Saturday, 7 February 2026

General life update plus new book covers

 As you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging much.  On the whole, blogs are on their way out and Social Media is the big thing right now.

I've had lots to say over on my YouTube channel about writing and other cool things. Feel free to check it out, drops some likes, maybe a subscribe if my topics catch more than a passing fancy in your heart.

Recently a cousin of mine, who is a Historian by profession, was speaking about the archiving of one's personal history--journals, diaries, that sort of thing. She's been working on a particular project that involves reading diaries from over a hundred years ago. She experiences some vicarious regret that more people did not leave more imprints of their lives. She has a story about how the record of some people's lives were little more than an entry in the local gravedigger's diary.

That's why I popped into here. I came to make an archive of this blog's contents for posterity's sake. Back when I needed to discontinue my LiveJournal for a very good reason, I learned it had an archive feature that permitted me to download my content and save it on my hard drive.

Blogs are good like that. They're about the retention of information--hopefully useful--for the sake of others. YouTube (as I mentioned before), also acts as a repository of information.

Social Media, on the other hand, isn't so much focused on storing information in the long run, but focuses more on interactivity between humans within the moment. "What are you doing today?" is the question.  Then tomorrow comes, and yesterday becomes forgotten.

But what happens to all that information you've put up on social media? Where is it stored, how can you search it, where does it go? In ten years', a hundred years' time, would historians be able to trawl through the repositories (if they exist) of social media and put together a picture of your life? 

We don't have that guarantee.

Sure, the social media sites do store the information. And why not? Information is useful. It's worth money, potentially lots of money, to them, for various reasons. Is it worth money to you? Not really, no. You are the commodity being sold. You are the eyeballs in which they drop adverts.  (Oh, buy my books.)

If you are interested, here's my social media links:

So, what's been happening in my life:

Well, I got a new job. Took me several months after my previous blog post, but I did it. It took some time because I had a question I needed answered: was it the Old Job or the Career that I didn't like?

Applying to new places would answer the first half. Applying to non-IT jobs would answer the second.

But when I applied for non-IT jobs (even if they were similar fields), I got no nibbles. It seems the world thought I had to be placed in a niche.  That sucks, because I am a polymath. Not only do I have knowledge in several fields, I'm experienced in those fields. 

Eventually, I gave in and applied for IT jobs. Bah. Within three interviews, I scored myself a position. Am now gainfully employed.

Benefits of the day job:

  • It's in an Educational Institution. This suits my personality better. (Not sure if it's because or in spite of the fact that Educational Institutions tend to be run by Chaos Gremlins.)
  • It's a step down in level (from 4.4 to 3.1).  If I was building an IT career, this could be considered a detriment, but for me, the responsibility burden was much less, and I like it like that. Another reason I don't mind is...
  • It's a step up in pay.  Yeah, you heard me. A 3.1 position (same area, same skill set) at this new place was paying $5K/a more than a 4.4 position at the old job. 
  • It comes with incrementation. With my old job, I'd reached my maximum earning potential. But here, I'm at the bottom and only way to go is up. I've had several pay increments already, much to my delight.
  • It's a larger organisation. This means more opportunities for career growth (if I wanted to go that way) or lateral movement (if I get bored of IT). I didn't have that at the old job. Now, I am in the process of tapping into some of that lateral movement opportunity, but this will take time.
  • It comes with some built-in writing time, should I choose to take this up. This is not part of the job itself, but due to the commute. Yes, I write novels whilst on the train.
Detriments of the Day Job:
  • It is not geographically convenient. It takes me approximately an hour, sometimes longer, depending on which campus I'm at. While this does afford me an enforced downtime in which I can read/write a novel, edit a short video, or even just zone out should I choose, it does take a significant chunk out of my day in which I can't re-devote to something else.  I can't just pop out for an hour for a doctor or dentist appointment, that sort of thing.  
  • It is run by Chaos Demons. This is not unique to this one organisation. But sometimes it does have a negative impact.  Fr'ex, I had an opportunity to move up into a Level 4 position permanently. While it would have made me a lot more money, and it is, in previous practice, work I can do, the structure of this one particular role was so chaotic and undefined that it made it almost impossible for me to carry out this work. (Yeah, I did cover for someone for a month during leave, so I had first-hand experience. It was nuts.)
  • I'm getting too old for this type of work, at a full-time schedule. My body has hit Mid-Life. It's starting to fall apart. Some of the physical demands needed from me for this job are taking a toll on my poor limbs. Now, while there is something medical going on that my doctor and I haven't been able to figure out yet, until we do, I'm working my body a little harder than it can handle, and I'm paying the price. If my doctor and I can't diagnose and treat whatever it is that makes my legs go Ow!, I'll be needing to find a work alternative in another couple of years anyway.  It's a good thing I've got a couple of plans already set in motion.
And that's my update. 

Books


I wrote these two books on the train:






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