If you've visited this site before, you'll immediately notice a new template, but the changes are much more fundamental than that. First and foremost, I will not be developing websites for customers any more. I will continue honoring commitments to existing clients for as long as they desire, however I will not be taking on any new clients. My time is in very short supply these days, and simply maintaining what is already on my plate requires more time than I have.

When I originally started After 5 Web Design in 2005, I had several friends who thought the idea of building websites would be fun (que Bryan Adams' Summer of '69). Obviously things didn't go as planned. Some started and quit, some never started, and some moved away, but I remained. I did pick up several clients, and I have enjoyed working with them. I never made enough to quit my day job, but I made enough to justify my time expenditures to my wife. It was a good time.

Then things really started changing. We upgraded the entire operating platform at my day job that now monopolizes much of my time at the office. My job didn't get harder or more challenging, and my duties didn't change, but my back up contractor summed it up nicely when he said, "They took a boring job and made it monotonous". I used to have tons of free time at work that allowed me to play and complete other tasks. Now, I feel like Tom from Office Space:

BOB SLYDELL
So what you do is you take the specifications from the customers and
you bring them down to the software engineers?

TOM
That, that's right.

BOB PORTER
Well, then I gotta ask, then why can't the customers just take the
specifications directly to the software people, huh?

TOM
Well, uh, uh, uh, because, uh, engineers are not good at dealing with
customers.

BOB SLYDELL
You physically take the specs from the customer?

TOM
Well, no, my, my secretary does that, or, or the fax.

BOB SLYDELL
Ah.

BOB PORTER
Then you must physically bring them to the software people.

TOM
Well...no. Yeah, I mean, sometimes.

BOB SLYDELL
Well, what would you say… you do here?

TOM
Well, look, I already told you. I deal with the goddamn customers so
the engineers don't have to!! I have people skills!! I am good at
dealing with people!!! Can't you understand that?!? WHAT THE HELL IS
WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!!!!!!!

At least in my case its because the engineers refuse to deal directly with the customers, but 90% of my job now involves compiling bug reports and sending that information to the engineers. Frustrating. Very, very frustrating. But the pay is good.

I also came to the realization that my kids were growing up, and I was missing it. It seems like yesterday that I was telling my coworkers that I was the proud father of a brand new baby boy, and in less than a week, I'll be watching my baby boy go to kindergarten. I also realized (just this weekend as a matter of fact) that my oldest boy is just as tall as I am and starting to fill out a muscular frame.

But I love making websites and developing scripts and mods. To me, web design and development is nothing more than a free set of Lego's. I get to create and build what ever my imagination desires, and as an added bonus, it can even earn some money! How can I give that up?

So, I decided to change. Rather than pursuing clients and busting tail to meet deadlines, Ive changed After 5 Web Design from an after hours web design business to a site dedicated to helping others build their dreams. After 5 will now be dedicated to helping Joe Day-Job come home and build the website he wants. Instead of me focusing on what I do after work, I'll instead focus on helping you accomplish what you do after work. I hope you enjoy the change.

 Tim