Author: KokkieH

Have a very Merry TARDIS Christmas

The year wouldn’t be complete without another Doctor Who themed item to add to my collection. And once again the wife didn’t disappoint:

tardis-piggy-bank

My Christmas present? A home-made TARDIS piggy bank. Still not bigger on the inside, and I didn’t get it stuffed full of cash, but it was filled with a sugary treat a historic Doctor is known to have been very fond of. Can you guess what it is?

We spent Christmas on our own this year. It’s Elizabeth’s first Christmas, our last Christmas in our current home (we’re planning a move next year, but more to come on that later) and we realised we’ve never had a Christmas at home since we were married. It was nice, just celebrating the day quietly in our own way.

I’d actually meant to write something about Christmas this year, but time got awy from me. There are days I really wish I had an actual TARDIS, so I can go back and get to the things I missed the first time around. But then, if I had a real TARDIS I’d probably forget all about my own past with an entire universe to explore, so…

How was your Christmas, those of you who celebrate it? Did you spend it on your own? with friends, family, a time-traveling madman in a blue box? Any significant presents you’d like to share? It doesn’t need to be TARDIS-related 😉

However you spent your day, from us Kokkies I wish you all the good this day represents to us, and may the last few days of 2016 represent the best of this year, or at the very least pass without incident 🙂

WordCamping

And here I am, for the third time this year, waiting to board an international flight. I’ve flown more this year than my entire life to date.

Where am I off to this time?

I mentioned previously that WordPress is a community, and WordPressers love getting together, from informal meet ups to WordPress conferences, called WordCamps.

This weekend, Zimbabwean WordPressers are holding their first ever WordCamp in the capital, Harare, and a colleague and I are going up from South Africa to represent Automattic and give back to the community by presenting talks. Yes, I’ll be speaking at the WordCamp tomorrow.

Having worked as a teacher and a preacher I’m no stranger to public speaking, but I will admit to having quite a few butterflies fluttering about in my stomach. WordCamps are typically attended by developers, designers, experts in WordPress and everything online. And here I am, a blogger of four years, thinking I can teach them something.

It’s easy to think like that. But I’ve received so much encouragement and support from my colleagues while deciding whether to apply and while preparing my talk. And I’ll be speaking about something I love and know well: helping people with WordPress. So I’m sure it will go well.

I think the real reason is that I had to leave Squishy and the missus behind again. I swear it gets harder each time. I’m only gone two days this time instead of ten, and only 600 miles away instead of thousands and thousands, but I’m already missing them and I haven’t even boarded yet. I guess that’s how it will be leaving home from now on.

Anyway, wish me luck with my talk tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it went.

I forgot to post yesterday…

…and almost forgot again today. But yesterday was acutally a very significant day and I can’t have it pass without marking it.

Yesterday a year ago two things happened that changed my life beyond imagining. I started working at Automattic, and I found out that I was going to be a dad.

It’s a bit of a tradition at Automattic to blog about working here on one’s anniversary, but that will need to stand over for a later date when I have time to do it properly. But let me just say for now that it has been one heck of a ride so far. And it’s all about the people.

The magic of WordPress does not lie in the software, but in the community that surrounds it, and inside Automattic is only a small part of that community, but a very special one. Never before have I worked with a group of people that cares so deeply both about the work that they do and about each other (and I say that as someone who at one point worked for the church).

And being a dad? Earlier this evening I was scrolling through my Facebook feed on my phone and came across this very true statement:

If parenting had a GPS, it would constantly be saying “Recalculating”

And aint that the truth!

Just when we think we’re figuring things out, Elizabeth goes and changes the tables on us. But every single moment has been worth it. Seeing her grow and develop has been such an incredible experience. She has the most joyous laugh and the sweetest little voice. And the way that she smiles when she sees me…

I’m pretty sure there isn’t much in this world I wouldn’t do for that little girl.

That’s it for now, but I’ll be writing some more on both of these soon!

Discovering my lacunae

Yesterday we went to the mall. I know, between month end and extended Black Friday specials (cause apparently that’s now a thing in SA) it’s insanity. But the wife has been going stir crazy from her maternity leave, and we had woken up to the news that her grandmother had passed, so I decided getting out of the house was more important than avoiding the crowds.

We just strolled aimlessly through the shops, not looking for anything specific (our Christmas shopping was completed weeks ago already), but I quickly became frustrated.

Continue reading “Discovering my lacunae” →

Happy Blogiversary to me

Two posts on one day! I know! But I could hardly let this pass without comment…

These four years saw 432 posts published on if all else fails… (including this one) and 2,722 total comments, of which I wrote 451.

The site has had 38,505 views to date coming from 99 different countries.

my_stats_-_wordpress_com — I got China. No one gets views from China, and I’ve had 7!

The best day was 20 September 2015 with 237 views. The most viewed post is When logic takes a leave of absence with a whopping 7,853 all time views – that post was the top search result in Google for over a week for searches on a certain math puzzle. The second most popular post is On Inappropriate Adjectives (or why you shouldn’t call babies “sexy”) with a paltry 1,546 views. (I feel even stronger about the topic addressed in that post now that I have my own little girl!)

The most commented post was On the day job with 46 total comments.

As of today if all else fails… has 539 followers and the Facebook page has 45.

And I’ve answered over 8,750 threads on the WordPress.com support forums (5,000 of those before I started getting paid to do it).

Looking back on it like this I realise it’s been a great 4 years blogging on WordPress.com. I’ve met some great people and made quite a few friends around the world. To all of you, thanks for joining me in this journey and making it worthwhile with your comments, your post likes, your encouragement when I posted about going through tough spots, and your sharing in my joy when I celebrated the good things in my life.

May the next four be even better!

Published on WordPress.com for Mac OS