This morning, I had a heart attack. Probably not great for my health, but... sure was tasty.
Mmm, pumpernickel...
Of course, the 'heart attack' in question was Taylor ham, bacon, sausage, egg, and cheese on a pumpernickel bagel. Not the sort of thing I should consume with any regularity, but since I've lost five pounds (weight, not currency) since last month, I decided I could afford it. Seems the move has taken a lot out of me, figuratively and literally.
Movin' Right Along
What move? Keep up, peruser. Some days before my birthday, I (and my former fellow tenants) got less than a month and a half's notice that our new landlord was not going to renew any of our yearly leases, all of which ended as of October 31st. For those keeping score at home: I moved in to that apartment in November 2003 and started working at Microwize Technology in January 2004; I lost the job in May 2025 and lost the apartment in October 2025. "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans..." Anyway, after a few quick bouts of panic and depression, I managed to find another place.
While my new abode is not very distant from my old abode, numerous trips down and up the stairs of the old apartment (my Apple Watch registered a whopping 56 flights climbed on October 29th!) carrying more than I should have alone no doubt contributed to the bit of weight loss. I did get assistance from my friend Joe with bringing some of the heavier and/or bulkier items down, and my friends Barbara and Tom helped with the last-day sprint on Halloween moving the last dregs over; none of us were dressed for the holiday, but I was wearing a Planet Express T-shirt. Gina came over on Saturday and we did some organizing and rearranging before having my/our first meal (sushi, natch) and first glass of wine in the new apartment. I appreciate all the aiding and abetting.
Nothing Is So Painful to the Human Mind as a Great and Sudden Change
I'm still working on setting things up (three IKEA runs later), but the place is already quite comfortable and liveable. And hey, I've got a back yard and squirrels I can see through the living room window now. While the novelty of being unemployed has long since worn off (no, I haven't found a job yet, and wouldn't mind help if you know of anything), it was certainly convenient that I had more daylight hours than usual to plan and pack and move things than I normally would have. Losing the job and then the dwelling has shaken things up for me, and I have to admit it's for the best, even if it was briefly painful to even my mind.
Speaking of Mary Shelley, I watched Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein" last night. I'd have preferred it if Netflix had released it two weeks earlier so I could have watched it pre-Halloween during spooky Sazón, but I suppose I can understand the financial reasoning behind doing the theatrical release first. Regardless, I enjoyed it a lot. The mood, the performances, and the creature's loneliness made for an impressive if somber film.
I don't know why it took me so long to check it out, but I finally started watching "Orphan Black" on Netflix recently, and I'm hooked. HBO's "It: Welcome to Derry" is quite good so far, too, looking forward to the third episode. I still don't want to sit in front of the tube screen for too long each night, but two episodes seems to be working out for now.
Yesterday would've been my friend and former colleague Sally's birthday. Can't believe she's been gone over ten years now, and the last time I saw her was a few years before that, but yeah, I miss her still.
"'But I'm feeling quite weak,' she said... 'Will you comfort and forgive me?' she said..."
My long, storied career with Microwize Technology is coming to an end. You won't believe what happens next! Well, OK, maybe you will. I can't really say, because I don't yet know what happens next.
21 Years at Microwize
I've been with my current employer almost as long as some of my colleagues have been alive. Not an exaggeration. I started with Microwize in January 2004, several weeks after losing my job when my then-current employer (of over ten years) was acquired by another company and my role made redundant. The owner of that company knew the owner of this one—as did I, since he'd worked there previously, too—and asked about getting me hired there. Robert agreed to give me a shot, and so I went from MIS manager at AA World Class, an embroidery maker, to software/hardware specialist at Microwize Technology, a healthcare technology consulting firm.
Over the last two decades, my title has changed a few times: technical support supervisor, IT specialist, data services manager, and marketing manager (with a heaping side of data services manager). A lot of people have come and gone in that time, and I count myself lucky to have met most of them. I've absorbed a lot of knowledge, and my work in, and with, various teams led a colleague to claim that I've been "translating across departments since 2004." Personally, I like to think that one of my most important unofficial roles in the company (besides proofreader) has been facilitator, asking the right questions or providing the right answers or getting the right people in touch with each other to reduce the confusion and friction that so often crops up in business.
The Final Countdown
No one is irreplaceable. We've all heard that at some point or another, and most of us hopefully understand it to be true. In my case, while it seemed likely that I'd stay at Microwize until I retired, in point of fact, that's not how it's going down. Robert informed me recently that he was letting me go, not for performance or personal reasons but due to changes in the industry and the need to realign internal resources. As a result, this will be my last week with the company.
