As of last Friday, I am no longer the BCUK support dude.

The time had come to focus on other things. Writing. Translating. World domination, etc. As much as I was loathe to admit it, that was never going to happen from BCUK HQ.

For almost six years I was the guy on the other end, answering all of those questions that needed urgent answering. You wouldn't believe the things I got called. Nazi popped up a couple of times. All sorts of hilarious German stereotypes were thrown my way. I never had the heart to inform how wide of the mark they were. People just need to let stuff out - they are bloggers after all. We're not a group of people well-practiced in holding our tongues with only a computer screen to be offended - well, sections of us anyway. Luckily, online insults in my direction make ducks' backs look like sponges.

And there were the crisis moments. The Private Posts Problem. Tag-gate. Christ, the tags. The Arab Spring seemed tame in comparison to that. The ability to formulate diplomatic emails came in very handy there, as BCUK violently ripped bloggers' first-borns from their mother's arms, and stomped on their heads in front of them. Exaggeration? Seems appropriate.

But then, there were those who were unfailingly polite, pleasant and a pleasure to deal with. People who understood that in order to have a problem solved, it helps to not deliberately make new ones. A please and a thank you actually really, really did make a difference to my day. For those of you who said them (and both you and I know who you are), it's my turn now: thank you. I really mean it.

And to BCUK. I wouldn't still be in Berlin without this job, one that provided me with a desperately needed first payslip six months after making the move. The cupboard wasn't bare by that point; there just wasn't a cupboard. I don't want to think about what would have become of me had Vasco not seen my ad for English lessons and just given me a call. Serendipitous in extremis. Gratitude too.

Hmm, the future? No Dice Magazine, I hope. We're on Issue 2 and it's selling healthily. I've started working on Issue 3. People are starting to not ask me to repeat my name or publication when I introduce myself. That's got to be a good thing. Failing that, there will always be German words that need to be turned into English words. I enjoy that a lot too.

So, that's that. Whoever he/she may be, go easy on the next support dude, eh?