What I’ve been up to
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything personal on this site. I took this site offline while I tried to regain some perspective on things. It’s back now and I plan to keep it online from now on. However, this time I intend to keep this site personal in nature.
A lot has been going on over the past few months. After 4 years of being an active member, I stepped down from my positions at the XOOPS Project. Between some pretty serious disagreements and just simply being burnt out, it was time to move on. I’m still stopping by on a regular basis, but my contribution there is now minimal.
To be honest, I’m so frustrated with the current management of XOOPS and the direction they are taking the project, that I have seriously considered organizing a revolution within the developer community. This thought still haunts me daily, but I honestly don’t know if I have the passion in me for XOOPS that I once had. XOOPS use to be a great project and a great product. Sadly, I feel it has lost too much ground and is infested with internal disease. I question whether a revolution would work, or if it’s just time to cut my losses and move on.
In a related topic, I’ve been working a lot more with Wordpress. There is a lot about WP that I really like, but there are a lot of features that XOOPS had that are not available in WP, so a full conversion to WP is not on the table for now. Also, there is a lot about the WP code that seems a bit sloppy. Not that XOOPS was any better. However, XOOPS never claimed that “Code is Poetry”. I’m not a PHP developer, so I wont go into the details of what should be changed in WP. Regardless of whether the code could use some cleaning up, it’s still a good system as far as it goes.
Moving on to more positive topics…
What I’m working on now
Aside from working on my “day job” at Absolute Webdeisgns, I’m currently in the soft launch phase of my latest project, SEO Snack. SEO Snack is going to be the replacement for MyWebResource in my website portfolio. With MyWebResource, I focused on a broad range of topics while I learned to become a general “webmaster”. With SEO Snack, I’m narrowing down my focus to only SEO. While SEO in itself is a very diverse subject, SEO Snack is where I will further hone my SEO skills and lay the groundwork for even more focused sites in the future.
I’m also working with a team of four other very talented friends on the relaunch of MyPCResource. For nearly a year now, that site has been sitting in shambles and has been everything from a non-resolving domain to a parked domain, to what it is now, an autoblog. The new focus of the site will be a PC Resource site for novice to advanced PC users that will most likely feature a Blog, Discussion Forum, Software Directory, and some useful Troubleshooting sections (scripts).
The team I’m working with on this site is comprised of three Systems Administrators and two Power Users. All five of us have extensive experience in working in community oriented sites and we have worked together quite successfully on other projects. I’m quite pleased to be reunited with this excellent group of individuals and I’m excited about what we are working on.
We are tentatively looking to relaunch MyPCResource in early 2008. Stay tuned for more updates.
On a more personal note
Unfortunately, my health as of late has not been very good. With the combination of stress, lack of sleep, and spending anywhere from 12-18 hours a day on the computer, I’ve been showing the signs of RSI. Last week I had to see my chiropractor due to some acute back pain that left me essentially useless for nearly a week. I’m recovering pretty well now, but my health problems as of late have given me a lot to think about and have made me question my priorities.
Last night, I ran across an excellent post by Ryan Caldwell called 23 Simple Health Tips For Bloggers. I’m not normally one to print blog postings, but this is one that I’ve printed out and have hung up on my desk. It’s not so much that Ryan posted things I didn’t already know. When I was younger, and before I got into computers, I was much healthier and already did much of what he suggests. However, I’m a big fan of visual queues and Ryans 23 Tips hanging on my corner desk is just what I need to remind me that even baby steps forward will equate to progress over time.
One of the biggest changes in my lifestyle occurred July 11th of this year. That day was my first day of true sobriety in over five years. I have remained sober ever since and in spite of emotional and physical turmoil, I have no intention of turning back. I’m grateful to God for lifting the compulsion to drink from me and I continue to lean on his strength, one day at a time, to maintain sobriety.
Goals I’ve set for the future
When you don’t like the man in the mirror anymore, you know it’s time to step up and make some changes. I’ve made a decision to commit to my family and myself by setting some pretty big, but achievable goals for the next year. I’m publishing them here to remind me and to make me accountable to my friends and family.
- Spend more time learning how to be a good father figure and husband by reading the directions contained in the Bible and by following the example of Jesus.
- Spend more time investing in my greatest gift and asset, family.
- Reduce my time working each day to 10 hours or less.
- Raise my monthly income to $5,000 per month or more within 1 year so that I may better provide for my family.
- Improve my health through exercise, quiting smoking, and reducing my caffeine intake.
To some, these goals may seem lofty. To others, it may seem like I’m selling myself short. I didn’t write these goals for those people. These are the goals I feel I need to achieve for me and my family.
To my friends and family, your help in holding me accountable and your encouragement would greatly be appreciated.
Wrapping up
Ok, I just looked back through this post and realized that I broke several of my own rules about posting online and that there is enough information here to start several posts. Oh well, I feel better.
