As many of you know, I lost my “real” job back in January. I still haven’t landed a full-time position, but my “on the side” web design business has really taken off. I don’t know that it’s stable enough to become a career, but for now I’m comfortable telling people that I’m a Freelance Web Developer (that sounds fancy, huh?).

I’ve had enough business lately that it was time to update my “company site” at wittmania.com. Like the handy man who never fixes the hole in his own roof, I was having trouble finding time to get to it. Until, that is, the database behind the site crashed. I didn’t have a recent backup, and the site needed some work anyway. So, I rebuilt it.

Overall, I’m pleased with how it turned out. I maintained the same color scheme but completely reworked the layout, content, and functionality. I like how the main page “banner” worked out. I think it catches your attention and explains what I do and why a business would want to hire me.

I spent a fair amount of time on the portfolio page. The “carousel” viewer enabled me to show numerous client site examples in a smaller space, while still allowing for larger (600×400px) images.

I would, of course, very much appreciate your feedback on the new site. What do you like about it? What could be done better, or differently? Did you find a bug or a typo? Let me know!

And, if you come across anyone who needs a new small business, church, or non-profit website, feel free to send them my way. Thanks!

A few gems from Pete as of late…

In AWANA Cubbies, Pete just memorized John 14:2. The “activity” to go along with this was a coloring page showing clouds, starbursts, some more clouds, and some more sun-looking things. Pete colored the starbursts yellow, the sky-looking area blue, and the rest green. He told his mom that the picture looked like it was supposed to be a bunch of clouds and stuff, but he thought it made sense to color a lot of it green because “there will probably be a lot of land in heaven, not just clouds and stuff.” I suppose he’s right.

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While we were in St. Louis the kids spent a fair amount of time “swimming” in my in-laws’ hot tub. At one point Elsie noticed that her scraped knee was “all better”. I said she should probably take a second to thank Jesus for healing her knee, and instinctively I looked up toward the sky as I thanked him myself. She asked why I looked up toward the sky, to which I replied that sometimes when we pray we can look up toward the sky to remember that Jesus is in heaven. She thought a minute and then said, “Alaina’s in heaven too, right?”:”(My cousin accidentally shot and killed his wife, Alaina, a few weeks ago. The kids are still trying to understand it all, as am I. More about this here.)”: Before I could get an answer out, Peter chimed in. “Yes, Elsie. Alaina is in heaven. When people who love Jesus die they go to heaven. And then, when Jesus is done fixing the earth, we will all come back to live with him on it again.” Looks like our little post-mil’er in training is well on his way.

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So, in light of what happened with my cousin, we’ve been doing a little bit of gun safety talking these days. I asked Pete if he was allowed to touch a gun. “Nope. Never.” Then I asked him if he would just stand back and watch if he ever saw one of his sisters playing with a gun. “No way,” he said, “because that would be just like what Adam did when the snake talked to Eve.” Yes. Good point. Wouldn’t want to repeat that little mistake.

The hiatus is over. The job search is not. If you want to pay me lots of money to do stuff, check out my resume at mikewittmann.com. Or, if you need a website, check out some of my work at wittmania.com. If you just want to read my occasionally humorous or even less occasionally insightful thoughts, well, keep on keepin’ on.

HT: The Constructive Curmudgeon

I don’t normally do “product endorsements” around here, but I’m going to make an exception today. I went out to lunch with a couple of guys from work today to check out a little hole-in-the-wall barbecue place called BBQ4U near 14th and Hwy 2. The Tuesday Special is a huge beef brisket sandwich for $4. I worked the POGO card so my buddy and I each ended up with the sandwich, two sides, and a drink for just south of $6 each. The sandwich was about 5 inches in diameter, with beef spilling out the sides. They have a range of BBQ sauces, ranging from Sauce for Sissies (yes, that’s what it’s called) to some stuff called Da Bomb that comes in a grenade-shaped bottle and has to be kept behind the counter for liability reasons. The sandwich was fantastic. My coworkers and I are currently working out a schedule so we can try a different lunch special one week at a time.

