Category Archives: life stuff

It’s been overwhelming with losing my long time role last year and I have been taking time to figure out what it is that I want to do moving forward. I had been applying for a lot of roles but having taken a step back and a breath I can focus on what I actually want to do.

With this in mind I have made a few changes to the site and some of the services that I can offer given my 20+ years of commercial IT experience.

New ways to support me

I’ve updated my ABOUT page now to include clear ways you can support me in keeping the lights on. These include signing up for Patreon (yes I know, I’m trying again), donating via Ko-Fi (thanks to those that have already) and sponsorship. With sponsorship I have adjusted the price to bring it more in line with other sites based on their view counts. This is a great way to get your product or service out to an engaged and excellent audience.

Consultancy Services

I hadn’t really considered contracting before but it seems ideal for right now, I have a lot of experience and would like to put it to use. Having some variety of both who I work for and what I do sounds exciting to me and I love to help others achieve what they want in their projects. I’ve listed all of my experience on the site here. If you need a techie then please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Freelancing writing

Freelance writing is something else, kind of like contracting that is an exciting opportunity to pursue now that I am available full time. I have applied to a few roles already and if you would like to have me write on your site please contact me. My current portfolio can be found here.

I’m only really at the beginning of this new journey and it’s taken a couple of months to get my head around it all and in the right place to move forward – wish me luck.

I’ve worked in IT for over 20 years and come across personalities that use their in depth technical knowledge as a form or power and are often arrogant with it.

In my career in large organisations especially I come across these types a lot and the amount they talk down to people or do not help unless you show you already have some knowledge is unbelievable. In the end I just stopped dealing with them and finding people that are open to questions and don’t look down upon you for not knowing all the answers. Being curious and asking questions is part of learning, if you come across these types of people distance yourselves from them. If you work in smaller organisations they don’t last long in my experience but still if you come across them, avoid.

Unfortunately it’s something that I see on some established tech podcasts more these days and it’s an instant unsubscribe.

Referring to forum users (or the very same people you want support from) as idiots isn’t a great look in my opinion. Hubris probably comes along with the territory when you’re a large podcast I expect but I just feel that some podcasters have lost what it’s like to be curious and be a day to day user of technology.

This is a strange post to write now I’m thinking about it but I guess I wanted to vent a little and also just advise that if you come across people that make you uncomfortable in this way disconnect or unfollow for your mental health.

2020 has been another year of growth for the blog. Visits are up 35% and I’m finding now that I’m posting more regularly things are on the up. But, I need to look at ways it can support me now I’m out of work.

Thanks to my Ko-Fi supporters I’ve been able to keep the lights on for another year and I appreciate this more than anything on the creative side this year – thanks. Without your support I wouldn’t be writing this.

In terms of other ways I can help keep me writing here, it’s been terrible being honest. I have no support via patreon or a sponsor. I’m not a marketing genius but I’m running out of ideas here. I have applied for third party platforms like Carbon but been rejected by them all. Rejection is something I’m getting used to having applied to so many jobs, but I digress.

I’m on the verge of giving up monetising completely.

I’m not sure what I’ll do with my creative pull going forward. My day is taken up with personal stuff and thinking about how to get an income.

I’m thinking about going in with video in the new year but the way I’ve been feeling I’m not sure if this’ll be a good thing or bad. It’s something I’m going to think seriously about and see if I can add anything.

I enjoy podcasting but based on my trail of failed projects I’m a better guest than host. Another creative outlet I need to think about. Maybe I’ll relaunch Home Screens as it picked up a little following for a while there.

Anyway this isn’t the most positive of posts but I’m sharing where I’m at and how I’m feeling.

I haven’t planned any goals for the new year aside from finding a new day job. My creative endeavours are in the background now but I’m going to try to plan some time to sit down and plan what it may look like and if I have the energy to see something through.

I’ve been out of work now for just over a week and one thing I’m finding hard is losing that schedule of a 9 to 5 job, especially if you had client contact and lots of meetings like I did. I had a hybrid role, somewhere between Technical Consultant and Solutions Architect and was always engaged in something or other. Suddenly stopping that is very difficult and it’s a bit of a struggle right now, appreciate it is hard for everyone in 2020.

It’s easy to fall into treating each day with a lack of focus and energy. Getting lost in thoughts and worry is also easy when you suddenly have headspace. I can’t read the news, especially anything to do with the economy and it’s easy to see doom and gloom.

But, I’m finding if you plan out your projects and your day then it helps give you some focus and takes your mind of things. Be it DIY, gaming or your creative projects you can set aside time for each. I’m not planning meetings into my calendar but having distinct projects in my to do app for each goal and to do items that remind me to chip away at them each day.

Even if it’s all on paper, write down a few things you want to accomplish. Like say launch a Star Wars podcast (watch this space) or finally record that music you’ve been meaning to (again, watch this space).

These give you some purpose outside of the daily job search and rejection cycle that it’s easy to fall into. You can’t look for jobs 7 hours a day! Take time to look at what you want to achieve and plan some time for it.