New job started

Current mood: tired

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Last Wednesday I had the first day of my new job. Unfortunately it rained, so I went to the office by car instead of taking the bicycle. I had been there once before, to sign my contract (which was also the first time I met someone from my new employer face-to-face!), so I already knew a bit about the layout.
There were a few bumps in getting all set up: the laptop and access pass were waiting for me, but there was a snag with getting the SIM card for the phone, but that got resolved later on in the day.

It was a bit weird: the office was mostly empty, as people are still working mostly from home. My two direct colleagues had come to the office, but had to leave around noon — so I sat alone in a completely empty office. But there was enough to read on the intranet, so I wasn’t bored at all.
It’s exhausting to work again after six weeks of ‘inactivity’, especially in a new organisation, with a new product and new people. But it’s really interesting to look at all of the things happening with a fresh view — with a group of people who are interested in what I have to say about it.

Of course I posted about it on LinkedIn, and I got many heartwarming reactions from former colleagues who are really happy for me that I found another job so quickly.

New notebook

Current mood: excited

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Some time ago, I realised that our large collection of beautiful Japanese washi papers would do us no good when it’s stored away.
So I devised a way to force myself to actually use those sheets by creating a cover around an A5 notepad, with the washi on the outside. I use it for taking notes and todo-lists, and if a page is filled, I take it out. That means that there is an end-of-life for this: once all the pages are gone, I’d chuck it and make a new one with a different paper on the cover! The transience is precisely the point.
I’m sure it’s symbolic that the notepad I used has run out of pages, and so last week I made a new cover for a fresh notepad. I look forward to taking it with me and make a fresh new start at my new position later this week.
Notepad cover with dark blue Japanese washi paper depicting Daruma dolls
The paper depicts Daruma dolls. Daruma was one of the foundational fathers of zen buddhism, and a legend tells that he meditated for so long, that he turned blind and his arms and legs fell off from dis-use.
The Daruma doll has two empty eye sockets, and if you want to work hard towards a wish, you color in one of the eyes and place it somewhere it can see you work. Every time you see the doll, you are reminded of your goal and encouraged to work hard for it. Once you have achieved your goal, you fill in the remaining eye, to thank Daruma for his support.
All these dolls have their second eye filled in, which makes it double symbolic, because it’s certainly a goal I achieved in very short time!


Last year in April, we visited the temple in Takasaki, Japan where the custom of the Daruma dolls originated. They have a little museum with all kinds of dolls and interesting variants — sadly you were not allowed to take photos inside. But the giant doll on the outside does provide the perfect photo op!


Next to the museum was a hall that was used for ceremonies, and there were nets around the veranda around it. To me, it looked like worshippers who had their wishes fulfilled would bring their doll to the temple and chuck it onto the veranda. I’m guessing the priests would burn the dolls (they’re often made of papier mache) once per year, just like the wooden prayer plaques at Shinto shrines.

One more week

Current mood: blank

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And suddenly, you realise with a shock that you only have one more week to be the lazy slob you have become after not working for six weeks, before your new job starts on July 1st! I had so many plans, and I did do some of them — but certainly not all.

There are three large software companies in Nijmegen, situated close to each other. I’ve worked at two of those, and I’m really pleased that I can continue to develop myself as a Product Manager at the third! I just can’t believe my luck, with a position that is such a good fit being open at this moment. The only drawback I can think of is that it’s about 300 meters further away from home… 😉
But I have no idea how it’s going to play out. The advice is still to work from home, and while I’ve been to their offices once (to sign the contract), I’ve only spoken to the people I’ll be working with most closely through a video call. I will have to come in on my first day to get all of the tech like laptop, SIM card, logins etc, but I don’t know if I’ll be sent home to work from there or not. And if I’m the only one in the office, that doesn’t really make sense either. I guess we’ll see: I’m going to receive a letter with instructions beforehand.

In the meantime, I’ve made good use of my training budget to polish up my skills. And in a sense it’s great that in-person trainings can’t be given right now, because there are now trainings I can participate in online that I otherwise not could have gotten! So far, I’ve gotten my PSPO certification — I really had to study for that one! It’s interesting: many organisations claim that they ‘do scrum’ (an ‘agile’ method for doing complex work (such as developing software)), but
I’ve also finished up the Launch module from Pragmatic Marketing — Pragmatic Marketing consists of six modules, three of which I already got during my trip to Cambridge in 2017. Those courses are rarely given in Europe, so I’m really pleased I could join an online course! It’s given over the course of two days: for the instructor it’s the morning, but for me it’s the afternoon/early evening. Works out very well, and I’m going to do their Market module early next week. Unfortunately, there was no time nor budget for the sixth module, that will have to wait.

