Team Websites

Well I'm here to report on the wonders of team website building.

Pluses:

Someone (else) will do the coding.

You don't have to think of everything yourself.

Three heads are better than one!

Minuses:

You might have to do the coding.

You have to check everything, to make sure everything the group decided on is getting done.

Too many cooks spoil the broth!

I think we're working pretty well together and making progress on the site. It's difficult, though, because there's so much more to keep track of. And, the decisions are all so subjective. I, for one, realize only over time what others had in mind when they proposed parts of the site. But, it's all coming together.

Would it have been easier doing it alone? Probably. I have at least 100 emails to prove the complexity of doing things this way. But, the site looks great, which probably wouldn't have happened if we each did it by ourselves.

Hopefully, my teammates agree...

Sixth Sense

It's weird losing your job, then working for the next few weeks anyway. Especially when there's nothing to do. I'm not complaining, though. Could have been worse. They could have said, "Pack up and leave," and then paid me for the next two weeks. This way, I get to sort through files and emails lesurely, to decide what's worth keeping for future reference and what's not. Instead of just up and leaving everything. I get a paid Christmas vacation. My class will be paid for. I'll get a Christmas bonus, too, if they give one out this year. That will really help. And, my last paycheck will be dated 1/6/06, not 11/23/05. A few weeks reprieve. These are all definitely good things.

What's really bad is that you're there but you're not there. People look at you as if to say, "Are you still here?" It's like the lines from the movie The Sixth Sense, when the young boy says, "I see dead people. They're everywhere. They don't even know they're dead." Only, there's just me. And, I know I'm dead. My brain has already moved on: Notes on prospective clients. New job leads. Freelance work. What to do—freelance or job hunt? (I'm friends with monster.com now.) How to pay for classes next semester? But, my car still takes me to Horsham in the morning. And my feet into the office. And, then, I go home again at night.

Someone walks in with an editing task. I look at them. "Don't you know I don't work here anymore?" I think. But, I don't say it. I don't burn my bridges. They may have freelance work for me. They may hire me back eventually. They could give me a good reference for another job. Sigh! It could always be worse. And, it has been worse. So, I know better. I'm getting off easy this time. But, already I don't remember what they are doing here. What I'm doing here. My mind has moved on to January, although my body spends the day in Horsham.

Still Crazy

I think I'm still crazy, and not Thoreau. After some further mucking around with the code, my new website is up and running. Kind of. The header's not perfect, but it's improved (and at least tolerable). I'll go at it again eventually, but right now I'm impatient to share. Check out Henry David Thoreau, Still Crazy After All These Years...