You may have seen that a certain tech visionary called on federal employees to list five things they accomplished last week. Well, I'm not a federal employee—but I'd have no problem being one, especially since I'm looking for new job opportunities. And while I'm not here to critique how hard folks in government work or don't, I am a fan of efficiency. If we're going to pay for it (and we all do, thanks to that pesky 16th Amendment), let's get some serious bang for our buck. But I digress.
Here's what I accomplished last week—no red tape, no committee meetings, no billion-dollar budget required:
1. Deployed a Long-Awaited Website Application
This project was in the pipeline for a while, mostly due to understandable client delays (life and health happen). I landed this gig after mocking up 30 websites in 30 days and sending them out cold—only one taker at first. But six months later, that one client reached out, and it made all the outreach worth it.
The new site runs fast, looks clean, and replaces an old one that had essentially stopped functioning. It's always satisfying to go from “not working” to “optimized and humming along.”
2. Revisited Two Old Favorites
Two of the first websites I built got much-needed overhauls last week.
- Keith E. Lee Tribute Site: Keith was a talented guitarist and a good friend who passed away in 2020. The original tribute site was a single-page app (SPA), but on mobile, it was a scrolling nightmare. I broke the content into multiple pages, improved contrast and font sizes, and tightened up SEO. Hopefully, it better reflects the impact Keith had.
- BOB (The Band) Site: Yep, we named our band BOB. It wasn't about the name—it was about the music. We recorded five albums and gigged from Atlanta to Boston. The site had similar issues: too much content on one page, poor readability, and no SEO. I fixed that. It's now mobile-friendly, screen-reader accessible, and optimized for folks looking for obscure Georgia indie rock from the late '90s.
3. Job Hunting, Scams Included
I'm currently on the market for web development work—remote, local (Wolfeboro, NH), or hybrid. I've updated my résumé, submitted an application every day this past week, and even ran into a couple of classic scam offers (“We'll send you $10,000 to set up your home office—just deposit this check…”). Some listings are laughable—asking for 10 years of experience and offering $20 an hour—but I keep showing up.
4. Rolled Out a New Full Stack Feature
One of my ongoing clients wanted a new “member spotlight” feature that they could manage themselves. I built out the Mongoose schema, routes, and EJS templates, translating a Figma layout into a working feature. I've been using Figma a lot lately—it's excellent for wireframing and prototyping, from WordPress projects to iOS apps.
I also started using Ngrok to share live previews, which makes client feedback much smoother. Wish I'd discovered it sooner.
5. Took Big Steps with My First iOS App
This has been a ride. I started with a janky concept that required users to build out 20 Apple Shortcuts actions to get it working. (Imagine asking users to assemble a dresser from IKEA—without the manual.)
Now, it's down to a single action and a donated Shortcut that's almost plug-and-play. The code is cleaner, modular, and written in SwiftUI using Xcode—a whole new world for me. It's not ready for the App Store just yet, but I've learned a ton.
Those are five web development-related things I actually accomplished last week. If you're in need of a website refresh, a custom feature, or a whole new site, I'd love to chat. I live in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, but I work with folks all over. A consultation costs nothing—just let me know what you have in mind, and I'll come up with some options.
Let's build something useful (and fast).
