I totally read it on Some Guy’s Blog

At the end of January 2007, I made a list of my goals for what I wanted to accomplish before my 29th birthday in February of 2008. There’s been so much change already that I think it’s OK to revisit this list in light of the first moments of 2008 being upon us.

Goals for the Blog

Short term: Get the blog URL structure cemented as best as possible.

I am satisfied with what I got done here. Without belaboring the point for those who don’t care too much, my goal was to get to a place where I would feel comfortable with Google no longer ignoring me.

Mid term: Get designer for personal site

I actually contacted someone who was willing to barter me some design skills for general technical excellence, but she backed out. Oh, well! I just picked a theme from the gallery as a result.

Year end: Have one two-word #1 Google result

I did accomplish this briefly—now appending “jimvanfleet” to the same query STILL doesn’t even get me first result. Google, you’re so shifty! I am going to change the form of this goal for next year to just encourage myself to create quality content. Anyone familiar with this blog should realize that’s a major challenge for me.

Goals for CISV USA

Short term: Get the CISV USA webpage moved to the new design

I am currently demoing a beta of another multiple-site Mephisto installation to allow some chapters to have their home pages there. This one is a success.

Mid term: Get someone to help with mail administration

Total failure here. Everyone I know is overqualified, and no one else has shown enough interest.

Year end: Get one group using the wiki actively.

Still time on this one! One more EEC retreat before my birthday, but I doubt it’ll work.

Goals for CVREG

Short term: Complete what

I have been working at TradeKing since the beginning of September, and the site that I (and others) have been working on will be launched to the public tomorrow.

It’s a great site, and I am very happy with my change in brokerage, regardless of my employment status. If you are a stockholder, consider transferring your assets to TradeKing. You can’t beat the price, and the customer support is top-notch. You also get to play around and shoot me nasty messages if you find any bugs in the community site. What could be better than that?

Hello, again, all! As my last update post may have led you to believe, I have indeed been monstrously busy over the past several months. It happens to the best of us.

Recently, however, I’ve managed to carve out enough time to do something that I’ve wanted to do for several years. The website that you are now reading not only has a snappy new domain but also the same software runs a site for my main domain at jimvanfleet.com. This is the first time that software of any kind has run my main domain, so, for a geek like me, that’s pretty neat.

My belief is that this setup will allow me to lay out my thoughts and interests with structure (which blogs don’t really do) while still using the blog format (which is the best for keeping people up to date and retaining interest). I’m getting to a point in my professional life where I expect to have to spend more time blogging to have the success that I’d like. What a world, huh?

So welcome! I know this is the first that you’ve heard from me in awhile, but I catch a flight to Iowa later today. IOWA!