What I Did On My Winter Vacation
...Return of the Substack!
The last time I published this newsletter was in February. It’s almost May now.
That was a while ago!
1. I Have a New Job.
The big thing: After seven years or so(!) of self-employment, I have joined Pluralsight as their Senior Cloud Computing Newsletter Writer.
I am writing Pluralsight’s soon-to-launch cloud newsletter. We will be a one-stop shop for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud professionals who want to keep track of industry developments and improve their skills.
My colleagues are amazing and we’re also launching AI and cybersecurity industry newsletters I think you will love.
Going in-house after years of working as a consultant and building a business during some very challenging industry conditions, well… it’s different.
You mean I’m not working on weekends and pulling 60-hour weeks every week?! Speaking of which…
2. Life is Different.
Writing about myself is a boring thing. However, I’ll say this:
I blinked and suddenly life was very much about work, childcare, and eldercare without a whole lot of in-between. I remember when I used to go see bands play live three nights a week and would hang out with friends the other nights. That, it seems, was a while ago.
But I miss going hiking. I miss building stuff. I miss biking places. I miss working on creative projects. I miss traveling. Part of 2025 is making room for that stuff to happen.
3. I Have Stuff I Want to Write About, and it’s Not Comms.
Industry burnout is a real thing. I’m at a place where the idea of writing weekly articles about podcasts, YouTube, newsletters, and SEO as a hobby instead of a revenue-generating business feels like a bit of a drag.
Some of the stuff I’d like to write about:
Using ChatGPT as a home improvement/maintenance companion. (Seriously, it’s great. Example: Upload pictures of the doorknob in your house that doesn’t lock from 2 or 3 angles. Ask ChatGPT “analyze these pictures and tell me the easiest ways to make this doorknob lock again.” It will tell you exactly what to do. You then watch YouTube to see how to do it visually. Problem solved.)
Also on the ChatGPT beat: Using ChatGPT as an eldercare companion. It’s great. Upload the insurance company PDFs to ChatGPT and it will make sense of the rules for you. Upload notes from doctors/caseworkers/etc and it will recommend next steps and red flags for you to look for. It’s an infinitely helpful but very forgetful logistical aide for any bureaucracy-heavy task. Lifesaver.
Instant Pot recipes. I work a lot, my kid is a picky-ish eater and I’m trying my best to avoid fast food/prepackaged food. Instant Pot = best friend. Pretty sure I’m unintentionally working through the world’s cuisines trying out new Instant Pot recipes for stews, braises, curries, beans, meatballs, etc.
How social media has fried people’s brains. I know a couple of folks who have turned into Twitter/X controversial take addicts, and you may know people like them as well. They’ve traded socializing with friends in person for non-stop arguing with strangers on the internet and embracing more and more extreme opinions for clout. Not fun! Also opening the comments on random innocuous TikTok videos and getting hit by a tsunami of bigoted tomfoolery. Not fun either.
This is a longwinded way of saying that I’m going to try some new things in this newsletter and I hope you’ll stick around for the ride.
-Neal
Congrats on the gig, Neal!