Websites and carpentry, what a strange combination.
Carpentry.
It’s a common story: building forts as a kid becomes life-long pastime. For me there was building boats too. My childhood summers were spent at an island cottage. If I wanted adventure, I had to have a boat. It’s taken a while to master a “water tight joint” between two pieces of rotten lumber!
I’ve always admired the blog sites of other carpenters, furniture makers and skilled technologists. The two magazines that I often read are Finehomebuidling.com and Finewoodworking.com.
After high-school graduation, I joined several work crews with no more thought than to earn money. I learned a lot and didn’t save much money. When I finally returned to school I took Petroleum Technology at SAIT in Calgary.
Website Building
Post secondary education led me to hours staring at a computer. Millions of hours – at least it felt that way. During this time, one of the hats I wore was “Webmaster”. Sounds so serious, but it was the best side of my job. That’s why I still work part time in the web-site building business. I brew up basic websites for small businesses using WordPress CMS. I can help with Google ranking and online marketing too. WordPress uses an SQL database as it’s back-end. I did a lot of database work in my petroleum job so I’m quite comfortable with the new CMS platforms.
In the world of computing and programming I often listen to podcasts from the TWIT Network.
I was convinced to self build my own home in 2006. At first my response was “Are you crazy?” but when I was conveniently laid off from my employer around the same time, I changed my mind. I used the internet as a crutch for the knowledge that I had forgotten, or did not have. I was surprised how my technology skills were useful in building a house:
- project management
- hiring & interviewing contractors
- checking for compliance to government regulations
- mapping and surveying the location
In addition to this, I became the primary parent in our house. I was “Mr. Mom” to our youngest daughter. I had to drive her to the bus stop every day and make sure I was there to pick her up at 4pm. The house got built and I was soon helping others with their renovation projects. I spent less time looking for work and more time working. I’d pick up a website design one month then a unique carpentry project the next.
I’m still able to mix 2 very different occupations which I find enjoyable.
