Fred Langa's back!

[Darwin]

Just got my Windows Secrets newsletter for October 9th, and the lead story is that Fred Langa is out of retirement and back to writing for the newsletter 

Fred Langa has come out of retirement Fred edited the LangaList Newsletter for nine years and then wrote for Windows Secrets from November 2006 to May 2008 before he retired. Now he's returned! Fred's new LangaList Plus column will appear weekly, only in our paid content.

It's a bit sad, actually, as he's coming out of retirement because he is getting divorced after 35 years of marriage and needs to money  I guess that solo four month trip across Canada and the US should have been a bit of a warning!

EDIT: added some detail

[Carol Haynes]

Yes I saw that too. Is it me or has the new newsletter got a bit more meat in it this time?

[40hz]

It's a bit sad, actually, as he's coming out of retirement because he is getting divorced after 35 years of marriage and needs to money  I guess that solo four month trip across Canada and the US should have been a bit of a warning!

Going through a "change of wife" is often painful - and invariably expensive.

(I think Confucius said that!  )

[tomos]

I found it a bit gratuitious to learn all about the man's private life ...
couldnt they have told a white lie and said he couldnt stop himself writing about computers

[cranioscopical]

couldnt they have told a white lie

To be fair to WS, he did write about it himself in one of his blogs (goodness only knows why).
Perhaps he thinks of his readers as friends, some certainly seem to think that way about him.

[Darwin]

couldnt they have told a white lie

To be fair to WS, he did write about it himself in one of his blogs (goodness only knows why).
Perhaps he thinks of his readers as friends, some certainly seem to think that way about him.

Yes... I thought it a bit gratuitous as well, particularly considering his return was being touted (in the preceding paragraph) as signalling his re-committment to helping his loyal readers! Funny, too, Brian Livingston's take on the four stops Langa made during his motorcycle trip:

Fred's devotion to his readers is legendary. Even when he went on his dream summer hiatus in 2007, riding his motorcycle in a big loop around the U.S. and Canada, he spent time helping others. He chose four Windows Secrets readers around the continent to receive a full day of his personal help, free of charge. (His eight-part series documenting these Langa Housecalls is on our site.)

and Fred Langa's explanation:

My suddenly-changing marriage situation affected my finances: With the prospects of a divorce looming, my seemingly-secure retirement suddenly felt decidedly shaky. To help reduce the out-of-pocket expenses of the trip, I worked out a deal with the guy who'd bought my business: I'd make four business stops along the way (Colorado, Seattle, Toronto, and New Hampshire) to perform some work for him.

Don't get me wrong, I feel terrible for him (and had no idea this was going on until I read the newsletter this morning), but I'm not sure that WS should be airing his dirty laundry (even if he has done so himself, elsewhere) and giving conflicting versions of events, to boot! Had WS not linked to the blog entry, I never would have known.

[cranioscopical]

Yes... I thought it a bit gratuitous as well, particularly considering his return was being touted (in the preceding paragraph) as signalling his re-committment to helping his loyal readers! Funny, too, Brian Livingston's take on the four stops Langa made during his motorcycle trip:

Whether from Langa or WS, it came under my general heading of "Too Much Information". 

The entire WS approach now seems to be we'll do you a favour... for a buck or three. At least they're up front about it.

I'm not quite sure if I abhor or admire the relentless self-promotion in which WS indulges.
For myself, I'm grateful that I don't need to resort to such an approach in order to earn a dollar here and there.

[Darwin]

Whether from Langa or WS, it came under my general heading of "Too Much Information". 

Exactly!

[zridling]

Also, if he was really retired, he may have just seen 60% of his retirement wealth vanish in the market during the last month. I feel for the guy, because you know he'd rather stay retired.