The Current State of Play

This blog has become like a bidet - seldom used, and when it is used it's not for the purpose it was intended. Life in Ireland, despite Covid, has become busy. For the past 4-months I've been power-learning a new subject: Cybersecurity.

If you follow me on Twitter you'll know that I'm somewhat password paranoid, having spent an evening at the start of Lockdown 1 investigating the fringes of the Dark Web and having found my own email address and password for sale c/o a hack on my domain name provider. Sobering.

I now work for a cybersecurity software firm full time as Content Marketing Manager. This isn't a product-specific role (application security, cloud, bot, edge, whatever) like the bulk of our marketing team, but rather about creating graphical, written, video and audio content for our sales teams, customers, prospects and campaigns. This includes brand and content strategy, including social, obviously. It's interesting, uses my full skillset, and right up my street.

It's a steep product learning curve, but it's a ground-breaking company with an excellent product offering. Our new UK offices are based in Belfast, but I'm working from home in Omagh right now and the 'new normal' means location isn't a factor any more. My colleagues are awesome and it's solid and stable stuff, which counts for a lot these days. I'm feelin' like I'll be happy here indefinitely.

Northern Ireland is being very kind to me and I've no plans to return to England. I'm house hunting around Gortin, Omagh and Newtownstewart, in Co. Tyrone, for something I can turn into an AirBnB or B&B in my dotage. Fingers crossed, pending surveys and mortgage shenanigans, I hope to be in somewhere by late-spring. 

My sweary Who fan podcast has had a revival, which has been fun. VTT games have replaced table-top, such is the way of things, but I'm still playing and reffing a couple of nights a week. It's a social luxury I know many people don't have and I'm always grateful for the company of good friends - back to back against the darkness. Not a lot of space here for model-making and painting, but I hope to resolve that when I move. There are other projects in the works.

No promises on any regular blog updates - life is busy. Time to shed a few Covid inches, brush up on my Premiere Pro, and embrace the DIY.

Waving Goodbye to Blighty

Just a few lines to announce I'm heading for pastures new.

At the beginning of August, things being what they are, I was made redundant at Everard Group. A bloody shame, we had such plans and I really enjoyed working with some great folks there, but this is what happens when people eat Chiroptera.

With a looming UK (nay, World) recession, a current pandemic, a change in the general attitude of the UK as it careens towards casual fascism, unemployment, and Brexit hanging over the head of the working classes like the sword of Damocles, I've decided to run for (almost) foreign shores. As of tomorrow, I'll be a resident of Northern Ireland. 

From beautiful scenery to a lower cost of living. Here's to countless beaches and dramatic coastlines. The Ulster fry. Powers and Jameson's. Friendly folks who don't mind introverts. Taytos. Brilliant local radio. Better education. C.S Lewis, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, and Gary Moore. Open fires on rainy afternoons and ancient forests to walk my dogs.

Recent politics, media bias, a lack of general education, and a swing towards general intolerance means England isn't my home anymore. I'm done.

I'm in my fifties now. Here's to the third act.

I'll be living in Co. Tyrone for the first year, job hunting in The North and The Republic for something appropriate, and filling in the gaps with contract stuff. My worldly goods are packed into a Pickfords van, and I'm heading for the ferry as I press send on this post. There's a lot that local SMEs can get from what I do, and I feel a calling.

Connect with me on LinkedIn if you're looking for advice from a digital marketing manager in the Omagh area, if you have a contract or something permanent you think might entertain me, or happen to be local and fancy a drink.

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” - Samuel Beckett.