A New Project

The year end nears and there is so much to do and so much more more on my mind.

But first...

But before I jump in and introduce the project that will consume the next five months of my attention, and perhaps much more, it would probably be appropriate for me to say a word about this website.

But I really don't want to. Starting a blog (such an ugly word!) is a terrifying experience. What do I write about? If it turns out I suck at writing? My writing doesn't sound like me! It's painful to write, and takes so much time! If people hate my work I'll feel foolish for having made the effort. And so on.

These sound like piddly problems, but for someone like me they are real barriers. I've tried writing in the past but always failed for one reason or another. I might spend endless hours editing text or making beautiful visual aids only to decide, in the end, not to publish. And when I do publish there is the nagging anxiety of having put my name on something of dubious quality, or having a colleague or family member discover what I've written. Fear of the internet is also a thing. The internet is a rude place where any opinion or sparsely-cited claim will make tasty fodder for trolls and idiots to very publicly pick apart.

"But this time will be different!" said the fool. Well, here are some rules I've decided upon to relieve some of that internet anxiety.

• No fixed topics. I will write on any topic, and in format, I please.

• Limited editing. Editing is toil, and I don't like toil. I'll try to get it right the first time, and if I don't it's not the end of the world.

• No visuals. Posts will be text only. This is partly because nice visuals take time to make, but I also just don't want to put up with the pain of hosting images or formatting posts to look nice or fixing things for different screen sizes.

• No identity. My writing will not carry my name. It's not a problem if people find out who I am, but I'm not going to proactively put it out there. This way is better for my nerves.

Phew!

With that out of the way, we can move on to more important things.

I am employed as a software engineer at a mid-size "tech" company, and last week I told my manager that I am taking an extended break. I won't burden the internet with my tale of woe; suffice to say that I am burnt out and have been for a while.

Finding a new job is a possibility but that would just be a band-aid. After nearly a decade working in companies, large and small, I'm sure that I would not be happy in any company where I'm not in chanrge. So, I need to find something to do, and I think I have the answer.

Coffee!

Coffee is delicious and fun to drink. If there's one thing that makes one feel like an adult it's the ability to drink a cup of black coffee and enjoy it!

For a long time I've been itching to do something coffee related. Roasting coffee seems like interesting work, and who hasn't imagined owning a cafe or some other space that they can call their own?

So, I'm gonna do it! I will hit pause on my career and start a coffee shop in Tokyo (I live in Tokyo; it's not weird). Maybe it will be awesome and I'll quit my job to focus on it full time. Maybe it will be a disaster and I will go bankrupt and have to slink back to my soul-sucking software engineer day job to pay back my creditors. Let's find out together! I plan on sharing my progress here regularly, and I want to be as transparent about the process as possible.

If anyone reading this has experience running a cafe or other food service business I'd love to hear from you. And if you're in Tokyo, let me buy you a coffee!

It's time to go go go!