Cue the Sun

Ignition sequence started

I was able to get pretty close with adapting my template design, but getting it to do what I wanted functionally required more time and energy than I was able to give. As with my own efforts, I had a few false starts even when I went in search of programmers, but eventually I was able to hire Allen and the gang, who came up with something that works a treat.

They’ve told me my requirements have pushed Symphony beyond the initial capabilities they envisaged for the application, and yet already I am thinking of more features I would eventually like to include (if ever I learn how the backend works). As always, no sooner do I get something finished (or close to finished) and I’m looking on to something else. I blame my tendency as a writer to always look for reasons not to write, even though I may actually feel like it, it’s easier to tinker with some code, refine a Photoshop template, or take some photos than to sit down and push out a few lines of prose.

Since moving to a new house a few months ago, things have been on the improve. The place is older and more run-down, but it feels more homely than the brand new yuppie pad I had been sharing. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing though, we’ve had to deal with what has to be the most amateur telco in the country (and that’s saying something), who firstly tried to transfer my housemate’s DSL connection to the address he was leaving (and already had the connection), and then took three weeks to come back and tell us that because of a split phone line, we can’t get DSL.

We’d then waited so long to get that in place they disconnected us because the change of name on the account hadn’t taken hold, and to get it reconnected we had to have a new phone number issued (it would be easier to get DSL connected, apparently), and we then waited a further three weeks before they came back and told us we couldn’t get it because of the split line (which the new number was supposed to have bypassed). I’ve been stuck on dialup ever since. We also got hit with a gas bill of over $400 for just three weeks of consumption, just to cap it off.

After the peak and trough of my Valencia prospects, it has come good again to some degree I guess, in that the little agency is now throwing me some freelance work. It’s a good thing on many levels—I’m keeping my eye in on the CSS/XHTML front, diverting me from the rather depressing world of COTS products such as Siebel and SAP, which have poor usability and no concept of accessibility.

There’s also a reasonable chance that perhaps some time down the track, they will revisit the sponsorship option. Spain is not a dead prospect for me yet, though it’s become a distant one. I have to keep reminding myself I was there—when I see the SBS weather report that shows Madrid’s mid-summer temperatures, I find myself remembering the stifling heat of the metro in Colón (and most of central Madrid for that matter).

In a little over a month, it will have been a year since my flight to Madrid. I can’t say it feels like yesterday, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a year ago. Several of the jobs I applied for in Spain a year ago are still being advertised, and I have to admit the temptation to put in an application is kinda strong, but then I remind myself of how long it took to not get an answer last time around, and think better of it.

At the end of September I will fly to Peru for a four week sojourn. Perhaps the grand three year trek I planned through Latin America will not eventuate, and I’ll instead have to do it in bight sized chunks (though the plan is still for something of an odyssey). Maybe this short visit will re-ignite the hunger I’ve had for visiting that vast continent on the other side of the Pacific.

For now though, my website is finally live, now I just have to populate it.