# The Otter and the Dust Bin A new job is a gravity well. It ate the calendar first, then the evenings the side projects lived in. The [[Vibe Reader Product Log|voice-first reader]] has a product plan and OKRs. The [[02.10.26 - RingConn and the Case for Dumb Hardware|ring plumbing]] had real momentum in February. Both went to the dust bin anyway. Turns out a well considered project still loses to a new job, and the shelving stings more for it. Ionesco has the line I keep coming back to: "A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing." Swap writer for builder and it still holds. Agatha Christie put it with less drama: "The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes." And that is where the projects actually are. They are underwater. The project, like a character, is always occupying some mental space, surfacing above the water curious and otter-like when the right association bobs along. A feature idea in the middle of a standup. A fix, appropriately, while doing the dishes. Building is on pause. I am still working.