:Ben Metcalfe Blog

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past few days.

The last few days have been a real period of reflection for me – perhaps encouraging me to really think about the my future more than I have for several years.

I’ve said it before on the blog, and I’ll say it again – I love San Francisco. I’d move here tomorrow if it was that easy.

It’s the best American city I know of, it’s vibrant, laid back and slightly European. Having a coffee or a crepe in one of the many coffee shops and restaurants in the Haight/Ashbury district of town is just a wonderful experience. I also like the downtown area – it’s American brashness like every other downtown area, but it’s contained.

And of course, there is the pioneering tech industry – and with that the geek culture that goes with it.

There seem to be many job opportunities here too. Well, maybe I should say life opportunities because when you work in the niche area that I do, your job is part of your lifestyle. And hopefully the opportunity to make a bigger impact than just the pay check you cash up at the bank every month.

But there are many risks and issues at play. Coming out here to do consultancy doesn’t guarantee a steady income – and it’s arguable that with my skills and experience, I could actually earn more in London than I could here (although one has to earn more in London than here to live comfortably).

I also have a relationship to think about. My partner has little to gain from moving to SF – she doesn’t work in the tech industry and arguably London is for her job market what SF is for mine.

There’s also visa issues to think about – which just leaves me feeling cold. Maybe I shouldn’t say this whilst I am in the country but the whole US Visa issue just seems to be a “subtle hint” to say “f**k off, US doesn’t want you. Or your potential tax dollars”.

(I’ve just deleted a large portion of this post. For the time being I’m going to keep the rest of my thoughts personal until I have had an opportunity to discuss them first in person with Sofia and my family)

During the summer “silly season” the adverts are often the best things on TV. During today’s bout of trash-TV viewing, I saw this amazingly funny piss-take advert:

It’s of course an homage to the Sony Bravia bouncy balls advert filmed in San Francisco. I think it’s the cultural and architectural references/comparisons between San Fran and the non-descript Northern England working town that makes the parody so so funny.

(I still find it hard to believe that the original Bravia advert isn’t CGI, but apparently it’s real. We even drove down the road where they filmed it a few months back. In fact Sony have put up a whole website that shows you how they made it (in one take, no less) – probably because so many people like me dismissed it as just CGI.)

Back to the British advert, which is for an otherwise pretty crappy soft-drink called Tango, and it turns out the advert was filmed in Swansea (in Wales). In fact the local residents on the street where it was filmed created a campaign website to stop it being filmed and now to boycott the product.

Of course, it’s all a great PR stunt created by the advertising company (the domain is registered to a PR company) – but a great follow-through. The adverts on YouTube are probably uploaded by the PR company too.

Well, I woke up this morning as per usual.

I wrote that last email to my former colleagues in the BBC – the handover for the project. The document had been niggling me all weekend. How could I have ran out of time to write it on my last week?

So that’s sent. And I’ve just called the insurer to give them some details about a home emergency claim we’ve made. They’re going to call me back to confirm we’re covered (they just have, we are).

Now what?

This is the moment I knew would come. The moment of fundamental realisation that I don’t have a job to go to.

It feels odd. Slightly numbing.

I’ve got a few things I need to do today to keep myself occupied:

• Travel to the BBC to return the work laptop (they let me keep it over the weekend)
• Clean the house – I agreed with Sofia that I would. I get so busy with work I don’t get around to doing it and then she begrudgingly does it. My turn to make up for many occasions of neglect!
• Change the light switch the in the kitchen

Hmmm, not exactly the cutting edge of new media, technology and internet.

(Oh and as I write this someone from another apartment has just started playing a trumpet – never heard that before. Clearly they do it when we’re all “at work”. Except now my work is at home. Oh dear.)

However I do also have a few other things on my list:

• Update this blog. It needs a new template, I’ve decided. I also need to put in details of my consultancy etc. Also I will probably stop putting in personal entries like this – maybe create a personal blog elsewhere.
• Decide whether I can realistically launch my Bit Torrent search engine. It’s been running in stealth for almost a year but I couldn’t release it whilst working for the BBC. But could it equally be a mute point for clients and future potential employers? Probably. But then you’re only young once

Well, I’m not feeling any more inspired from writing this, but at least you know how I feel!