I have been so madly at work for the last 2 months. Picture a store moving from a very small location to a new downtown location, having to secure the lease, paint and redecorate the new space, move the inventory and order more inventory to fill the new location, set up display shelves and an upgraded checkout system.
Well, that's what I've done, but only virtually. It's so easy to see your progress when you have an actual store with paint cans and ladders. It's a whole different animal when it's virtual, but, no less work.
I have implemented a zencart shopping cart and stepped up to play with the big girls. This is no joke! Everything you could possibly want or need is in there. But it was so much work to get it done, and, just like in the physical world, there were unexpected and time-consuming hurdles and glitches. Simply doing the initial installation was daunting to me. I fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to the online world. Seriously! Well, no, that's not quite true anymore, but let's just say I came into this not knowing HTML, Java, CSS, PHP, or any of that fancy stuff. And now? Nope. Still don't know any of that fancy stuff but I play one on TV.
I admit to an extensive software engineering career back in the day followed by a configuration management career and lots of consulting. I can debug anything. I just didn't think I'd be dusting off those skills. I also have a background in databases. I honestly thought that my skills were outdated and if push came to shove, I would not be worth hiring anymore. As Guy Kawasaki would say, Bull Shiitake! I always walked into my interviews and got hired. When they asked if I knew J-foo-foo, I honestly would say, "No, but I can learn it." And I would. Those that quizzed me on interviews and then didn't hire me because I wasn't quite sure of the bit order on DEC, IBM PC and SunOS were idiots. Why would one need to rattle that kind of stuff off when it is so easy to check? My head is filled with more important skills, not trivia. And it's filled with the gist, which is a critical skill, because it translates into new situations.
I did find myself in some hairy deep messes trying to get the system set up, in no small part because I had the misfortune to have downloaded a version of the software and then not installed it until it was seriously old. Once I was kindly informed that I was about to go live with a version of software that was full of security holes, of course I had to upgrade. Well, a sleepless week terminating in a very late night and a bottle of Jack Daniels for a goddess on the Zencart staff has brought me to where I am now, live and with a gorgeous new store!
I have lots to still do, tidying up in the back of the store, so don't mind me. And the inventory isn't all even out yet so watch out for good stuff coming all the time. Some of it isn't even really set up to buy yet, like the Dadgear and Daisygear Diaper Bags. Those will require some solid hours of effort.
But I'll get there!
