Category: Daily Life

Yesterday I had a huge coder’s block. My day started off with a very specific goal and was soon interrupted with a disturbing administrative problem that had me leave the house. When that was corrected and I returned my mind couldn’t get on task.

Usually I can get past a blockage by playing a game of Sudoku, something that makes me think but uses a different process than the way I solve programming problems. That didn’t work. In hindsight, I should have gone outside and worked in the yard for a bit. The exercise and fresh air would have done me well and cleared my mind. Wait. I think it was raining. Okay. Cleaning the garage, scrubbing the floors, or doing a home repair would have helped. I should have taken some time away from the screen.

Here’s hoping for a more productive day today!

Why do Wednesdays have to be so packed full of obstacles?

I’m not a big Walmart fan. I know they do a lot of lost leader and if you are a thrifty shopper you can really get ahead. At one point they sold Prego cheaper than they purchased it. Still, the cost savings doesn’t make the shopping experience worthwhile to me. So last night when Amy was in pain from sunburn and we found ourselves without aloe vera, I went to Walgreens. That was a mistake. The selection was very limited. I have to say, Walmart would have been a far better choice because if this year is like previous years then there is a huge display of sunscreens and burn ointments all at the right price.

My simultaneous thoughts: a) hide under the covers b) chant c) play computer games d) more programming e) clean house f) go for walk in the rain g) write in paper journals h) write in blogs i) … j) … k) …

Title says it all.

They are called blogs. It’s some bizarre contraction of a made up compound word "weblog." Get it? A log on the web. Like a journal or chronographic permanent record of events. That’s what differentiates a weblog from a website. The blog aspect is regularly updated with dated, possibly time sensitive information. As a web developer, blogs bothered me. When the term caught on I’d shake my head and cry out, "it’s just a website with frequent updates!"

Today, weblogs have become quintessential marketing tools. People often create blogs along with social media campaigns with the sole intention of highlighting their products. From this aspect, I blog entirely wrong. It would be easy to create a blog and only showoff or highlight certain aspects of my skillset but then that is not why I do this. None-the-less, successful blogs do focus on a niche or a consistency because people like that. I read certain blogs but I come to expect a particular style or a type of information delivered from their format. I gain something from that. My niche? Random factoids peppered with bits of my family life and coated with a healthy helping of bemoaning my stress levels? Eh? Meh even. Perhaps its time for a blog facelift!