I was a SysAdmin/Tech Support for 15+ years and also super burned out. I moved into Analytics, specifically using visualization software (Tableau) with SQL, and I could not be happier with it. The stakes are so much lower, and therefore, so is the stress. I feel that it’s just technical enough to scratch that itch, but not so much that I end up just doing tech support again. Nobody needs a pie chart at 3 fucking am like they needed with server reboots.
With your background in tech, any viz software should be relatively easy for you to pick up. I was able to get into a free program in my area that trained for Analytics, so I’m not sure what may or may be available to you in your area. But at the very least, there should be plenty of stuff online for learning Tableau and SQL for free if that interests you.
I don’t love our HOA, but they are pretty inoffensive and don’t really bother me. They don’t want to deal with actual fines and whatnot, so they just keep kindly reminding folks to move their trashcans and their cars off the street. Our very low yearly fee is used to maintain common ground, pay for the lights on the street, and snow plowing for the subdivision streets. In general, I think I would still prefer not having one and having more freedom, but so far they haven’t been anything like the mini dictatorships you hear about all the time. Solid meh.