I started my secondment last week at the largest Dutch metropolitan transit agency. I get to help set up pilot projects and figure out if they're worth funding. Which is already a lot of fun.

Last week was a bit hectic, but this week I'm more in the flow of things, and I'm already noticing an improvement in my mood. Feels like I started a new job, yet I still get to keep everything I built up over the years at my own company. But I get to offload a lot of tedious stuff simply because I knocked out 3+ days a week with my secondment and my longrunning other project, which is to help build the next generation of mobility apps.

I think the improvement in mood is mostly because of the different type of work. It's funny, I'm now way more in meetings and discussions. My programming and GIS work is reduced to less than a day per week. I'm under much less pressure this way, not having to juggle half a dozen tight deadlines that depend on my ability to come up with scripts at breakneck speed. The problems dealing with programming and GIS are genuinely difficult, daunting and often nearly unsolvable; whereas the problem of dealing with other people is much easier, has more alternatives and less stress behind it. Made me realize (only now) how much easier my non-programming-colleagues have it usually. As long as I keep moving forward in the things that have my name on it, I'm good.

Life here feels like it's almost returned back to normal. All the covid-nightmare businesses are still closed, but I'm seeing people fairly regularly again and am doing one or two days a the office again. Also didn't seem to get covid from my sister's 80+ people wedding, which I was worried about. Our country's problem is that our national CDC is incompetent and is now limiting testing because of mostly dumb reasons.