Apres moi, le deluge

[flexagon]

Hypercube would have turned 10 last Friday. I've coincidentally learned a new phrase that is meant to encapsulate the nihilistic view that nothing is really going to matter, for you, after you're dead: Après moi, le déluge. More or less: after me, let the floods come. There's a lot that Hypercube doesn't have to worry about anymore.

Anyway, this week went by a bit more normally. I really enjoyed the two plant-based lunches I got delivered from Thistle. Worked on work, worked on taxes. Wednesday was Valentine's Day, which I spent with the bug, and -- although I've been drinking a lot less in general -- I deployed a drink early in the evening to greatly relaxing effect, and then after dinner the bug and I flopped around together in the living room and I read the last four hours' worth of The Ministry for the Future. By this time I'd also bought Private Equity, as an audiobook, which I ripped through because I really identify with the narrator. So: a lot of reading, and writing book reviews, which has been restorative. I tried a little mobile game called A Little to the Left, which is supposed to be relaxing but was in fact stressful thanks to all the ads; okay, not that then.

I'm still waiting to hear about a reorg, and reading about ZIRPs. Probably my whole tech career was indeed a ZIRP; there were tailwinds, I got lucky. Future endeavors may not work so well. I know this, and yet I'm still kind of interested in buying one more condo if I don't quit in the next couple of weeks.

I spent a bunch of time today scheduling a trip to the west coast in late May. It's a complicated trip in which I'll visit in-laws with the bug, then scoop up my own mother and go south with her (on an Amtrak sleeper car) to see Birdie the bio-kid in California. I'm trying to schedule a photographer to get some "three generations of women" photos, since this confluence is likely to be once in a lifetime.

What's French for "while alive, take selfies"?

Comments

[bolson]

Next thing? Is your career now such that you could only take a similar level at a similarly large tech company (of which there are maybe a dozen)?

[flexagon]

Eh, no, I'm less of a big deal on paper than I was in 2019. I could get a manager or director job at whatever company and it would be reasonable enough. Luckily, my bank account is now such that I don't need to, and that's good because I am really tired of tech. Too many fads, too little steadiness of vision.

And so, the next thing is likely to be more of a portfolio approach. I mentioned another condo because I do in fact enjoy being a landlord. It has something in common with management, which is "creating an environment in which people can live and do well", and the work is never just bullshit "looking busy".

[bolson]

> Too many fads, too little steadiness of vision.

This sounds like the problem with my current job which I think turns out to be 99% fad, and I don't want to stick around for that 1% chance of maybe something substantial. Stupid waste of time (that gives me dollars, meh).