Catching up in 2024

Well, October 2024 is starting and this is the first time I’ve blogged here this year. It’s been another crazy year so far, and there’s a 50/50 chance it’ll stay crazy, OR be super quiet and simple.

I’m still running MediaForge Productions. It’s not going quite as well as I’d hoped, but there’s light ahead. More on that in a bit.

Cate quit her job at Automattic in March I think. I’ll let her tell that story. But it significantly lowered our monthly income. The apartment we were in was very expensive, which was appropriate at the time, but it was time to go. Our lease was up in April. We considered living in a cabin at her brother’s place, but it used to be Grandma’s house, and Cate wasn’t sure she wanted to live there. We had found a place to go, but didn’t like it much. I had been thinking about a place in Muskegon where we lived 20 years ago, and then Cate brought it up too. Just a week before we had to move we applied for that place and with just 48 hours before the move we were approved.

We hired a team to move us, and it was SO worth it. Rent was half the old place, and had an indoor pool and sauna.

Mid-summer

In July we went up to my in-laws place for several events. Some holiday, some birthday, some funeral. The biggest change was that Cate fell in love with the place all over again. So we had a conversation and decided to break our apartment contract and move up north.

We had a couple months to pack and get ready. We did some stuff in August, but at the end of August Cate got Sick. We’re pretty sure it was RSV, and she couldn’t really walk much. She slept on the couch for weeks, mostly sitting up because she couldn’t sleep laying down.

This also meant we weren’t packing. Granted, a fair amount of stuff wasn’t unpacked from getting there, but still, it was a drain.

Coaching

I signed up for a course on Personal Coaching. It started in early September, and we meet on Zoom twice a week. I’ve really enjoyed it, it really fits my soul. The final exam is in early November and then I can start coaching people!

WordCamp US

Originally we had planned for both of us to go to WordCamp on Sept. 17. We decided we shouldn’t go for financial reasons, my work wasn’t going great. Then she got sick and it felt like a no-brainer to stay home. Our vehicle started having issues, and I took it to the shop. By this time Cate was 80% better. She texted me at the shop and said “You should go to WordCamp”. So I did. Keep in mind, this was ON the 17th that we had this discussion. So I got a hotel and burned some flight points and went.

My main goal was to find clients and work, and I’m pretty happy with the results. Quite a few people said they were interested in hiring me to make videos, a couple were interested in hiring me to represent them at US WordCamps, and a few other opportunities arose. All in all, it was VERY worth it.

Moving

Once I got back we had to shift into Moving mode. Cate did most of the packing. As move day got closer I did more and the girls came to help. We rented a U-Haul, but paid some moving guys to get all our stuff down three flights of stairs and load the truck. They were able to get about 3/4 of our stuff into the truck, and we drove north, unpacked into the night, got up early in the morning and drove back to GR for so I could do Coaching class with good internet.

The Job

A friend showed me a job listing on LinkedIn for a web standards evangelist at Apple, and on a whim I applied. Just a few days later I got an email saying they wanted an interview. The interview was in the middle of our move, so I did it in the empty kitchen of our old apartment, with my laptop on a box.

It went really well, and they immediately asked for a full round of 4 interviews. This was yesterday as I write this, and the others will be next week. The next post on this blog should include whether I got the job or not.

More Moving

The girls and Graham came to help, and we got 99% of the rest of the stuff in the truck. Then we drove north again. Got up early, unpacked, and hustled back to GR for The Interview. Each trip north is about 230 miles (370km) round trip. We took the truck back, and put the last few things in our car. Then we went north again, but this time in our nice Mercedes SUV instead of the horrible box truck.

Today

This morning I got up and unpacked Günter (the Mercedes) and we hustled back to GR. Cate’s helping Sophia with some stuff and then we’ll go back to the old apartment for some last cleaning and be done.

The Future

I mentioned it could be chaos or peace. If I get the job we’ll be moving to Cupertino CA, probably before the new year. If I don’t, we’re going to quietly settle into our cabin on the farm, next to the woods, and watch the snow pile up all winter while I build MediaForge.

Stay tuned!