse for a while. So far I've had 3 Psychosomatische Fysiotherapie sessions to treat burnout, it helps but progress is slow.
There's a old contractor joke, where your normal work cycle is starving for 3–6 months, then suddenly every client contacts you simultaneously. It finally happened to me! I'll be spending Monday responding to email requests and writing proposals, w00t.
I'm gathering my sewing projects in one digital place: https://gram.social/zka . The petrol blue coat is finished, it kinda sucks so there's no photos yet, more on this later...
We're running out of reasons to stay in the suburbs of Amsterdam, so we're preparing for a big move when our lease ends in June. There are 3 possibilities, and since I'm Big Daddy Laptop-Breadwinner, it depends on how my work unfolds:
- Remain in the Netherlands, but move somewhere more inviting to tattooed gay weirdos: Amsterdam / Rotterdam / Delft. Survive on contract work.
- Secure a full-time job in an English-speaking location, and move there. I'm applying for positions in the UK, and will soon expand my search to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and some cities with large English-speaking populations (e.g. Berlin).
- Sell almost-everything, or put it in storage. Hop around the world using Digital Nomad visas, for a year or two. I can hustle to find remote contract work; or treat the experience as an extended sabbatical; search for a new home; or some mix of these.
Today == recovery day. No bike rides, no nothing! Just shoving pastries and vla in my face.
Did you know? In 1672, the leading ruler of the Dutch people was lynched by a mob, then the mob cut up his corpse and ate it. His name was Johan de Witt, don't read this article if you're squeamish, sorry.
