Hi. I'm back.

I missed you all.

It’s not April 1, but I knew it then. I wanted to tell you all, because I mean wouldn’t it be a fantastically bittersweet cruel joke, that turned out to not be a joke?

At the same time I felt it was too mean, since then I’ve been sitting here eager, happy, and excited to tell all of you that I am back.

And hopefully back to stay.

I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of questions. Some of you wont even know what I’m back from/for?

I’m back as Project Manager for #Mastodon.

I’m back from being sick, too sick to function. I ended up getting a month and a half of sick-leave, but it took me a while to actually get there. And that, together with some other stuff, has brought me back, on top of the world (that's how I feel)

https://discourse.joinmastodon.org/t/hi-im-back-i-missed-you/923

I figured the question a while back may have revealed it to you. Some seemed to have maybe caught on. Some (very few) seemed to have thought that was me saying I was now the Project Manager. But today I can say it. It may be weird to attach so much feelings of pride to those two words? Project Manager.

And yes, you are probably right, but I loved my time with you all, even when it was tough, I hated that I had to leave because of my mental health, and I thought that I was never going to be able to come back, but I am here now, today, I’m back. For you.

To allow for some transparency, me and Gargron reached an agreement that we’re testing out for this first month. Basically I won’t be working hours, we have agreed to a monthly pay.

This is so I can focus on giving you all and the project the best care possible, without worrying about if I can properly track the minutes I work. I want to be there for you all when I am around. Not shut myself down and say “No sorry not working now, ttyl”. It does not foster a very good relationship.

In regards to this I will also be making myself an alt account for more of my private stuff. But also, just a place I can hang and chill when I’m not necessarily working. I will without hesitation block anyone who brings up work with me to that account.

So, if you want to talk about mastodon the project, you find me right here on @maloki as usual.

But if you want my private side, i'm over on @maloki 🕵️‍♀️ this one wont be open for everyone but posts probably mostly public.

I want to extend an enormous thank you, to all of you. When I stepped away, you were all so supportive of me, and appreciated what I did or had done for the project.

It was a difficult decision to make, but I made it so I could regain strength, and come back if fate allowed it. If you had asked me a month ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that I was coming back, I didn’t know I could, I didn’t even think I could go back to university.

I also want to take this moment to recognize that some of you do not like me, but I am willing to put the past in the past and move on, if you are willing to as well.

As an act of good faith, I have unblocked and unmuted everyone who had ended up there for a reason or another, as I’m moving my personal time to another account.

I will however be setting my foot down on moot discussions, and maybe not entertain every idea. It’s about boundaries, and respecting each others time.

If anyone has anything they’d like to sort out with me, I’m open to have a chat. We (both me and Eugen) are also reachable via an email now, hello@joinmastodon.org.

With that in mind, I will be continuing the work on making the scope and the mission for Mastodon clear. This will help both you and us to delineate what is feasible for Mastodon to do, and what another project is better suited to pick up.

Last time around I couldn’t deal with DMs due to lack of spoons, that is not an issue now, so my DMs are open, but always remember, for more efficiency it is in 9 of 10 times better to write me a public/unlisted message, especially when you have questions, so I can boost the questions I can’t answer at the moment.

It’s what I’ve been doing lately anyways, always just boosting when I can’t answer. There’s a chance that someone else can. Remember that you can use #NeedHelp and #AdminNeedHelp

There’s been some fantastic work by others, and I see you all. And boost a lot of your good shit.

We’re all building this together, by our presence, by our code, by our outreach, by our care for each other.

I think this mostly covers it.

Hi, herd, I’m back!

💞

Ps, did I ever tell you that I am ?

(Totally seamless, no one will notice! )