so, so much happened this month…

about the tea house & snek cult

those are two servers i own over on revolt; for snek cult i am now looking for a new owner. there are nearly 1,300 members in snek cult, but it was insanely mismanaged by previous owners. revolt as a platform is slow, however – like a rural café on a rainy Sunday afternoon. attempts at bringing snek cult back to life after it had been neglected for so long have been in vain.

the tea house, unlike snek cult, is a server i started myself. only slightly over 200 members, but with at least a little activity, i decided to have it removed from revolt's discovery tab (meaning the server is now invite-only). i'm not interested in growing a community anymore… i've learned that how many members a server has is irrelevant if the people that are present engage honestly and frankly, which seems to be the case for the tea house. i'm honestly super, super grateful for the people i've met there.

but the main reason why i decided to have tea house unlisted is because i wish to spend less time on revolt. most of the interaction on discord or revolt feels… superficial at best, uninteresting most times, and downright annoying at the worst times. there are a few, very few people i have met on discord or revolt with whom i feel i genuinely managed to connect somewhat, and i shall be forever grateful for their friendship.

it has become clear that spending less time on these platforms, the way they are designed to be engaged in, is the way i personally wish to go forward, focusing on my already existing friendships and my own life rather than huge servers and their chaotic bustle.

about my career

last week i did an internship as forest worker, and it was absolutely amazing. i live far out in the sticks and nature is truly beautiful out here, which is in part why i was interested in the jobs of forest keepers and forest workers. despite the heat (+30°C on some days), despite rain, despite mosquitoes, ticks and spiders, each day i went outside with other members of a training squad (two mentors and the rest apprentices) and we did various jobs in and around the forests in our region. looking for harmful bug infestations and marking trees, cutting and preparing trees for transport, servicing pathways, learning about trees and plants and animals, learning about planning and organising a forest… it was honestly immensely interesting and, albeit very physically demanding, i haven't had as much fun in the two years on my last job in an office.

there are different aspects about the work i really loved tbh. the work outside, even though it was hard, felt like it had actual value for the forests as an ecosystem. compare that to a mindless office job where companies' sole purpose is profit… let's just say i felt a lot better about the work itself. but also the fact that it keeps you physically active is something i really liked. when i imagined myself after another 40 years of office work i didn't feel so confident about my health than if i were to imagine myself after 40 years of servicing forests. and it's… quieter work, too. granted, not when you operate a chainsaw, but whenever you walk through the woods, smell the dampness of trees, of moss, of other plants, whenever you just listen consciously for the cornucopia of sounds in such a forest… i know i'm totally nerding around here, but it was an amazing experience.

so much so that i decided to hand in my application as an apprentice forest worker! sadly they aren't accepting any new apprentices this year. but i can still work an office job until next year, if i get the job. i truly hope i do. if not, i definitely want to keep looking for alternatives to a job in the office.

about nerdy things

one of the people i've met over on revolt recently feels… excuse the cheesy expression, but they feel like an absolute soulmate. in a very short amount of time we have shared what feels like years of two people's lives. i feel so happy, and blessed. now, granted, no one knows what the future holds in store for us, but no matter where our respective paths lead, i can already say with confidence that this person has left a lasting impression on me.

they might end up reading this at some point (hi!) so i don't wanna embarrass them too much by throwing around big words, but… thank you. a lot. you know who you are and if you read this you should know i'm so happy we're currently supporting each other.

in the last two or three days we've started nerding out over emulating games. the games themselves, means of emulation, devices, shaders… i am right back in my childhood, haha. even bought an old crt tv and i'm now emulating on my steam deck… on this crt tv! it's lots of fun tbh.

never be afraid to have a nerdy hobby! it may even lead to having great times with similar-minded people! c: