During some downtime at work, I was thinking that it’s been a while since I’ve checked on my GoDaddy hosting.   I see that there was an update for WordPress, so I decided to install it.  You will not see a difference, but for me, I’m already seeing improvements and I’m only in the Write Post screen.  The interface is easier to read and use.

With that being said, I got me thinking about finishing upgrading the site.  I had started upgrading back in April with the move from the old hosting service to GoDaddy, but I hadn’t quite finished.  (You might have been confused with the “Mission Accomplished” banner hanging behind me in the office.)  There are some additional steps I need to take and that will be my plan for the weekend.

First, complete the new design for the site. The first steps of the site design were completed with a move from the table-based layout to a CSS-based layout.  I have far moved on from the table-based layout in my profession; it was time to do the same in my web site.  In addition to greater usability, a CSS-based layout will allow me to expand in way I was unable to do so in the previous version.  If you think of table-based layouts as boundaries, then think of CSS-based layouts as unlimited boundaries.

Second, add the Art Gallery. As I was moving content from the old site to the new site, I had only done so one section at a time.  However, I’ve had the most requests to add the Art Gallery in the new site.  Rest assured, the old stuff will return and new projects will be added.

Third, update Random Thoughts. To have a good blog, it needs to be updated everyday.  I have been very lax in updating… my last post was on April 5th.  I’ve had lost of thoughts since then… it’s time to express them.  I don’t want to promise anything, but we’ll see how it looks tomorrow… and the next day… and the next day… In addition to adding content, I also need to import the new design into the blog.

Fourth, add other content. What’s been up with me?  What’s been up with the wife, the baby girl and ‘baby 2′ who will be here in February?  What cool things have been going on in your life?

Fifth… there always room for more improvement.

Just keep watching as I go.

Three candidates still remain: Barack Obama,  Hillary Clinton and John McCain.  Why did I feel the need to mention the three… everyone in America knows who are left in the main contention for the presidency.  I suppose I need an excuse to put links in my blog post.  Even more so… why did I list them in the order I did?

There is still a lot of uncertainty about the future of our country as we get prepared to find a new president.  I would be inclined to think that we are thinking about the presidential election too early and focusing too much on the superficial issues.

I have never pawned anything at a pawn shop, but sometimes I find some good deals. Although, I think it’s been about a couple of years since I’ve been in a pawn shop.

At that time, I ended up there out of curiousity. Zara had driven a junker (way back in the pre-marriage days.) Her car stranded her in the parking lot of a strip mall in Coon Rapids. I drove to the strip mall to pick her up. When I got there, I thought it would be a good idea to browse through the strip mall (didn’t matter to me that there was a dead Ford [Found On Road Dead] in the parking lot.)

At the time, I really didn’t expect to find anything good. However, I saw something I hadn’t seen in a very long time… the Star Wars Trilogy on VHS. I was excited because this was the version before George Lucas made “Special Edition.” Also remember, this only the “Special Edition” version was available on DVD and before the Star Wars Trilogy was released again on DVD with the original versions. Anyways, for $5 I bought the Star Wars Trilogy (and four CD’s that I don’t remember because of the 7 for $5 sale.)

Zara had never seen Star Wars before so we had our own trilogy of movie nights.

When I was in Florida six years ago, I went to a pawn shop with my half-brother Jay. Inside was a 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan card.  It was priced at $250 and out of my budget at the time (still out of my budget today.)

Maybe the next time I’m at a pawn shop, I will find some other hidden treasure.

To give a little more insight, I had made the decision to go with a new hosting service for my web site. While the previous site host has been good to me, it was time for a change. It was soon time for me to renew my domain name and I thought it would be a good time to overhaul the site.

First, immediately with my new host, my spam mail had practically disappeared. I was receiving about 200 spam mails a day and one day last week I received more than 1,200. Now that it gone. I also suspect that with the new host, the mail form on my site is no longer vulnerable to spam attacks. This means I will no longer be deleting important e-mails by accident!

With the new host, it was also time for a new site design. The biggest difference in the new site is that the layout is no CSS-based, not table based. For most of you, what I just wrote will mean absolutely nothing. From a web design view, switching to a CSS-based layout will make future design changes much easier. It will also allow more flexibility in presentation of content. The design and appearance I am still working out as more features are added to the site.

Likewise, Random Thoughts will also be going through some design changes. Random Thoughts is now a WordPress blog, which means another new system to work with. Although there is a bit of a learning curve, I think the new blog will be much more flexible in what I can do. Now, I just need to make a habit of posting every day.

So far, I have added the links to the Minnesota Twins Collection and the Ultrababes Online Comic Adventure.  As I continue building the site, more and more features will be added.

Feel free to post a comment in the blog or send me an e-mail.