I read some forum posts asking if I was still around, and yes I am. I'm fine, my family is fine. I had to set some priorities in response to what I'll label "adversity", and free software was very low on the list. My websites were always here, downloads for anyone who wanted them, but for the last 2 years I haven't been available.
Not Excuses - Speedbumps
Life got in the way. I had server migrations (between datacenters), new business ventures taking off, old business ventures shutting down, sprinkle in some hardware prototyping, I blew (and rebuilt) the engine in my truck, new grandbabies, and I moved. At some point in there, I was licensed by Texas DPS as a Level 3 firearms instructor (the highest level, a step above LTC instructor).
Tornados and FEMA
The biggest thrill was when a tornado threw a tree through my roof and then stacked another 4 trees on top of it (Texas weather!) It took 3 days to cut the tangle of trees off the roof to see the damage and cover the hole, then it was another 3 days of storms before we had power again.
What's interesting about being in a FEMA-declared disaster area is the federal response. Sometime in September, long after I had cleaned up and repaired everything myself - FEMA returned my call to ask how they could assist. I was genuinely confused as to why they would even bother to call 4 months later.
The Obvious
I rebuilt my website which had been stuck in Joomla 3 for 2 major version updates. How could I stand proud when the entire Joomla ecosystem passed me by? Several of my extensions were made obsolete when their functionality became part of the Joomla core. I do wonder if I'm given any credit for that...
It has been a busy and exhausting 2 years.
I'm Back Baby
I never stopped working on Joomla extensions, though. Boy, howdy, do I have some very nice extensions to add to the JED. I've got some SEO and security stuff, some holy crap, how did I ever live without this stuff? It's going to be interesting. Everything going forward will be built for Joomla 5.
It's going to be fun! I'm glad to have free time to work on free extensions again. One major change (which I'll detail in another article) is that there will be no more paid extensions. Getting back to my roots means fewer extensions to support because there will be no paid version of anything. You can pay me to build something custom for you—I'm super into that.
