Maybe, let's see in a few weeks

Now that I’ve moved back to Sweden without most of my stuff (it’ll be on a ship soon enough), everyone’s got suggestions on necessities. Need to buy all the tools (so I can fix things), the kitchen equipment (because the kitchen is very basic), the cleaning tools (okay, the basicness here might hinder), and the big one: a car. “There are such distances now that you just have to have a car.”

I keep pushing back with “maybe, let’s see in a few weeks.”

I do this because I’ve seen how easy it is to overbuy and overcommit to stuff when “you’re at it.” It’s also true that there’s a benefit in doing it all at once, you’ll do some things from inertia that you otherwise wouldn’t. So it’s a thin edge to walk to make it “lagom” (just enough) and not under- or overdo. For example, at my first employer, we bought this fancy ERP system with all the bells and whistles, including this Cognos BI analytics suite that would be “so useful.” We paid for it all upfront instead of making it an option in our contract. We tried getting it setup, there were issues, and basically we never touched it. Made do with much simpler stuff that actually fit how we worked.

So I’m trying to not repeat that mistake.

When programming I’ve lived with the rule that you don’t get to create an abstraction for reuse until you’ve reimplemented it at least three times in the same codebase. Yes, you might see it coming kilometers away, so you can arrange things to make it simpler to extract, but don’t overdo it. That friction of actually implementing multiple times and seeing it in context each time allows you to discover if there are differences in why it’s being used. Is it literally exactly the same for the same reason, or does it just look the same but for different reasons? If it’s for different reasons it’s likely to have to diverge and will an abstraction then help or hinder?

So now as I’ve moved I’m deciding to live with the friction first, seeing what friction or pain is actually real versus what’s just different. A bike or a car? Yeah, I feel that urge already: I can’t just get around as easily as I could before. But I also haven’t really tried to adjust properly yet.

I’m writing this in Kristinehamn, which is about 1h15m away by bus, and that’s not too bad. Would likely be 30m if I had a car. But, would I have found this café I’m at if I didn’t have to take public transport here and get other transportation to my mom (she’s picking me up after doing some errands 🙂). The constraint led to discovery.

I feel the want for some stuff already. I am trying to be particular about what I’m getting, because a lot of the things I miss I’ll get from Singapore eventually (the double-walled glass cups, the gooseneck kettle, my knives and sharpening kit, etc.). But I’ll wait. (okay, I saw a nice pottery cup at the café and it fit so nicely in my hand, so I bought it, so I let the analytical side accept it brought some joy, while also slightly wincing since I don’t have an income.)

If I still feel I really need that car in one to two months, then I’ll try and find one. But I have to try and make it work first. Same with the workspace, I’m currently on the balcony (which is getting colder by the day) with a small movable desk, and maybe it’s better to just walk into the city centre and work at a café or library a couple of times a week instead of buying a better desk and chair until my other things show up. I get out, I get some exercise, and I have a chance of meeting people.

It’s so easy to get caught up and buy too much stuff because “it’s good to have,” but will you use it? Live the problem first. Feel the actual pain. Then decide if you need the solution.

The friction can be an annoyance or an encouragement to find solutions. Going for quick solutions or longterm ones is on me.