About three years ago, I left a company that I really liked ( WRQ) in order to pursue a career in Web Development. I would have loved to have stayed at WRQ, but they used Sun/Solaris and Java for their web site, and my skills were Microsoft-centric. So I joined a 'dot-com' (Senada.com) right at the end of the frenzy when everyone was screaming for web developers. After about a year, my dot.com was out of capital, and was acquired by another startup, FreeRein Corporation. Nine months later, shortly after 9-11, FreeRein could not secure more venture capital, and closed up shop.

By this time, the 'fall of the dot.coms' had taken its toll, and there were few jobs for web developers, and thousands of web developers out of work. So continuing in my career became a difficult proposition. While looking for permanent employment, and wanting to keep up and expand my skills, I rented some space with a web hosting company ( Eryxma.com), and started learning how to create and maintain web sites. The hosting company that I went with, however, didn't offer Windows servers, so I began to learn non-Microsoft ways of doing things.

Including this site, I now have ten web sites in various stages of development, created entirely by myself, including all code (except two small scripts and a shopping cart), and all graphics, not counting a few photos I gleaned from the Web. In the process, I have become familiar with Adobe Photoshop, CGI scripting, Perl, SSI, MySQL, and the Plesk control panel. I have written scripts that accept user input, write to files, and read from files. I have scripts that allow a user to update a table online, scripts that pull in text and graphics from files and combine them on a page, and scripts that allow two-way access to data in a MySQL database. I've also written a fair amount of JavaScript, including cross-browser scripting. I also have a page on one of my sites that allows me to update a Javascript file that is included on another page that displays text and graphics as indicated in the Javascript file. My latest project is to create online spreadsheets that are user-updatable, using a MySQL database to store the data.

Here's a database-connected example of a task list of projects and ideas.

Here are some themes I'm working on. Click on 'Home' to close the window:

• Sandstone
• Easter/stylized
• Color Swirls
• Letter Box
• Letter Box w/black background

Here is a list of the other sites that I currently host, and am developing:

• motormanmike.com This is the most extensive site I've done. I will add a shopping cart soon.
• airloom.org Has database-connected, online updatable crew list, task list and an Outlook-like calendar/reservation form for a small sailing dinghy.
• funcyclerentals.com Will get shopping cart soon.
• xaviercoin.com Currently under development. Best logo I've done to date.
• teahousewriters.com. This site is the first site I built, using only MS Paint for the graphics, and Notepad to write the pages. I have added the ability for writers to add their own documents online, and I'm currently adding the ability to add photo pages online.
• kristoffersons.com (coming soon)
• webmanmike.com (coming soon)
• siteproofer.com (coming soon)
• lufferloof.com (coming soon) Why lufferloof? It was the only name I could find that wasn't already taken. Not really. Lufferloof is a square-rigger boat builder's term that refers to the timbers that form the bow of the ship. This site is reserved for all things nautical that I may eventually organize into a Web site.