2007 in review & 2008 forecast

Here we are at the end of another year. Might as well do my final post on that year. It won’t be the last post on this blog, but you have probably noticed they’ve been fewer in number in the past six months. That is likely to continue as I embark on different projects in 2008. It looks like it will be an exciting year! But first, some light humour.

Heard in Starbucks last night

My wife and I were in Starbucks in Red Deer last night looking to replace our worn coffee travel mugs. We found two mugs, same design, we liked: one red, one blue. The blue one was $3 cheaper. I went to the till. The girl rang them in at their separate prices and I told her I wanted them both at the same price. This required the girl to talk to her supervisor. A nearby customer, observing this, piped up “Starbucks makes a billion bucks a year and you have to debate this?”

I’m writing this while sipping out of the blue mug. We saved the $3.

My year in review

It’s been a long, topsy turvy, emotionally upheaving kind of year. That said, I think it’s gone rather well.

The move from Williams Lake to Alberta happened and went reasonably well. It had been a while since we had moved into our place there, so there was a lot of accumulated junk. The house sale took a while to complete. The buyers weren’t in that much of a hurry it seemed, and were trying to nickel and dime us on picayune (I love that word) items. I put my foot down and told them that was the end of it: you either want the house with the deal we made, or not. Evidently, they wanted it

I was relieved to be out of Williams Lake. It’s something I’ve wanted for a very long time. I won’t be going back to stay either. To visit, yes. To stay, never.

We began looking for houses here and had settled on a couple options, but there were delays and delays. We had a deal on a new modular home but couldn’t do it because we couldn’t move our old trailer out. Try getting anything done in a timely manner in Alberta, I challenge you. Then, we decided to look at a house. Everything fell through when my wife lost her job. She got screwed at her job in Rocky Mountain House by a new manager who apparently has a panic disorder. I’ve met preschoolers with more backbone than this person, but that’s another story.

It was a blessing in disguise, but it meant another move; a move away from a community we like and new friends we’ve made. That’s the tough part.

The kids decided that in spite of the uncertain future (when is it ever certain?) they would move to Alberta with us. They started school in the fall. Things have generally gone well for them, particularly my son, whose grades and work habits have really improved this year. He’s got lots of friends and we’ve seen him mature a lot in a short time. Neither he nor my daughter would like to move, but sadly, this must happen.

My wife’s job search went very well, with lots of interest in her and lots of interviews. We decided to focus on the Edmonton area after a while. There were a few job offers from all over, but she decided on one particular place. In terms of the title, it was a small step down, but in terms of her responsibilities and the team she would be working with, it was a huge step up.

I’ve never seen her so happy to go to work. She’s always talking about the great things they’re doing there and the great people she works with. She’s lucky. We don’t all have that luxury. It really sounds like a good place to work and it’s nice when you can look forward to getting out of bed every day. The nice thing is, it’s the kind of place she can see herself staying for a long time. She says it’s the best place she has ever worked.

For me, the employment situation was a little cloudy. We spent the first few months concentrating on the housing aspect of things and I had applied for a few jobs.

One local reporter job I thought I had a lock on, I didn’t get. They decided to hire someone with no experience and do an internal shuffle to fill the job I was after. Puzzling, because I’ve read the paper since, and… let’s just say I’m not impressed. I had met the previous editor, who was great. Sadly, he died months before I’d applied, and the new editor I didn’t like so much. Not getting that job wasn’t such a bad thing. Their loss. One thing though, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a job interview where the interviewer swore, let alone as much as this guy did. Very odd. I swear too, but not in job interviews.

We decided to focus on my wife’s job search and begin the process of moving. We sorted through a lot of stuff. I think we got rid of about 3 or 4 pickup loads of excess clothing, furniture and generally unnecessary belongings. We donated it to a worthy cause. Believe me, garage sales are fine if you have a garage and the time. Perhaps this gesture will earn me a few more credits in heaven. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a big overdraft up there.

Courtesy of a friend of mine, I became aware of a search engine optimization course, and I signed up. Thanks Ross! I completed this course and another in writing for the web. I did great in both and really enjoyed them. It opened up my eyes to some new possibilities other than journalism. I’d considered them before, but wasn’t sure how to proceed.

I also applied for a great technical writing job in Edmonton and had two great interviews, but didn’t get the job. Essentially it boiled down to being overqualified (how many times have I heard that?). They thought I’d get bored and quit. Too bad for them because I wouldn’t have. The job was doing technical and corporate writing. My newfound knowledge could have really helped them because I reviewed their website through my new lens on the web world, and their website sucks. They need a lot of help. Too bad they won’t get it from me. I am available for contract work though.

I had a big blog post analyzing the whole situation, but decided against posting it. It wasn’t nasty or anything, I just decided to move on. I thought I had a lock on the job, especially since there were three people interviewing for two jobs. The next week, I got an email: the job had been reposted. I decided not to apply. There’s no point.

I have been doing contract work for an Edmonton SEO company and that work has picked up, but the future is not certain in terms of the quantity of work. I like the guy I’m working with. He’s set up an office and it looks like thing are picking up with him, which is good. I enjoy the work, but working on contract is feast or famine. I know he’d like to hire me on permanently, but can’t at the moment.

Looking ahead

So, the conundrum: go for security (perceived security) in a full time job or contract. I think I’ll contract. We have the luxury of my wife’s great job to keep us in a house, so I can wait things out for a while.

As long as I can work steadily with the SEO company, I have lots of other things to keep my busy. I have several website ideas that I’ve been itching to pursue and my journalism job site traffic has really been picking up. I have loads of ideas, so if I’m not working full time, no big deal. My goal is to get a steady stream of income from these many projects and then I’ll be fine.

On that note, my experience in self-employment has helped to make me realize I should be nervous when I have one source of income (a job). In business, you want many sources of income, because if your only source dries up, you’re up the creek. Many streams equal more security.

I’m really positive about the future because I think I’ve hit on some good ideas for web business. My goal is to become another Internet millionaire. I think 2008 is the year to get started on that. Between my contract work and my business ideas, I don’t think I’ll have enough hours in the day!

We’re moving at the end of January to Edmonton. We’re all looking forward to it and it should be a really good year.

Happy new year!