Now Archive: October 2020

  • 1st Oct 2020
    •  • 
  • 5 min read

This is my Now page and here’s what’s up for me these days (as posted on 10/01/2020). For my current Now page, go here.

My new job as Global Learning Technology & Analytics Manager for ConvaTec isn’t as new anymore. Though I’m still learning the ropes and meeting new people every day, I’m also settling in. I’ve got my work cut out for me, that’s for sure!

I just stepped down as Director of Marketing for Energy Utility Group. Between the chaotic market conditions, my limited bandwidth, and a change in direction for the company, it made sense. A bit sad after all the work I put in, but I’m handing everything off and we’re parting amiably.

Snap Synapse LLC has one tiny engagement to see it through the end of the year. It happens to be with one of our biggest clients ever, and is basically just me getting tapped for a bit of advice every now and then. After 15+ years, I’m planning to close up the business within the next two months. It sustained me successfully for a good long run, I learned a ton about running my own business (as a Sole Prop, C-corp, S-corp, & LLC over the years)…but I don’t really need it anymore. Besides, I still have Clear Mind Publishing and Doable Change Corp on the books if I get bored ;)

Boredom doesn’t look likely though, as last month I was accepted into a Data Analytics & Visualization Bootcamp program. It’s a masters level course, complete with online lectures, twice weekly meetings, homework, and class projects. I’m learning all about the higher functions of Excel for data science, and soon we’ll be getting to Tableau for the data visualizations part. I need all this to kick ass at my new job, which I plan to do with some epic end-of-year reporting that I have planned. Until then, I’m learning up a storm. It’s hard and it’s worthwhile.

I was hoping I could muster the energy to complete my first Cornerstone OnDemand Certification at the same time as this data course, but…that was over-ambitious of me. I don’t think I’ll be able to squeeze that in yet. Maybe sometime before year’s end?

Being off of most social media has opened up a lot more energy and time for me, I’m happy to say. LinkedIn posts are queued up for 2-3 weeks in advance, generally. I check in on how they’re going once a day or so. Other than that, meh. Too much toxicity out there these days. People are so hyped up and strung out and angry and scared so often that I find almost no one on The Socials like Facebook or Twitter or Instagram wants to hear much from a thinking man like me. Will reassess this after the raging dumpsterfire that is our 2020 election…if it ever ends, that is.

Personal projects for October include:

  • Fall Garden = So my greenhouse plans got delayed by about 6-weeks due to COVID, an HOA approval, and a big fat Home Depot shipping error. Basically, I got 3/4 of a greenhouse in August, but that wasn’t quite enough to put it up until the rest arrived last week. This month I’ll finish out the build, the planting, and generally make the best of the time I have left before the temps drop to below freezing and stay there for a while. This greenhouse isn’t heated, so I’d only planned for 3-season use.
  • Denise Birthday Getaway = This one’s just for fun, but is still a sizable thing for the month. I’m working the system and cashing in a ton of travel points to make for a very nice birthday gift for my partner! We’ll be visiting the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone in style (I’ve never been!).
  • Raspberry Pi Network monitoring & logging = I still have weird issues going on every now and again, and it’s time to throw some Pi at the problem. I also want to set it up as my DNS once more, and possibly roll my own VPN as a stretch goal.
  • Full Plex & Nextcloud integration = Now that I’ve got my NAS setup and my data mostly deduplicated, it’s time to harvest the fruits of this labor. I want ALL my music and ALL my videos and ALL my documents to be instantly accessible to me (privately!) from my home network, and anywhere else I happen to be. Wish me luck!
  • Financial Plan Forward = Money advice in general has never suited me, because my life has never looked like most people in general. No kids, no faith in my country’s economy long-term, no constants anywhere for either income or outgo. Now that least the income piece has changed, I have the means to potentially pay off the debt I incurred in the last year. So I’m focused on doing that, and making a plan for what happens after. I’ve not been here for a looong time, I’ve not let myself plan like this. It’s time. Time to make the most of what I’ve got and do things a bit differently than ever before. And probably very differently than everyone else, because my circumstances and my perspectives just are.