OK, I'm a liar !!!

Yes, I know, I said I'd post soon, and seeing that it's now almost seven months since I said that, I feel terribly guilty, not only to you , dear reader (I'd use the plural but I know there isn't many of you out there !), but also to myself, after making a promise to keep this updated regularly.

What finally spurred me on was receiving a comment to an entry I made last year some time about the Syntrax software. I felt so ashamed, so here I am !

OK, what's been happening ? Well, when I last posted, my son was about 3 weeks old. He's now a big and bouncy chap, with two teeth and an incredibly happy nature (much like his sister). His sister and his mother are both doing great too, so the family is taken care of :o)

What's next.....ah, yes, work !

Well, at the time of my last post I was an employee of BT (British Telecommunications), working for the Phone Book division, selling advertising. I had stumbled into this job after my previous employer, Zurich Financial Services, closed our department down upon the completion of the project we were working on. I was an IT Trainer there, and with that position, I had found my calling. For the first time, I was employed to do a job I loved to do, I was good at it, and received the recognition for my success and that in turn motivated me to do better. Then, after the project was completed, we hoped that we might get a new one to work on, but it never happened and our contracts expired. All of a sudden I was going to be jobless and I had not only myself, but my partner and my daughter to think about. A friend of mine had told me about this job he had just started, where he got paid a good sum of money and got a company car, selling adverts in the local BT Phone Books. After pimping myself around all the local recruitment agencies, I was offered an interview at BT and was offered a position soon after. At the same time I was waiting to hear from the General Insurance division of Zurich where a similar training position had cropped up, but on my way to the second interview at BT, I received a call telling me I had been unsuccessful with my Zurich interview. Therefore, I had no option to take the BT offer, lest I neglect my family. The job was taken with a view to getting out pretty quickly, but that never happened. Two years of soul destroying, character crushing bullying and a culture of deceit and immorality took it's toll in the early part of 2006, when I eventually snapped and was taken ill with stress related sickness and mild depression.

I've suffered depression before. During the breakdown of my first marriage, I suffered 6 months of clinical depression and it wasn't pleasant. This time though, the depression was less noticeable but just as damaging. My doctor signed me off on the understanding I looked for a new job. During the 6 or 7 weeks I was off, I attended interviews and assesments, determined that I was not going to allow myself go back into sales, but was going to get back into training, something I do so well, and enjoy so much.

Thankfully, I found the perfect job. I now work for a software development company, as an IT Trainer and I'm loving it. I had my three month probationary review last Thursday which I passed with flying colours and I am the happiest and most relaxed I have been in a job for many years :)

So, that's work covered, what about the music ?!?!

Well, about the same time that I went off work ill, I was draughted in to the ranks at Hollow Sun as a sound designer and tester for their work with Alesis on their new workstation, the Fusion. I promptly received the afore mentioned keyboard and have been doing stuff with it ever since. Some of my sounds are currently available for it, and I have helped do various development jobs that now feature as standard in all current models. It's a great project and one that has led to me making some new friends and contacts, and there is more development work in the pipeline, but my Non Disclosure Agreement prevents me from telling you about that right now ;o)

My studio contents have changed slightly too. I have added a Roland PMA-5, ideal for writing music on the move. My DX-27, which I acquired for free from an old friend has recently completed a service and repair and will be collected next week in all it's green and brown FM glory ! I sold my Aria bass the other day on eBay and am now looking to spend that cash on something new. I had my eye on a Yamaha VL-70m but it went for silly money on eBay. I'm now looking at a Kawai K5000W. Fingers crossed it won't go silly and I could have a lovely additive synth in my collection soon. I also acquired a Mattell Synsonics from eBay; the fulfillment of a childhood dream :o) Now all I need is an SH-101, a Jupiter 8 and a Fairlight and I'll be sorted !! LOL

But the Alesis Fusion has really become the centre piece of my studio now. It has sampling, Virtual Analog, FM and physical modelling engines and creates some awesome timbres and sounds. Ok, I got mine free, but this is a great keyboard that sells for an incredibly low price. £999 for the 88 note fully weighted version, with 40GB hard drive, 4 synth engines, FX and hard disk recording !!! It's a no brainer !

Well, I'm currently on two weeks holiday. I'm not going anywhere as I had to buy a new car, so all funds have gone. The only good thing about BT was the company car. A nice Ford Mondeo TDCi 130 Ghia X was what I had, but sadly had to let go when I left, leaving me with my FIAT Seicento Sporting and no room for the family or the ancillary items that come with them ! So, I was lucky enough to find a FIAT Marea Weekend estate, 1.8L 115 16v ELX at just the right price and did a part exchange plus a bit of cash. At least now I can transport everything and everyone around with no problems ! It's also got me back involved with the FIAT Bravo Owners Organisation (The Marea is a derivative of the Bravo), 3 years after I had to take a back seat after selling my beloved HGT ! I've been to one show already this year and will be at the Donny South stand in August :)

So, the last seven months have been eventful, but most of all they have been successful and happy. I have turned around the bad things in my life, and although one or two things need addressing still, I feel confident enough that it won't be long till we're back on the up again ;)

Thanks for reading (whoever you are) and hopefully it won't be so long next time :o)