Last night, I continued to wrestle with indecision regarding my CMS: Jekyll static or Wordpress. I want 2023 to be different—maybe even in a "Think Different" year, if I may borrow from that old, Apple slogan. I don't want to sit at the end review of 2023 and do another, "Well, not a whole lot happened." Sometimes we get bogged down by the minutia—I'm totally for the minutia as it relates to critical cogs of the overall vision. But, in of themselves? Hardly.

Instead of mapping out 2023, I spent the evening weighing in on the gains and losses betwixt two web platforms. There I was again, ol' Buridan's donkey. This was my mindset, "We're not quite into 2023, I can make a last-minute change to the NYE Resolutions proposals, can't I?"

This should not be so. Instead of hitting the trail for a great exploration, I spend my time comparing and contrasting a pair of bulky hiking boots versus my Xero hiking sandals.

Why do I say all of that? Sometimes there's more than and sometimes, like this bit from The Office, "It was actually just cookies the whole time."

Robert: Kevin, you've been quiet. I'm curious to know what your game-changer is.
Kevin: Well, you know how in the vending machine they have the chocolate chip cookies in the A-1 spot? They do that 'cause they think A-1's the best spot for the best cookie. But the real best spot is D-4. Right? That's where the eyes go. So...
Robert: Cookies. Cookie placement.
Kevin: Yeah. But not just the cookies, though. That was just a 'for instance.'
Robert: Who else agrees with Kevin, that we're wasting facilities, manpower, on our underselling products when we should be pushing our top-performers? [slowly everyone raises their hand; Robert laughs] There you go. Consensus.

At the end of the day, I love Jekyll's rendering of HTML. It's secure and fast, two things you want every website to be. And if I ever cared to go back to Github hosting, my website would only cost its yearly domain renewal. But, I'm completely satisifed with NearlyFreeSpeech as I'm approaching my 7th year with them for just this domain: Created Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2017 12:46:04 AM CDT.

And as far as Wordpress goes, for whatever it's worth, I don't have any of my content beyond my mid-2000s migration from Moveable Type to Wordpress. And the only reason I have stuff from 2018 is that I had to convert each post by hand to a text file and swirl about my Markdown wand.

Do I want to spend every day running Visual Studio Code? I do! Long have I recognized that I'll never again:

• Provide desktop support;
• Maintain servers and manage users;
• Resolve printer and copier problems;
• Mitigate network issues;
• Troubleshoot point-of-service systems;
• Create internal/external docs;
• Rotate backups;
• Pet the user's head, toss out doggie treats like candy and say, "You're a good boy, yes you are."

No, all of that is in my life's past—vocationally. The thing is, I've never changed. I do what I do because that's how God built me. And I suspect He has something in that vein post-glorification for me to work on. Again, we know Adam kept the garden. What will be my garden? If I find it is an endless amount of mundane helpdesk requests (*sigh*), then I CLEARLY made a wrong turn somewhere in my mortal life! And for those who do not love Jesus, I suspect it'll be a life worst than an endless array of BSOD's, malware, crashed hard drives and users with scowling faces as they bring their own rogue software & hardware on to the network, for Hell is the place of no love, eternal misery and distress. I think I worked there once as the IT manager with no subordinates.

And I'm not saying I'm built for information systems, if there was ever such a thing. Rather, I am for whatever involves the process. Even at 44, I am no closer to understanding what I am to "be" wandering the "they're good people" wares at the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid than where I was at 23 after college graduation at the Tomb of Doom Pyramid. And like then, all I really know is to do is trust Him, for when I stray and puff my chest, I fail and fall. Thus...

I'll get up, go to my father, and say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands.' So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.'

But the father told his slaves, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let's celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' So they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:18-24, HCSB

(A fattened calf is not lost on me!)