Funemployment part 1

A weeknote starting 18 August 2025.

I'm half way through my 2 weeks of funemployment, waiting for my next contract to start at Intellectual Property Office (IPO).

Apart from responding to a few onboarding emails, I've been trying to switch off from work and have some family time.

Standing out through writing

I was going to write about how I found my new contract, but I don't really have the energy for it. I also think it's come down to a lot of luck and privilege.

One thing that is in my control is having a decent "personal brand" (hate that phrase). Or, as Pavel Samsonov put it recently: Standing out through writing.

For lots of reasons I think writing in the open is the best thing someone can do to get ahead in this industry.

Becoming the dad taxi

The weather has been nice, so I've been aiming to reach laundry zero, but somehow the baskets keep filling up. Probably something to do with having teenage kids. I've also been driving the teenagers around. I appear to be entering the "dad taxi" phase of life. Still, I'm happy that I have the opportunity to do it.

Some time to relax

To relax, I've been spending time with family and friends. I've been able to see my nieces and nephews a bit more than usual.

We've done a few a beach and park trips. Swansea has so many great beaches to choose from (around 40). This time we went to Horton which has a good balance of feeling remote but still has good facilities (car park, toilets, coffee hut, life guards).

I've been catching up with the excellent For Wales See Wales podcast. I'm still a few episodes behind. I particulary enjoyed the recent episode with Leanne Wood. The Senedd elections are set to be very interesting next year.

I'm reading Butter by Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton).

We did a craft beer tasting night from my favourite brewery (Beer Riff) at a local wine shop called ND Johns. They do really good pizzas too, would recommend. Although given the choice I would probably just go straight to Beer Riff's taproom which is also in Swansea.

Last thing for now, I'm going to see Basement Jaxx in Cardiff tomorrow. Can't wait! Also excited to see the support from Ezra Collective after watching their set at Glastonbury on iPlayer.