Back to the Grind

I’m back, only a week late. Blame it on a somewhat short-notice trip to The Hague, which was actually quite pleasant this time around. Maybe Holland has let go of its grudge (knock on wood).

The new look isn’t 100% set up right – I still need to fix the comment form (UPDATE: Wow, do I need to fix that…) and figure out how to make the search box go away (UPDATE: Got that one.) – but the basics are here. I can’t claim any credit for this design; Christine picked it out for me from a number of WordPress design contest entries. I’ve always had a thing for Buddhas. Something about a fat, happy Chinese guy just puts me at peace. In doing so, I’ve had to admit that I can’t design a web site for crap. Almost every incarnation of this site, until now, has been a work of my own hands and imagination. (The last layout was sketched out by me and graciously implemented by Matt.) I’ve never been keen on visual design, and I’m rusty in my web page development skills, so I decided to implement a canned design rather than come up with one from scratch.

It’s been a rather busy few months. Perhaps the biggest single piece of news is that, after five years and change, I’ve retired (or become member emeritus, perhaps) from Lager Rhythms. It’s been a fantastic run, but it had reached time for me to move on. I wish them all the best and stand ready to be called back from retirement.

Work is going strong. The project I’m involved with, now one year into its two and a half year lifespan, is going well. Meanwhile, after some massive internal reorganizations that went into effect 1 January, the dust is starting to settle and people are starting to be more comfortable in their new roles. It’s like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel – there’s still a lot of things to change, but we can breathe a bit easier now.

I spent the past week in The Netherlands helping run a workshop for our European sites. In essence, they’re trying to start down the same road we did a year ago. It was a fantastic, if incredibly busy, week – lots of people from all over Europe (and Singapore and Australia) to meet and work with that were really a lot of fun. Plus, I got to catch up over dinner with another former colleague whom I hadn’t seen in quite some time – that was a pleasant and much needed respite. It snowed while we were there, which highlighted some of the beauty of The Hague. Plus, it was a chance to enjoy some cold weather for a change! All in all, I’d say that this was one of the best trips to Holland I’ve ever had, and that I’m finally past being nervous about travelling there.

So, that’s about it for now. I’m not back to daily posts, but I’m glad I had the chance to back away and recharge some.