Speaking of their specials, Monday’s is a $3 pork sandwich. Wednesdays are smoked wings. The owner brought out a half-dozen of them for us to try and we were speechless. I’m a wing guy, and I’ve never had wings like these before. Thursday’s special is a 3lb. rack of ribs for $14, which can serve 2-3 people.

I’ll admit that the name is a little cheesy, and their website could use some work. Thankfully, these guys focus their attention on the food, and it shows. The owner is a Vietnam vet who has a tremendous amount of pride in his craft. If you’re in Lincoln, I would encourage you to give them a try. (Map and Directions)

Dave Barry is funny. A few of my favorite excerpts from his 2008 Year in Review:

January: A mesmerizing speaker, Obama electrifies voters with his exciting new ideas for change, although people have trouble remembering exactly what these ideas were because they were so darned mesmerized. Some people become so excited that they actually pass out. These are members of the press corps.

April: Congress, responding to the financial pain of the American people, goes into partisan gridlock faster than ever before, with Republicans demanding that the oil companies immediately start drilling everywhere, including cemeteries, and Democrats calling for a massive effort to develop alternative energy sources such as wind, the sun, tides, comets, Al Gore and dragon breath, using technology expected to be perfected sometime this millennium. It soon becomes clear that Congress will not actually do anything, so Americans start buying less gasoline.

July: Barack Obama, having secured North and South America, flies to Germany without using an airplane and gives a major speech — speaking English and German simultaneously — to 200,000 mesmerized Germans, who immediately elect him chancellor, prompting France to surrender.

Meanwhile John McCain, at a strategy session at a golf resort, tells his top aides to prepare a list of potential running mates, stressing that he wants somebody ”who is completely, brutally honest.” Unfortunately, because of noise from a lawn mower, the aides think McCain said he wants somebody ”who has competed in a beauty contest.” This will lead to trouble down the road.

August: In yet another troubling economic indicator, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rob a liquor store.

September: The Republican convention gets off to a tentative start in St. Paul when President Bush and Vice President Cheney are unable to attend, partly because of Hurricane Gustav, and partly because the organizers told them that the convention was in Atlanta. The mood improves when Sarah Palin dazzles the delegates with her winning smile, detailed knowledge of what is on the teleprompter, and spot-on imitation of Tina Fey.

November: As it becomes increasingly clear that the federal government’s plan of giving hundreds of billions of dollars to dysfunctional companies has not fixed the problem, the government comes up with a bold new plan: give more hundreds of billions of dollars to dysfunctional companies. Soon the government is in a bailout frenzy, handing out money left and right, at one point accidentally giving $14 billion to a man delivering a Domino’s pizza to the Treasury building.

December: The CEOs of the Increasingly Small Three auto makers return to Washington to resume pleading for a bailout, this time telling Congress that if they can reach an agreement that day, they will throw in the undercoating, the satellite-radio package AND a set of floor mats. ”We’re actually LOSING MONEY on this deal!” they assure Congress. Finally they reach a $13.4 billion agreement under which the car companies will continue to provide jobs, medical insurance and pension benefits, but will cease producing actual cars. The agreement will be overseen by the federal government, using its legendary ability to keep things on budget.

From Doug Wilson:

The Muslims need Jesus and the Jews need Jesus. That’s my Middle East peace plan.

Exactly.

In case you’re looking for some help with your New Year’s resolutions, Stuff Christians Like has a great list to get you started.

A couple of favorites:

• Win the “please turn to” Bible verse race every Sunday.
• Find more subtle ways to discover if I’m with a Christian that will also drink a glass of wine or a pint of beer.
• Crush all foes in the “VBS Decorating Wars.”

While they don’t exactly have an Edwardsian ring to them, they might make you chuckle a bit.

Behold! I present you with The Best Christmas Song Ever:

Elsie is getting mighty “crafty” these days. She has really enjoyed drawing lately, and last night she and Grandma Joan created a couple of Princess Picture Frames. As you might expect, they required a fair amount of glitter glue.

Which got me thinking… where does glitter glue come from? Is this what happens when My Little Ponies die?