This entry originally appeared on my disability blog, I hate stairs.

In my previous post, I mentioned things that I wanted to accomplish in 2011. Well, it seems I have really hit the ground running.

The biggest thing that has happened is that I am now working for Automattic (makers of WordPress.com) on a trial basis for the next six to eight weeks as a Happiness Engineer. That’s just a silly title for the folks who do support-related work (and as I am discovering, so much more) at Automattic.

For those of you who don’t know, WordPress is this awesome blogging software that people can use to publish content to their very own websites. It’s software that runs on the Internet as opposed to your computer. It was built and is continually improved by a community of developers. WordPress is open source. That means that the code is publicly available and free to modify. WordPress is also free as in it costs nothing to download and use (except you’ll need a good web host). The observant among you will notice that I am running this very blog using WordPress. WordPress is available at the aptly named WordPress.org.

Now then, WordPress.com (as opposed to “.org”) is a service where Automattic manages the software and you just focus on blogging. Anyone can go to WordPress.com and sign up for a free blog. No downloading, installations, or web host shopping required. Easy peasy.

So now you might be thinking, “How does Automattic make money if the blogs are free?”

It’s a tech startup, it doesn’t have to make money. There are these magical unicorns that—

Kidding.

There are plenty of nifty blog upgrades that you can purchase to have even more power under the hood, so to speak. WordPress.com also runs a limited number of advertisements on it’s network. Even though they are hardly intrusive, you can always purchase the no-ad upgrade if you want to get rid of them.

There’s also a VIP program with paying clients. It’s a pretty impressive list of clients, including well-known media outlets and funny-looking cats.

And some other stuff, but those are the big two.

I am fresh out of my first week of training and getting ready to start my first official week of work tomorrow. I am so pumped about this opportunity. Once my trial is over, if all goes well, I will go from being on trial to being a full-time employee. Words fail to express how awesome that would be.

Other resolutions

So my work-related goal has been a huge success thus far. Here’s how I am doing with my other resolutions.

I talked about seeing a pet project through. Specifically, I talked about a little gradebook application I was working on. Lately, I haven’t worked on it much. It’s not dead, but I am focused on other things right now.

However, this blog is a pet project. At the time of this writing, I have just launched (after a week of being down) with a new blog theme. I designed the theme myself and I think it is one of the best blog themes I have made. For you nerds, it is a child theme of Thematic. I am planning to clean up a few things and eventually release it to the public. Yeah, I gave up on making a premium theme. But hey, free is better, right?

Some other resolutions were:

I am failing miserably at eating better. It’s difficult. Especially when you’re unable to prepare your own meals.

Although I didn’t start until about a week in, I began a Bible reading plan with BibleGateway.com. They email me my reading each day. I’d recommend it if you check your email a lot.

I am meeting new people through work, so I guess that’s a check.

I have yet to get involved with a local group or club. Still need to do that.

Speaking of which, this coming November I will try again to write a novel as part of NaNoWriMo. There are a good many local writers, so maybe it counts as getting involved if I actually attend the meetups (which I missed last time around).

It’s been a great year so far. God has blessed me richly.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

How are your resolutions coming along?