Changes

This has been the first full week at home. Emma the boys and I. Over the last week we’ve converted my study into an office space for Emma and I, before we did that we build desks and setup a class room for the two boys.

School work continues to come, supplied electronically. Matthew claims that this version of school is harder than normal school. Emma and I believe that this is due to the extra attention and his lack of ability to escape.

Getting outside is a challenge; we are fortunate to live near a small park and there is a lovely footpath we can take. The complete walk is just shy of 5km. It has got a lot busier since the lock down, however people are keeping 6ft / 2 metres away from each other.

The Recording Challange

We also live near a railway crossing and when the trains pass the sound their horn. It is loud. Loud enough to occasionally wake you. Combine that with the kids and sounds of general life in the house and recording the podcast has just become harder.

The first two episodes I recorded in the basement during the week, while the boys were at school, Emma was at work, and I had the time off from my job. It worked really well. However, the last recording was conducted late at night. With me asking Emma to turn the TV down low, and hoping the boys had fallen asleep. That worked really well, until the trains came. I am still new at recording podcasts, and I’m trying to relax and not read so much from the accompanying blog posts I’ve created. However, I often end up re-recording episodes. The last episode came in at 20 minutes, but probably took about 2-3 hours to record. The first recording I got mixed up, I tried recording it in segments. The next worked well until there were footsteps echoing in the background, it sounded like the basement was haunted. The third was ok until the train sounded it’s horn. Eventually I had to give up and go with what I had.

The following night I edited the recording. It was kinda weird listening to myself get tired. I also found that I had wondered off script with random thoughts, which I had to edit out.

I am happy to get this latest episode out. But the next few are going to get harder. I had the first 4 episodes pre-written with pretty well researched articles. The next couple will need to be written, edited, recorded, audio-edited and published. I’d like to keep to the weekly schedule, but I’m guessing that I may have to reduce the episode length to keep the cadence. But let’s see.

Launching On All Podcast Hosts

This week I spent some time ensuring that the podcast was listed in iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, PocketCasts and Google Play (the last one is still pending). I need to update my static site with the buttons and logos for each. I also need to update the podbean host site with a more attractive redirect to the full site.

Video Calls

The full time job is back in full effect, and last week was fun. I have to admit it was nice to be back working with people again. One of the project proposals I’m working on is with Berkeley, and as I’m on a video call with the professor, I see her wave at the camera. I didn’t notice at first, but there in the background is my eldest son. You can’t avoid family life at the moment.

In the meantime, stay safe and keep well out there.