Wow the landscape has shifted

My headline means two things to me today. First, the social media landscape. This was my post on Facebook this week. 

Social media is a mess right now. The new Facebook interface is convinced I want to be one of the groups I support all day long (and not myself) which completely confused a friend this morning. Twitter keeps changing its interface and asking me to give them money (no way, you should be grateful I'm still logging in and seeing any of the ads on the site). Instagram keeps sending me videos of strangers describing knitting hacks in languages I don't understand (and I'm not entirely sure why except for the one "how to crochet a penguin video" I did watch once about six months ago). I'm not job hunting so LinkedIn is not a destination and I prefer to read instead of watching videos so YouTube is not the best place for me either. 

But, I do like to know what you're all doing. Going to try to keep hanging in here to see the people I love doing the things that they love and chuckling about LOTR memes and Mariah Carey on her way.

It's getting worse. And now I see people going to Mastodon, Tumblr, Reddit and Discord. I'm in a few of those places, but I'm not sure that this business needs to reinvent itself again in social. I'll keep this blog going and I'll stay active on LinkedIn, but I think I'll be closing my Twitter account after I get my data. I don't use it enough and he doesn't get to count it. 

And now my second point.

The freelance world has changed since the pandemic. I used to see dozens of options available to connect with potential clients for reasonable rates and now FIVERR is advertising on TV, PhDs are taking editing jobs, and more people have jumped into the remote world. Many of the places where I used to find gig work at night (EST) are already finished by the time I can log in. I'm happy for the companies but sad my routine is broken. I will be honest I was hoping that my business model would last another 20 years, but the world changes constantly. 

I am fortunate to not be desperate enough to write for pennies. I am also fortunate that I am not homebound and can flex in different ways to support myself and my family. After a few months of frustration, I am moving forward again with a new part-time gig and it's exactly the bridge I needed. When it's time for me to leave my full-time job, I'll be able to focus more on Off Peak again.

How are you navigating this changing landscape? 

Treating myself like a client

Decided to apply for a Google scholarship to Coursera yesterday (see previous post) and it got me wondering about the analytics for this blog and if there is still any useful info buried deep within it. 

So, I went back to the beginning and started reading and realized a few things.  

First, I am not a good blogger. I rarely spend time here. I do leave myself some really useful tips that I regularly come back and review (ie, how to Adobe with difficult PDFs) but I'm not really consistently acting like a thought leader! 

Secondly, shame on me for not checking my analytics and realizing that I don't have data on the early years. Or to make sure that all my links work etc. I do those tasks regularly for my clients, but fail on my own site. That's not a great business plan if potential clients are coming here first. 

Finally, I need to hold myself accountable for making connections, celebrating them and being prepared to reinvent myself for another 10 years. So much has changed since I launched this blog (my third LOL) but I'm still here. 

Task for the week: Checking and fixing broken links in the old content. You'll see notes when I update the old posts:) 

Google Career Certificates

Spotted something interesting at the bottom of the Google search bar today. 

Google Career Certificates 

Google is working with Coursera to allow individuals to complete Google certificates. Up to 500 employees per company, but it looks like solo practitioners can also participate. 

Thought I'd share and encourage you to check it out. 

Memories

Had a pipe burst in my basement.

Didn't realize it was dripping for a few weeks/months ?!? before it went completely.  When we stopped the water and moved stuff out of the space, everything on the top shelf was moldy. Things got better the farther down the damage went, but  I lost two garbage cans full of stuff right off the bat. Luckily really dear items were in plastic totes and are totally fine, but I had some files and archives in cardboard boxes that got damp. 

I'm now sorting through all of those boxes to see if I can salvage things and if I really need to keep them. 

It's been a wild memory trip. 

I've forgotten so many things I did as a student and professional. I worked for many companies who have closed (Ampersand Graphics, BANCO, Metro Community News, Oncology News International, Advance (Radiology News), and Sibley's). I've left some places (JWU, RPCI, Cambridge Proofreading, WordVice, and JCPenney) but I'm still connected to many people from them. 

I wrote a lot. 

I worked a lot.

I am still working hard, but I really did not remember just how much hustling I was doing when my kids were small. So many clippings that I have to throw away. It's OK, my kids were really never going to read all of that and I don't need that kind of portfolio anymore, but I HAVE A LOT OF CLIPS. 

The scary thing is that I know I've gone through these boxes in the past. So, while these items bring back memories it makes me wonder what else am I forgetting? What will I never remember again because I've lost these? Is this why the elderly hoard things?  

I had a horrendous time cleaning out my parent's home. So, I really do know that this experience is for the best. It's better for me to spend some this time remembering and paying homage to my past. I can probably save a few triggers for myself that my kids will love to find someday. And they are more likely to see them if I can clear away the excess junk that made me feel productive. 

Writing this post as a nod to my future self for when I'm no longer capable of moving the boxes around.

Dreamweaver

 Spent several minutes swearing at Dreamweaver today before I found this help article.  Thank goodness for Nancy Shea.

It's a lot easier to work with data tables in Design view or more specifically, Split with Code / Design.   See screenshot from Document Toolbar.

 

And Ben is right about opening the HTML Property Inspector (Ctrl + F3) for making links.  That's what the link field is for.

 

Hello 2022

Blogging is not my thing. I have discovered over the last few years that I am a reactor to situations and that I love to help other people create, but I'm too busy to generate new and personal things right now.   

Hence, my last post was in March 2021. Because pandemic. 

I'm still going to keep this blog. It really is a great place for me to put tips and tricks I use with my clients and shortcuts that help me work smarter. So, here's my annual post to stay active :) and stay well. 

I'd like this pandemic to reach the endemic stage to launch the next phase of my career. 

#WearAMask #ProtectYourBubble #GetVaccinated