August, September, & October 2003

Two busy, busy months, and one month of relative quiet. I believe I've done a year's worth of work, so don't feel guilty about a little extra time to relax and kick back.

Finally, the weather cooled down. No more air conditioner running 24/7. Summer always saps my energy a bit, but I do love the sunshine and brightness that it brings.

Catching up with friends...little meetings here and there. Always good for perspective.

What a nice way to end the month of October: Ted and Martha Vorfeld came to visit. Brief, but memorable. One night we went out to dinner at Carver's Restaurant. Ah, the quality of the food! And the company!

I want to write an article or ebook on protocol for Web developers and for clients, all for the Small Office Home Office group. I'm a bit inspired, but still a bit tired, so I'll wait until things get cooler before I start an outline. Mostly, I want to inform and educate. I've answered the same questions so many times that it seems wise to get them in writing.

It's difficult to be a first-time client who needs a website. There are so many issues that first-timers don't understand. And they have the right to know. We have a lot of information on the Web, but it's quite spread out.

If I edit a book or article, I must keep the tone of the writer and meet the expectations of the reader. But with websites, there's more. Yes, I must meet the expectations of the visitors: they are the entire reason for the site's existence. But I also have to consider the search engines. If a site isn't optimized properly, it may not get enough attention from search engines, and visitors won't get to go to the site. It's more complex than this, but these are the basics. There are a number of things that have to be woven together in order to have an effective site.

More on this later. And now, bring on November!