(Blinks, looks around)  Wow, has it really almost been a month?  It seems just yesterday I was saying to myself “As punishment for taking so long to complete my website, I won’t blog until that website is FINISHED.”  Then, every week I would say “Alright, this week,” and then the next week I would say the same thing, and, OH LOOK, it’s September 20th and I haven’t blogged in a month.

So, it was about 11PM last night, when I finally completed my website.  I sat in disbelief for about an hour, and then I moved it over onto byjillian.com!  Wah-lah!  (Opens curtain, crickets chirping) Feel free to sing words of praise here. Alrighttt, I guess I’ll post a screenshot of it, for archival purposes:

Alrighttt, and I guess since the subpage is so different I’ll post it too:

And no, it doesn’t matter how wide your screen is, or how tall, it will look the same to everyone, using Firefox 2.0 and up, and IE (Internet Explorer) 7.0.   IE 6 does not display the footer properly, and, I can only please one person per day.

Creating the design for the website was probably the hardest part.  Once I got the design down, I spent about 2 weeks figuring out how to put the footer at the bottom of the website, and I would give up every five seconds, because it would work in Firefox and not in Internet Explorer.  Because, as we all know, Internet Explorer is the root of all evil.  Yes, ALL OF IT.

Well, except for pedophiles, and Ace of Base, not that the two are related. However, they are down on that “root of all evil” list as well.

I started realizing while looking through all of my folders, that I am really good at documenting the changes I made to my blog, with screenshots and saving all of my files in neat folders.  What I am not good at, is putting a DATE to any of this.  All I have on my blog folders is “Blog Version 1″, “Blog Version 2″, all the way up until this blog, which is “Version 4″.  Yeah, that’s nice, but when I’m trying to figure out a TIMELINE, it’s not so nice. So, I incorporated a very complex mathematical equation called ESTIMATION to put a time to each of the websites.

In a word: Fun.

Alright, so I guess I overdid it with the lame “My name is Jillian, and this is my website.” on every page, but, after working on it regularly for the past few weeks, I felt like the Well of Creativity was running dry.  And, maybe I went a little overboard with the whole thumbnail-images with a blown-up part of the image, that is, until the user clicks on it to view the actual image.  It was fun making them all though and choosing different spots of the larger image.

Oh, I just found the image I was looking for about web design:

[End of Shameless Self-Promotion]

“…But, I NEED to install Vista!”  I say, speaking of Windows Vista, the operating system.  I have a tower computer that I don’t use that I recently put back together and powered up.  Now, with my laptop as my main computer, I want to install Vista.

“Well, you can’t install Vista without a monitor, right?”  She says over the phone.

“That’s why I’m at Best Buy,”  I say, flicking a tag below a nearby monitor.  It says “229.99″ as it jiggles a bit on the shelf.  I think about how the only way to access my tower computer is through Remote Desktop, and you certainly can’t install another operating system on it through Remote Desktop!  Having a computer and no monitor for a computer nerd is probably the equivalent of watching TV without a remote.  As in, have to get UP to change the channel every time?  What type of world would that be?!

“But, are you willing to spend 300 bucks on a monitor that you won’t use very often, JUST to install Vista?”

“Maybe…” I say, trying to figure out what I want.  I hang up with her shortly afterward, looking down the long lineup of monitors on display and thinking.  I have a serious addiction to computers, there’s no denying that one.  Without thinking, I rip off the 229.99 sticker off of the shelf and twirl it in my hands.  Even though I have a severe addiction, however, I don’t think I’m ready to pay 230 for a monitor I will use only a few times.  I place the sticker back on the shelf in it’s original position.

Today it was like an answering from the Green Giant (or a higher being, whatever that name may be).  At work there is this thing called “Post Up” where people put things that are for sale, events in the community, etc.  And, I saw a guy had posted up there that he was giving away two monitors, and one of them came with a keyboard.

As in, Free.  No money required.

After work, I meet him in the parking lot.

“I’m just glad that it didn’t have to go to a landfill,”  He says, putting it gently in the back of my car.   We talk about the monitor as if it’s a small child.

“How long did you say you had it?”  I say, looking over my shoulder at my new monitor.

“About 7 years, but I haven’t used it for the last three though,”  He says.  “Oh, and here’s the keyboard.”

“Are you sure you don’t want anything for it?”  I say, throwing the keyboard in the passenger seat unceremoniously and closing the door.  I think about all of the price tags I saw at Best Buy over the weekend for monitors, the best deal was 229.99 - I’m not a math major but that’s about 229.99 more than what I’m paying for this.

“I mean, I can give you 20 bucks in cash if you want,”  I say, pulling out my purse.

“Ah, no it’s quite alright, it was just sitting and collecting dust in my closet for the past few years, I’m sure it will be much happier being used again.”

“Thanks again, this is exactly what I was looking for,”  I say, genuinely happy.  We shake hands shortly thereafter, and I try not to peel away too fast, I mean, I feel like I ripped the guy off, not paying a single cent for the monitor.  I get home and throw the keyboard in my computer closet (yeah, I actually have one of those) and plug in the monitor right away.

Oh yeah, it’s much happier here.  Now excuse me while I go and hack my computer. (Skips away)