KookyRocks

Yup, since my post a week or so ago about potentially joining the rest of the UK in joblessness (is that a word!?) things seem to have gone from bad to just plain hopeless at my full time employment.

Me spouting misery and woe at you is hardly constructive; my intention of this blog has always been to spur myself on, to push myself further and make some progress online, and I’m still determined to achieve that – despite the looming spectre of unemployment.

I’ve certainly not done as much as I’d liked, but I have made significant progress in developing my own little platform for launching products/sites, using what is essentially a CodeIgniter-based CMS. I know most people would prefer to take a generic off-the-shelf or pre-packaged CMS system, tweak it, and publish it and make instant money, but unfortunately I lack the traffic, the flair, and the confidence to do that. Maybe I’m wierd, I don’t know, but I just don’t feel comfortable using WP to setup a site, I’d want it to appear and function like a completely “written from scratch” website, without a hint of WP.

One of the other reasons I’m spending some time developing my own is to become more proficient at coding, at the same time I’ll have a better understanding of what my own system can do without having to learn how WP (or a CMS of some kind) works, and most important of all the code would suit me, would suit what I want to achieve with affiliate marketing.  I’m hoping to have a platform that will enable me to launch sites quickly without too much effort, and will look different to the usual WordPress-style offerings.

Don’t get me wrong, WP has it’s uses, and the new version is very impressive; I love the simple plugin management and i can only dream of designing a dashboard like WP 2.7’s for my own half-baked attempts, but it still lacks certain features that I feel are necessary for my particular projects, and I don’t have the time or inclination to develop plugins or mods for WP.

So, I’ll continue to mush on, and I promise to try and post some useful stuff on here instead of my whining drivel.

Well, okay, it’s actually the same office as I’ve had for the past 3 years, but as I was on a quiet late shift I took the chance to shuffle my desk layout, so now I get to look out of the window more often – there’s goes my productivity in 2009, LOL!

Seriously though, reorganising your workspace can give you a positive boost on your attitude, even if it’s just a minor cleanup or a different picture if you don’t have a window nearby. Working environments can negative affect your concentration, especially if you were facing a wall or a corner like I was; now I have an awesome view and more space (I put the PC base unit on the windowsill). Also, by removing all of the clutter, filing away the paperwork and most important of all – giving my monkey a place to sit and frown at me – it feels like I’ve got a new office and as a result I’m now raring to go.

It’s not all bad working a mixture of late shifts and weekends as it’s usually quieter which gives me some time to work on my sites. This time of year also gives rise to some superb views of the Manchester skyline, like these I took on Dec 26th….

…yes that’s right, I was working a late shift on Boxing Day, how sad is that?!

These survey results made me chuckle, mainly because I consider myself a housewife as I’m the one that does all the washing, cooking and cleaning (and no I’m not exaggerating, I do!) and since I spend ten times more hours online during a typical week than Vicky that must mean I am a housewife… or househusband… I’m confused…