The Requisite Blog Birthday Post….

It seems most folks write a little something to acknowledge the anniversary date of the start of their blog and admittedly it’s more than a little surprising to me that it has actually been a year.

But, it has, I made my first blog post on January 3, 2005.

So much has happened over the past twelve months, not the least of which is the fact that I found the time, and inspiration to make 185 posts. Almost one every two days. The other thing that remains a wonder, and a joy, for me is that you folks keep stopping by to read, and comment on, what I’ve written.

Initially I’d intended this to be a sort of ‘code forum’ where I’d post tips and tricks and encourage others to share theirs. While I still do post some ‘code’ stuff from time to time, the blog has taken on a more personal slant.

It’s allowed me to explore, in writing, some of my emotional ups and downs, and how I’m dealing with them. To recall some earlier times in my life, some of my fondest memories, write them down and share them with you. I’ve enjoyed your many comments, in some ways they’ve helped validate my own feelings about these memories.

Memories are a tricky thing as the mind can often ‘adjust’ them to suit the reality you’d have preferred. It’s been a wonderful surprise for some of my old friends to show up here and, on occasion, add a comment (and in one case an entire post) of their own. It’s been those kinds of moments that kept me writing, and posting.

I’ve had moments of doubt… thoughts of ending the blog… in fact my wife has even expressed her surprise that I have continued to write and maintain the blog this long. I’ve struggled with what to write about, when (or if) to post it after I’d written it, and especially early on, wondered if anyone would ever read my posts, or worse yet, read them and hate them.

Writing has always been that ‘dream job’ of mine, something I’d always wished I could do, but never thought it would be possible. I’ve found, over the course of this year that I can find things to write about, that folks will read what I’ve written, and I even managed to get published in a local magazine.

So, all in all, the blog has been a good thing.

I got to talk a bit about my “Percentage of Likeness” string comparator, something I seriously enjoyed researching, as well as developing. It turned out to be a major tool in the development of process to merge Dun and Bradstreet data with my client’s data. Although it probably will not be used at this client site in the long term processes, it’s certainly on center stage for the next few months.

Outside of one or two associates here locally, I don’t know where else I could have shared that process. While some of you mentioned reading about it made “your head hurt”, you read it anyway, and in that way I felt ‘someone’ knew what I was doing. It was a very nice surprise!

The support, well wishes, thoughts and prayers for my Mom in December were also a highlight of the year, thank you all for that… thank you!!