Part of a series of posts from my old website archives. Enjoy!
page 2: what’s on my mind
7.24.99
A New Rope
Alas, I feel a glimmer of hope.
Job hunting is growing long in the tooth, but I’ve made progress this week with a lot of application-filling, resume writing, self-promoting, teeth-gnashing bliss.
Ok, scratch the part about the bliss.
Job hunting is a full-time job, and speaking the language of the Headhunters is something I’m not used to doing. I’ve written my resume, rewritten my resume, run it past a few friends for their approval, sent it out, typed it up online at www.monster.com, and have used it to apply a lot of times to a lot of jobs on monster.com. I’m hoping that maybe, someday, I could find a job, and hopefully still, find that job in Austin. It’s a booming town, it has a good atmosphere, and my list of contacts down there grows at a decent rate.
I recall my days living down there back in ’81, and remember them fondly. I was young, it was early summer, and the vibe down there was very good. Still, after eighteen years, the vibe remains, in a certain sense, and I felt it the two times I visited last year. I’ve never been one to prefer living in big cities, but Austin is the exception to that rule.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve spent the last nine years in the Commercial Printing business, and have done a lot of things in that field. I learned about production, productivity, getting the job done regardless of my own set methods and routines, and so on. It gave me a penchant for getting things done right the first time.
Just as well, it gave me an eye for perfection and a tolerance for imperfection; a sense of knowing when “good enough” is good enough. In my web designing, I push myself and my browsers for complete perfection, and I try for that goal. If it can’t be achieved, I try another way. If, for no other reason, my vision of how things should be can’t be reached, I come to a point of acceptance. It’s through this push-pull of the media that I learn about the media.
That sense of exploration/discovery is probably the most important thing I’ve gained from Commercial Printing.
However, I no longer want to work in the Commercial Printing field. I’ve run the gamut; I’ve done a lot; I’ve come a long way. But now, after having said all that, I want to return to my love of a hobby, Computer Science, and try what I can to make a good living with it. What you see here is my love: webwriting. Some of you know that already.
What I want to do is go beyond brochure-style web design. I want to try out something with back-end programming: ASP, CGI, PERL, C++, VBScripts, SSI, and so on. So far, my experience with local ISP’s has left me with no choice but to stick with front-end presentation: HTML, Javascript, etc. That can only go so far. I want to play with the server. All of the ISP’s I’ve ever had would not allow CGI scripting of any kind without me shelling-out big dollars for access to their servers. It’s understandable, but it’s the only reason why I’ve not had any exposure to CGI or its brethren — NO ACCESS.
I hope, soon, that I can finally purchase my own rented web space and expose myself to scripting. First, and foremost, I need a job. Then, after my responsibilities are caught up, then I can play.
Until then, however, I search.