Some news...

And it's... good?

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My writing career has had its share of peaks and valleys. Before the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s, I had more well-paid freelance work than I could manage. Then, in the span of about 18 months, I lost 90% of it. It was a scary time, but I was lucky to find a contract job to keep me afloat.

Then came Lifehacker, back when blogs were a new thing, and that eventually led me to CNET, where I spent 14 mostly great years. But when Covid came along, it amped up some already significant burnout, so in 2021 I left… without another job lined up, without even a plan for what to do next.

Inside of two weeks, I found myself at Yahoo, where I’ve spent the last five years doing work I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Lucky, lucky man.

That came to an end yesterday. Who gets laid off on a Tuesday? Apparently I do, along with many of my colleagues (including my boss). The cuts were brutal and sudden and sad.

I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. The tech industry has seen massive layoffs over the past year, and the tech-journalism space is getting crushed as well. (The prime culprit? You guessed it: AI.) I figured the handwriting was on the wall — but hoped I had another year or two.

Nope.

Thankfully, this looks a little less scary at 57 than it did in my early 30s. And although I’ll certainly be looking for another full-time gig, for the moment it means I can give more focus to Deal Secrets.

What will that look like? TBD. More tips, deals, and reviews, certainly, but at what frequency? I’d like your input on that: How often would you like to see this land in your inbox?

Please weigh in! And if there’s anything else you’d like to see me do better/differently, I’d like to hear that, too.

As always, thanks for subscribing — and thanks especially to those of you who have been with me since the CNET Cheapskate days. I’m excited to give Deal Secrets more of my time and attention, to make it the best damn deals-newsletter on these here interwebs.

Onward!

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