The Fade

A series in 2 parts

The hobby I used to love, the job I started to hate

Part 1 of 2 — 2026-10-26 — 9 min read — 1769 Words

Looking straight up between three dark glass office towers into a pale sky, with a small plane passing high above the gap between them — Photo by Smit Patel on Unsplash

I’m 14, and I’ve already chosen what to do the rest of my life. Next year, the Tunisian educational system will ask me to pick a stream: maths, science or literature.
Nobody needs to ask. It’s maths, because maths leads to engineering school, and engineering school leads to computers.
I know nothing about salaries, job markets or what a software engineer does all day. But all I know is that it’s the path to follow to my dream job.

I fixed my father’s watch, it fixed me back

Part 2 of 2 — 2026-10-27 — 6 min read — 1217 Words

#career #identity #craft

Technical diagram of a clock gear train from a 19th-century physics textbook, showing interlocking wheels and pinions on a shared arbor — From “Tidens naturlære” 1903 by Poul la Cour

Nearly 30 years ago, I handed my father’s watch to a professional watchmaker for a routine service.
When I came back to collect it, he put it on the counter without explanation. And to my horror, the crystal was shattered. The hands were missing. The dial was scratched, the case bent. Irreparably damaged, he told me.
I was twenty years old.