seanwillson.com

there is a lot going on at work lately. seems that all of the hours and time i put into my job these last few months is not going to have any effect on the advancement of my career. like a lot of companies out there we are “supposedly” being effected by this .com spending crunch. though i have not seen it, and we certainly aren’t slowing our purchasing engine (1, 2, 3, etc…), they announced that we won’t be receiving any raises or bonuses any time soon and likely not this year. talk about a slap in the face … unfortunately, or fortunately for them i am dedicated to something i believe in so i am going to continue working the long hours on this project regardless of any self benefit. i know that sounds a little dramatic, but taking my personal time after 8 hour days, and continuing on working on a project for another 2-5 hours per day takes it toll on my personal life, mental stability, stress level, personal fitness, relationship with amy etc. anyhow, we are close to finishing, so in the final hours i am not going to throw in the towel. post release however, i can’t say what i will do.


my workouts are going well, missing a few here and there, but i don’t feel like i am making any progress. i honestly don’t know what is missing. if i sit down and think about the environment i was in back in early 2000 i see a night and day difference. i was working a job with no stress, i had no responsibilities, no relationship, nothing. excuses yes … but now i have so much more, but something is missing. it’s as if my body lost something. i can eat right, exercise, and everything else but something isn’t clicking. i am going to bo back and re-read the book, take notes, and start this crap over again. amy and i are really trying to make this the year to turn around our fitness and get where we want to be. not that she is in bad shape, but everyone wants to improve their body, she is no exception.


let’s see … what else. still no word from kris … not a thanks, sorry, f*$k you or anything. pretty damn rude if you ask me.


i’ve been trying to keep my learnfitness.com site up to date. i don’t always have the time but i have been trying to get post in every few days. if you read any good articles on health, fitness, or the body send it my way so i can post it.

I am working on some tools for HomeSite that automate the task of inserting tags for Struts into JSP views. This includes the tag definitions, integrated help, a toolbar, and if I can code insight. I know that I write most of my views using this MVC framework (that’s what struts is) and already find the tag wizards I have written extremely helpful. I am writing wizards for the Bean, Logic, HTML, and Template tag libraries used by Struts. If you have any questions or want some early access to these to help test them drop me a line.


For more information about Struts check our one or more of the following:

• Struts @ Husted - Tons of detailed information, links, and resources. Really the definitive Struts website.
• Jakarta Struts - From the horses mouth.
• Struts Trailmap - Formally Bluestone, now owned by hp, was a huge Struts supporter and user.

Look for the HomeSite add-in to arrive as soon as I get it to a stable state.

found a good article over at business week about the power of smart design. if you get a chance, check out the products that his company, ideo, has designed. damn impressive …


my new favorite site to read throughout the day.


i started taking a course at cod to get my web design certificate. it’s really easy, not learning that much, but it’s interesting none the less. hopefully i can help the people in the class with their design etc … it gets funny when i end up answering a majority of the questions asked. the instructor and i already have an interesting rapport going.


the house is going well. i finally finished 100% of the wiring, included are 2 ethernet in the master bedroom, 1 in the spare bedroom, 2 in the loft, 2 in the living room, 3 in the family room, a new phone line in the spare bedroom, loft, and family room and finally 2 nice new switches, one hub, and a ups to keep it all running. now all i need it my own server to run mail and web servers on and i have the ideal home network, but i’m working on that one as well.


amy and i are doing great. we have finally been able to relax this month. no events, responsibilities, or expectations for or by anyhow. just relaxation and vegging to be done on the weekends. it feels great. next month we are going to michigan for a few days to see my family, but that’s about it for now.

well the holidays are over. my christmas went pretty good … i spent the holidays with amy and her family. we had a great time playing cards, talking, relaxing and just being together. i ate a lot of different treats … i even made some myself. i made some cookies to donate to the treat table of sarah’s wedding. the table we really nice … it had like 15 different trays with all different kinds of cookies and deserts. more on the wedding later …


i gave amy her xmas present on christmas eve. i had to tell little white lies to her over the past 3-4 weeks making her think it was a big present. i wouldn’t let her into certain rooms in the house and even wouldn’t let her into the basement at one time. i really had her thinking … and as usual at one time she guessed it, but i convinced her that she was wrong so she gave up on that idea. anyhow, i got her a new dell laptop. she likes it a lot, and even though she thinks i spent to much, she is very happy with what i gave her. i knew she really needed a new computer and i know my technology … so it was a good gift from a geek like me.


she gave me some really cool presents for my house. i received a sweet ass lamp from restoration hardware, some candle holders and a table center piece for my new dining table from room and board, some salsa from harry and david and a new robe. her family got me a nice hand made ceramic pitcher, a full 12 seating of silverware, a pasta/colander set, and a nice tea set. all in all i got some really nice new items for my house, which i needed desperately. my brother and sister in law got me the 3 dvd set of movies from pixar, a bear/tree statue, and a cool wolverine road sign for my house.


sarah’s wedding was really nice. she had asked me to be an usher, i happily said yes .. so that makes the 3rd wedding i was in in a little over a year. things that make ya go hummmm … anyhow … it was really nice … amy and i danced a bit, ate a bit, and chatted with a lot of people. i had a blast and am really happy for her and tony.


now on to new year … i had ellis, christina, mike, lori, kris, and michelle over for new year … along with amy of course. anyhow, the weekend went pretty well … some complaints came about money as usual and also came when we went to see lord of the rings. the movie was about 3 hours long and really good … but michelle decided to huff and puff about every 15 minutes there by making it pretty miserable for people sitting near her. that and she didn’t have a very good time … actually she had “the worst new years ever” at my house. why you ask give that she sat in one spot all weekend covered with a blanket pouting? well i guess she was under the impression that we would be going to downtown chicago for new years when in fact we made it clear when she was here for my birthday and also on the phone and via email with kris that we would be hanging out at my house. no one had the money (at least $50 per person to get into most bars) to go downtown and the fact is that we just weren’t that type of crowd. so instead we hung out, made dinner, relaxed and played games. i had a great time … as did everyone else. but at the stroke of midnight she went running up stairs balling and i never saw her the rest of the night. some others talked to her though … and apparently she said that she was “bored”, that this was the “worst new year’s ever”, and that she “wanted to go home”. that is pretty funny as the last time we went downtown all she did was sit at the table we were at and do nothing. anyhow, i was pretty hurt and angry that she would say that and didn’t have the guts to tell me. well that wasn’t then end of it … her and kris got up the next morning before anyone else, as they said they would, and then just left. they didn’t wake us up and say thanks, they didn’t say anything, no note, no nothing … 20 minutes after they left they called and asked for directions. no thanks, no thing, just asked for directions and then hung up. pretty damn rude if you ask me. i will never invite them (mainly her) to my house again. i was appalled, hurt, and pissed all at once.


anyhow … the new year is here … i am working out, kicking ass, and taking names. i am going to hit all of my goals this year. look for me to post those here soon. till then, have a great year everyone.