Did the news gast my flabber? Absolutely. I'd sensed change was afoot, but neither my colleagues nor I had anticipated this outcome. I understand that the decision was a business decision, however, and not an easy one to make; Robert and I have known each other for over 30 years. And no, artificial intelligence isn't taking my job. I may not agree with how he's handling it, but it's his business. I'm taking it all with a grain of salt, some lime, and copious amounts of tequila. After all, you know what they say: when one door closes, the air pressure builds until Windows crashes. Or something like that. But still, it's farewell...
As a result, yes, I am open to work. I'm in the process of putting all my affairs in order (sure, it's the wrong choice of words, but...) during this last week, and then I need to get my résumé and my LinkedIn profile updated, and test the wind and determine in which direction my adventures will take me next. If you've got ideas or recommendations or offers, I'd love to hear them! And maybe I'll come back to Earth... who can tell?
Most people don't have any concepts of a plan of an idea what the hell a phone app is. They were hiding all the cats and dogs on National Taco Day. Why are National Coffee Day and International Coffee Day just two days apart? Someone's not drinking enough coffee, or maybe too much. What's that? The rules were that you guys weren't going to fact-check!
Bandcamp Friday
Anyway, International Music Day just passed, too... Now that I've gotten all of that out of my system, I'd written previously (almost exactly a year ago, in fact) about Bandcamp being sold to Songtradr. While there was a lot of concern at the time about what would become of the music platform beloved by independent artists like me, and dismay at the layoffs that ensued, things seem to be going OK for now, and in fact today is another Bandcamp Friday, when music fans can buy music from indie artists (like me!) and Bandcamp will waive its usual revenue share so the artists get that much more. Needless to say, I haven't hopped off the bandcampwagon yet, but I've been hearing lately about a "collectively-owned successor" in the works called Subvert. While I've never made much money from my music, and I don't expect that to change now, I am intrigued by Subvert's admittedly lofty goals, and I'm looking on with interest.
What else... Gina and I spent two nights in Beach Haven on LBI in July, and saw the "Footloose" musical at the Surflight Theatre there, which was a lot of fun. We ended up going back in August to see "Titanic," then took a trip out to Foxburg, PA and enjoyed both the Foxburg Inn and Foxburg Wine Cellars very much. The two of us brought her dog Bailey with us to Vermont over Labor Day weekend, a relaxing getaway we all needed. Gina and I saw "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" last month, and it was such a great movie! I took her and her daughter Hannah to the New York Renaissance Faire for the first time, and I suspect it won't be the last. And another trip to Vermont, to glimpse some of the amazing foliage, is imminent...
I haven't upgraded to macOS Sequoia yet, but soon. I did update the ol' iPhone 12 Pro to iOS 18.0 (and now 18.0.1) with no hiccups; I'm thinking it's just about time for a phone upgrade, though. At work, we've been incorporating more AI into our routines, as is probably the case with many of you, but I hadn't played around with it too much on a personal level... until last week when one of my colleagues, Monica, let us know about Google's latest toy, NotebookLM. I decided to feed it two of the pages from my Website, and this (after I did a little editing, and added some music and visualization) is what it created. Just a little bit spooky.
Vosita
Oh, and speaking of work, Vosita Healthcare is giving away a Cybertruck for Kids in December, and I'm in the promotional video! Check it out, and see more details at https://go.vosita.com/win.
That's no temporary moon, that's a spa- oh, my bad, it is a temporary moon.
Well, this doesn't bode well. Two weeks ago, Epic Games, which had purchased the online audio distribution platform Bandcamp back in early 2022, surprised Bandcamp's employees by announcing that over 800 of them would be laid off and the platform was being sold to Songtradr, a music licensing marketplace.
Needless to say, this did not sit well with the Bandcamp staff, whose union has launched a petition for recognition by and negotiations with Songtradr's CEO. The artists and fans who've come to love Bandcamp over the years are also uncertain about their future with the platform, however. And yes, I'm among them.
Bandcamp gives its artists an average of over 80% of their music and merch sales, making Scrooges of Spotify and the other music platforms. On Bandcamp Fridays, that average goes up to over 90%. Between the platform's artist-friendly generosity and its fan community, it has long been a favorite of musicians. Epic didn't make any changes to the formula, but Songtradr has said that "[b]ased on its current financials, Bandcamp requires some adjustments to ensure a sustainable and healthy company that can serve its community of artists and fans long into the future."
So, yes, even though today isn't actually a Bandcamp Friday, it feels like it's Bandcamp Friday the 13th. It remains to be seen what those 'adjustments' will be, but independent artists can scarcely afford to lose as good a friend as Bandcamp has been to us. Here's hoping Songtradr doesn't break its new toy.