Friday Five

Current mood: okay

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1. Where did you travel on your last vacation or other big trip?
That was our trip to Japan in March/April of last year. After some bad delays, we arrived at Tokyo, then rented a car and went to Enoshima, Hakone, Fuji, Kofu, Matsumoto, Takasaki, Kawagoe and then back to Tokyo.

2. What was the best trip you ever took? Where did you go, and with whom, and what made it so good?
Probably the trip to Kyuushu (yes, also Japan) in 2015. We saw a lot of beautiful things, but it was also very relaxed. And there were no crowds of (Chinese) tourists, which was a bit of a thing everywhere we went last year… We really slowed down and had the opportunity to experience many interesting cultural things.

3. Where do you dream of traveling on your next vacation when it’s safe to travel again?
It’s getting boring, but… Japan. There’s large parts that we haven’t seen yet, and I’d like to visit Kyoto again.

4. Where are you likely to actually travel to on your next vacation when it’s safe?
My sister is in the process of buying a vacation home some distance from where she lives (in Denmark). It might turn out that we spend a few days there?

5. Do you prefer to vacation to new places each time or to familiar places — or maybe you prefer to stay home?
I love being at home, but I also love experiencing new things! But I’m not really adventurous, and I like my creature comforts.

Mikan did not agree to this

Current mood: pleased

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Mikan did not agree to being put in her carrier and taken to the vet for her yearly checkup! Her sister was not fond of the experience either. But they have both gotten a clean bill of health and are up to date with their vaccinations too.
For a long time, Mikan was small and slight, and at one time even underweight: we had to feed her extra to keep her going. Meanwhile, Yuzu basically inhales her food and she is strong and active. But we found out that now it is reversed: Mikan has become less active, and seems to be content sleeping on the couch most of the day, and that has resulted in her now actually being heavier than Yuzu! We have to be careful she doesn’t become too heavy either…

Suddenly a lot happening

Current mood: okay

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Well, you know what they say: there’s never a dull moment!

What with COVID-19, a lot of our customers (mainly financials like insurance etc) have stopped their projects, because it is/was hard to collaborate remotely on something entirely new. Which means the revenue took a hit: fewer software sales, fewer consultancy projects. And the ratio between revenue and costs is holy for our CEO, since that is what the stock price is based on. So he started using the tools available to him to reduce costs, and one of those is laying off people as part of a reorganisation.
I’m in a particularly vulnerable position when it comes to reorgs: I’m the only person in the Nijmegen office that is doing product management, so it’s easy to state that that work is going elsewhere, leaving me without any work to do. If you want to surgically cut costs, then that’s an attractive way to do it. And my work is easy to spread to others: one of my products is now a ‘small’ product, so someone else could take that on in addition to their own small product, and I’m a co-PM for another product, so there’s someone to take that work on as well.

So I wasn’t really surprised when I was laid off three weeks ago.

It was clear from the severance settlement proposal that my (now former) employer wanted to get everything resolved as quickly as possible, without any lengthy legal proceedings (just as it was the previous reorgs). Of course I had the proposal checked with my legal assistance insurer, and there were a few things that needed a bit of attention. So in my reaction I went through those points one by one, and formulated a counter-proposal. All of my points were accepted, so in about one and a half weeks there was a signed severance agreement.
I’m using my time by following trainings to get some professional certifications that should help land me a new job. Last week, I had a quite intensive online training for two days: start at 08:45 and end at 17:00 both days. It was amazing how well the course, which was originally designed for classroom teaching, was adapted to online. We used an online whiteboard and all, and it really worked out nicely (except for that one time when the four of us all were dragging a hundred virtual post-it notes across it…) There’s an exam involved, which is quite similar to most of those certification exams: multiple-choice questions, and you need to get a certain percentage right in order to pass. I did some trial exams (with much fewer questions) and when I could pass three of those in a row with a scoe of 100%, I decided to go for the real exam — best get it out of the way, right? So now I also have the Professional Scrum Product Owner certification.

