Been a great year!

Just over a year ago I was asked to do a few months worth of work in JUST 10 days(9 since I don't work on Christmas) and I said "This is a joke right?" I thought this guy was putting me on. Turns out he was just desperate to meet a deadline that needed a few more months but was 10 days away. I asked him how many othr people were going to be working it and he says "You are the only guy I asked. I know that if you cant do this, it cant be done." I didn't even know who I was talking to, talk about creepy, lol. Turns out, he badly needed help once before and after wasting many days with many people I just happened to stumble in and pretty much take care of the problem and moved on without a second thought. To me it was really no different than seeing someone drop their wallet and picking it up for them. To him, it was a life saver. He remembered that event clearly, while I had no idea I had even spoken to this person before in my life, lol.


So now the stage is set. Once I realized that I had once helped him before and realized that he was in need of results and nothing else, I asked him to give me a day to think it over. To be honest, I thought he was screwed. I really didn't think I stood a chance in heck of doing what he needed done in the time he needed it. He was just asking too much. I couldnt even think of a recommendation of who else to ask, or how many people he might need to have to finish in time. The only reason I asked for a day to think was to see if I could come up with some other guy who might be able to do this. But I kept hearing those nagging words he said to me over and over and wondered why he would say "I know that if YOU cant do this, it cant be done." so I started thinking of the work and not the problem and some ideas came to mind and all of a sudden things seemed "maybe possible". I called him back and said ok, here's the deal, I have some ideas, and I'll give it my best shot, it's all I can do. I'll work every hour I can stay awake and it will get done, or it wont.


It got done. He said I blew his mind, hell, my mind was still blown trying to figure out how I actually pulled it all off, lol. I started out thinking "there was no way this can be done, he has the wrong guy". Turns out, he was right, he did have the right guy, and I was the one who didn't know it. One of lifes little lessons, or as the song says, "Things that make you go Hmmmmmmm". In addition to paying me for my troubles, he offered me a job. Silly me, I took it. I dont know why it never occured to me that he was going to want at least several dozen more miracles worked, but it sure never crossed my mind. I must have been too tired to think, lol. But it was a relationship that would become a freindship, an adventure, and one of my most awesome pieces of work bar none.


It's been just over a year now. The product went from non existant, to existing, to totally redesigned, upgraded and rebuilt at least half a dozen times over the year. I took an estimate based on the files and time and some various other averages and I figure I authored at least 150 thousand lines of code by myself this year. About 410 lines of code a day every day for a year straight. But fantastic products came from that labor and to me it was worth all the hell I went through to make it happen.


So what's the plan? I'm about to go nuts, thats the plan. I have made so many modifications, additions, enhancements, and improvements, to Torque(all cross platform PC & MAC) that I feel unstoppable. I have ideas pouring out of my head like a waterfall and my skills are so sharp I can cut through steel with them. I dont know what to do first, lol. The product I just finished is my Baby and will be for some number of years to come. I will continue to support and improve on it as needed or wanted, but I'm also ready to really flex my skills and make some other great products. I was also considering going back to the teaching idea that I had to let go of a year ago. I still have all that work saved and have been glancing at it but now that they have their Bootcamps my teaching skills might not be as in demand as before so maybe I'll just finish the SuperStarterPack up and then move on from there. One things for sure, I am going to be doing something involving Torque, and it's gonna kick butt no matter what it is, lol.


I can only hope some old friends are still hanging out here. If you guys are there, shout out to me sometime via Email if you get a chance.


Gonzo