If I haven’t responded to an email or a phone call you have left me, it’s because I have been working around the clock trying to meet a deadline. I’ll respond soon…
And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Yea Bob
So I have neglected this site lately, mainly because I have been putting all of my attention into work. When I do have free time to mess around, I have been updating TheBestOfYoutube.com, which is starting to really take off. One of my other project sites, Dumpworthy.com, got its first review published by someone other than myself today, which is exciting. I am still seeking help in writing/submitting to these sites if anyone is interested.
In other news, I have added a new gallery to the photo gallery part of this site, with pictures from June and July 2006. Check it out.
What’s Going On?
I’ve been working a whole lot.
That’s about it, really. I like working. I really like the fact that the current work I am doing is challenging, stimulating, and educational. I really, really like the fact that I am working for myself and am better off than ever before.
Workaholic?
Perhaps.
Is that bad?
Only if it leads me to neglect my family, which it doesn’t. I work because I love my family and want to enjoy them more.
What’s my end goal?
Well, of course it would be nice to retire at 45 and vacation the rest of my life, but that ain’t gonna happen. I think I’ll settle for working less, playing golf more, and enjoying my family even more than that.
Is this the weirdest blog entry I have ever made?
Probably. I am interviewing myself. That’s what happens when I start writing after having worked about 50 hours this week. Sheesh.
I did find time to make my first venture into electronic music. It ain’t much, but check out this:
Greebo – by Me (mp3)
Click the arrow to start playing it, right click and Save As to download it.
Tell me what you think. I think it needs more.
Sites
Been working on a lot of sites the last few weeks.
Recently launched HeidiClare.com for Heidi Clare, fiddler extraordinaire of the Reeltime Travelers. Be sure to check out the MP3 samples.
Also on the old-time fiddler front comes the launch of BruceGreene.net. Bruce’s site has several very good articles and stories relating to old time music, fiddlers he studies under, and a lot of general lore about Kentucky old-time music. Pretty interesting stuff.
Almost done is a site for a book publisher, which I cannot disclose just yet. Looking forward to seeing it go live.
My new job starts tomorrow. Technically, I am going to be doing this through my existing business, Asheville Technologies, so I guess I can say I am working for myself full time now, which is really pretty darn neat.
I am eager to get this transitional period over with – it’s been a few weeks since I stopped working at AFCCC, and I am finding out that I really like having a predictable schedule. Not that I haven’t enjoyed all the time I’ve spent with the family, but I start feeling edgy when I don’t have a regimine. I must be getting old.
So Long AFCCC
After a year and a half, I spent my last day working as a contracted web developer at the Air Force Combat Climatology Center yesterday. With mixed feelings I signed off and stepped into the unknown. The job was certainly the most interesting I have ever had in that it gave me an insider-view of a world I would likely have never known otherwise.
I took away a lot of good things from the job, the most important of which will be the friends I made and the stories I can tell.
I also came away with a lot of good experience, training, and a security clearance, so every way I look at it I win. Except that I don’t have a full-time job anymore (yet). However, as previously noted here, I am hoping this will be a good thing.
Monday is a big day, so look for more from me then.
Introducing Dump Worthy
While sitting on the toilet reading the lates issue of e-Week today, I had a brilliant stroke of genius. You see, I get all these free magazine subscriptions due to the industry I work in, and I am often amazed at the complete worthlessness of most of them. It took me 6.5 minutes to scan through e-Week, read the articles that looked remotely interesting, then toss the thing in the waste basket.
That is when I found myself saying, “there ought to be a web site that will tell you what magazines are worthy of reading while on the toilet”.
I am proud to present DumpWorthy.com!
I am assembling a crackpot team of writers for the web site now. If you are interested, send the editor an email: editor at dumpworthy.com
Workplace Interruptions
Caught in the ho-hum doldrums of life on the cube farm? (Believe me, I know how you feel). You need to contact the Bureau of Workplace Interruptions (BWI), a seemingly service that will use mail, email, the phone, or suprise visits to provide you with a little bit of harmless, in-good-humor motivation and self esteem.
Reading through the Public Archives of documented interruptions on the site will give you an idea of what you can expect: anything from a recipe for Tofu BBQ Wings to the challenge of a workplace rap battle via email.
I haven’t taken the step of actually registering for the service, but from what I can tell, it is free, and you can tell them the best channels upon which to interrupt you so as not to upset your boss.
Assorted Stuff
A buddy from one of my favorite online geek hangouts, the Broadband Reports Web Developer board, has been collecting VW commercials on his site for VW lovers. I’ve always been partial to VW’s, having learned to drive in a ’67 Beetle, and their commercials area good reflection of their uniqueness in the auto industry.
This is my last week at my current job, and I am excited. The future is wide open and I am looking forward to trying to make it on my own. I have been working hard at drumming up some web design business, and have 6 sites I am currently working on. I also have a few other irons in the fire, and will write more about those as they (if they?) develop.
Next week is the big week: An Event Apart is on Monday (though I am waiting to find out if I still get to go since I won’t be an official RSIS employee anymore, even though it has been paid for), and Dinosaur Jr. is on Friday. Been looking forward to this for a loooong time.
Changes
So with two weeks remaining at my current day job with the Air Force, I have found myself in a time of major change and decision making. I have sent out about 50 resumes with only a couple of responses; interviews that I have yet to take part in. The long of the short of it is there are really not a lot of I.T. jobs in this town, and I have been lucky to have the ones I have had thus far.
Alicia and I had a long talk while my parents were here watching the kids this weekend, and we came up with a plan. Unless some company offers me a deal that is too good to turn down, I am going to do what I have always wanted to do, and that is go it on my own.
As a foundation, I have picked up a part-time gig with a local company called Position Builders, who are a search engine optimization company. This alone is a really cool deal, because it has a lot of potential to develop into something big, and I am getting in as the ball is picking up momentum.
In addition to that, I will be trying to get as much business as I can for what was until now my freelance business, Asheville Technologies. AT has been pretty much a hobby thus far, adding a little spending cash to my wallet each month, but I think with some help from some sales-oriented friends I can push it along into something that will carry us along.
The prospects of all this are exciting, nerve-wracking, and satisfactory. Of course there are a lot of “what ifs” and the potential to fail, but there is also the potential to succeed, and there seems to be no better time than now to try it. We have developed several Plan B’s in case none of this works out, but I am hoping we won’t need to go there.
So, does anyone need a web site or some PC support/training/consulting? Let me know.
A Few Things
You probably noticed the new curtains. Finally, I got around to creating my own design for this site. There are still elements of the previous theme here, and I will be changing them in time. For now though, I can at least call this my own.
Today in the car, I asked Gray what his website address was. He knew.
I heard a song I liked on Radio Paradise the other day, and I looked up to see what it was. Turned out to be by Belle and Sebastian, a group I had previously avoided because I didn’t like the name. I ended up downloading the whole album, called The Life Pursuit, and am digging it. I continue to suprise myself, as I never would have liked such artsy pop-rock 10 years ago at all.