Other than that, I do have some other projects, but I’m also spending a lot of time in Animal Crossing too…

Nothing much happening

Current mood: tired

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It’s been quite a while since I posted here. But I don’t really have much to say, because not much has been happening.
We’ve started to relax our strict distancing a bit with our respective families. Klik has resumed her visits with her mother, but she does keep her distance (no hugs etc). And yesterday we visited my parents for a ‘garden date’: we sat at one end of the garden, they at the other. It was good to chat with them in person again, and we could also do a few chores for them that they are not equipped to deal with adequately anymore.

I’m playing in three online RPGs, and running one — that’s maybe a tad much, but so far I’m really enjoying this increased activity. Lots of fun with great people.

Other than that, most of the time we’re just playing Animal Crossing — I don’t seem to have the energy or focus for much more. I’m doing a lot of online stuff with it (mostly getting DIY recipes from villagers on other islands), and today we managed to get the coveted 5 star rating for our island! We might do a little video tour to show it off to our parents…

Tales from the Loop

Current mood: melancholy

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Yesterday evening, we watched the first episode of the Amazon Tales from he Loop series, based on the illustrations by Simon StÃ¥lenhag, about a super-science research facility in the 80’s. There is also an excellent RPG by the Swedish RPG writer’s collective Fria Ligan (“Free League”) that has both a Loop in the original Swedish location and one somewhere in the US. In the RPG, you play as a Kid solving Mysteries, while all the adults are too preoccupied with their jobs or unhappy marriages to be of any help. I was a Kid in the 80’s too, and while my life wasn’t filled with super-tech (but we did have high tech! The CD was invented where I lived!) it did resonate with me.
I have all their books — not only is it a fun game (though I haven’t been able to get it to the table yet), but the books are high quality and beautiful too. So of course I was very interested in the TV series.

In the series, the Loop is located in Ohio, so they’re not using a Loop from the RPG book. And while there is a focus on a pair of Kids in this first episode, there’s also a big role of an adult, so it’s not quite like the RPG either. (Which is to be expected, I guess: the series did not take the RPG as source material. But of course that’s the lens through which I watch.)
The tech is a bit ‘muted’ I think. There’s some strange machinery in the background, but the characters rarely interact with it — probably also a matter of CGI budget. The rest of the set dressing is very good, with stuff like green-screen CRT monitors and rotary phones.
Even though the plot didn’t feature super-tech as the main focus (it’s more of the McGuffin), I really liked it.
I did not know what to expect from the soundtrack. Maybe 80’s analog synth pop? But instead we get piano themes from Philip Glass, and I love it. I mean, I love Philip Glass piano themes by themselves, but in the series it really worked to complement the mysterious atmosphere.

The New Normal

Current mood: calm

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We’re starting to get to grips with our new normal. On one hand, it’s been easy on me, but I also miss certain parts of my routine that I do not have an equivalent for at home. I only live ten minutes away from the office, but that bicycle ride back and forth always gave me the chance to clear my head, get out of ‘work mode’ and into ‘home mode’. That’s now missing, and it’s been taking its toll on me. I’m very sure I’m not unique in that, and I need to develop some kind of ‘ritual’ to set my mind.

Animal Crossing continues to be a delight. All decisions about the setup of our island are made by the both of us. Like always, we always agree on what the next step is. We’re going for a park-like environment, with lots of (fruit-)trees and flowers. We also installed an outdoor bath (though sadly you can’t get in it — missed chance here, game!). Apparently you can get up to ten animal inhabitants on your island, but it’s already pretty full with the five we have. There’d be no place for all our trees if you get that many houses!
And yes, we did get the online option for the Switch. The family membership is not that expensive, and we’ve had lots of fun playing together with friends. Visiting their islands, showing off ours, and exchanging materials for crafting and sending those along has proven itself to be a lot of fun.

At work, we’re trying to keep being social and feeling connected. The company Teams and Slack channels are used extensively for this. One group has a daily challenge: show your pet (or the pet you wished you had), show your nerdiest T-shirt, etc. One day, the challenge was to show your favourite book — and of course my favourite book is the one I wrote: my D&D scenario! Immediately, I got interested reactions. And so I’m going to run the scenario for six players (spread across four countries), and four had never played before! I’m really looking forward to it.
And with people having more time on their hands, online RPG’ing is really taking off. I’ve played in a two-session game of the Dragon Age RPG with a group I used to play with a lot. But then we kind-of drifted apart what with the demands of work and family — but now people have time to game again!

So far, we’ve been adjusting pretty well, but even for complete homebodies like us, we still had to adjust. And I’m not sure we’re all done with adjusting just yet.