Where I’ve been…

For those of you who watch this blog and wonder what I’m up to, I am a lot more active on Twitter than I am here. Follow me!

The last few months have been interesting to say the least. I’ve recently did some work for Inacom Information Systems, where I helped bring a derailed project back on track. It was great to get to work with my friend Jon, who was swamped and overwhelmed by the workload. Being the only Rails developer at the time, Jon was busy supporting other apps and the deadline for the newest product was looming. I jumped in and helped launch the product. In a little over two weeks, we built something pretty solid.

I also recently taught someone how to program with Rails. In less than three weeks, he launched his first site, http://www.youandcharliewu.com/ which was commissioned by David H. Lawrence, a well-known actor and producer. (You may have seen him on Heroes.) I wrote very little of the code, but I spent quite a lot of time teaching the sole developer about the various technologies involved. It feels great to help someone become successful. A paycheck is nice, but it’s nothing compared to knowing that you’ve made a difference for someone. The site is a novel concept – it’s a fundraising site for an independent film. Their goal is to raise $30,000. Anyone who donates more than $10 can get a referral link they can send their friends. Each person gets 1 point for each dollar they donate, as well as a point for anyone their referrals donate. The people with the most points will get featured in the film’s credits, or in the case of the biggest fundraiser, the executive producer credit. Eventually, they’ll expand the site to allow anyone to create a goal, and I look forward to working on that with them.

Lisa’s doing great. She’s close to walking, and she stands up (while hanging onto the couch or my leg) all the time. Ana’s doing well in school, and she still loves reading, and she seems to enjoy playing the “big sister” role, even though she gets frustrated a lot by the fact that we can’t pay as much attention to her as we could before.

Carissa’s still being the awesome wife and mom, but she’s doing that while balancing two kids, a cranky husband, and her new role as the cookie coordinator for the local Girl Scout chapters. She’s been spending a lot of time working with troopleaders and getting the cookie stuff taken care of. All I care about is the fact that my pantry now has Thin-Mints. That’s a win for me.

Due to scheduling conflicts and the addition of a new chapter, the book’s launch date has been pushed back to June now. I’ve set up a new site for the book at http://www.webdesignfordevelopers.com and I’ll be doing updates there.

That’s all for now…