Author: Jeffro

Jeffrohttp://jeffc.meEnjoy writing about, talking about, and helping others with WordPress
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The WordPress Planets Aligned For One Day

Yesterday, May 27th 2015, was WordPress’ 12th birthday. On this special day, I had the chance to celebrate with the co-creator of WordPress himself, Matt Mullenweg who was interviewed on WordPress Weekly.

I’ve interviewed a lot of talented, smart people in the WordPress ecosystem over the years but my favorite guest is Matt Mullenweg. He has a sense of humor, is intelligent, and knows more than I might ever know about the internals of Automattic and WordPress.

I enjoy interviewing him because it gives me the opportunity to ask questions no one else may know the answer too. For instance, status updates on projects that didn’t see the light of day. Or, acquisition announcements that didn’t produce the intended results.

I take a lot of pride in every opportunity I get to interview Matt. While he appears on several different podcasts and shows throughout the course of a year, I think my show is one of the few, if not the only that gets deep into WordPress specific conversations.

I have no problem holding Matt accountable for things that were said that didn’t materialize. There are reasons for why it didn’t and I see my questions as opportunities for him to explain why. He knows what he’s getting into when he comes on my show and I can’t remember the last time or if he ever explicitly didn’t want to answer a question.

I appreciate learning new things when he’s on my show and he doesn’t disappoint. Depending on the show, interviewer, etc. his interviews about WordPress can vary widely. I take pride in the fact that I ask him questions that the community is asking and also call him out on certain things when I feel it’s necessary.

All of this to say that I hope you listen to my latest interview with Matt to learn about WooCommerce, WordPress, the REST API, and a variety of other topics. If you know someone else who routinely interviews Matt about WordPress and gets more information out of him than I do, please share it with me in the comments.

Just When You Think You Know Someone

Earlier this week, Rebecca Gill, a friend of mine in the WordPress community, shared her personal story of how being diagnosed with LADA: a 1.5 diabetic who isn’t quite type 1 or type 2 changed her life for the better.

If I ever question myself, I am reminded quickly of the gifts diabetes has given me. I see my healthy son, I feel his bear hug, or I hear his words of pride and praise when he tells someone new that his mom is a diabetic who takes good care of herself.

The day I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I chose my son and his survival. The day I was diagnosed as a LADA, I chose to be a survivor.

It’s an inspirational post, but out of all the times I’ve talked to her, she never mentioned that she had LADA. It’s none of my business and I didn’t ask, but it reminded me that there are a lot of things I don’t know about the people I interact with on a daily basis in the WordPress community. Without her post, I might never have known this about her. Rebecca says it best:

I’ve known some people in the WordPress community for more than 6 years and yet, there is so much I don’t know about these people. Sure, I could follow them on Facebook, Twitter, etc and learn things based on what they share to the public, but without a good reason to do so, I feel like that’s akin to stalking. Just when you think you know someone, you realize you don’t know them at all.

I use my Facebook account and this site to let people know that I’m not as obsessed with WordPress as people might think. I have other interests such as good food, bird watching, trains, military aircraft, meteorology, astrology, the 90s, and more. Using these mediums, I specifically choose what I let people know about me. I feel like I’m a public person, but I do keep a lot of things to myself or to those who I consider personal friends.

Do I even want to know more about the personal lives of the people I interact with on a weekly basis? Yes and no. Yes, because it provides a foundation for a story because it adds context. No, because there are things I might find out that I can’t say which may really add to a story. Also, I have a big mouth and would rather not be entrusted with anyone’s personal secrets. I don’t want that burden anyways, so don’t give it to me!

Why am I in a Hurry to do Everything?

In the last two years, I’ve developed a bad habit of skimming articles instead of taking my time to comprehend them. I think this habit is partly the reason for my reading comprehension being at an all time low. The question is, why do I feel like I’m always in a rush whether it’s reading an article or trying to get a task done?

It doesn’t matter how long the article is, if I can’t read it in the same time I can read a Tweet, it’s too long and I lose interest fast. This sounds like symptoms of attention deficit disorder or ADD to me. Even if no one is forcing me to move fast, it feels like there’s someone pushing me or a voice in my head saying “I ain’t got time for that“.

I feel like my lack of reading comprehension skills has significantly affected my ability to write. Have I unknowingly become part of the TL;DR movement? It’s ridiculous that TL;DR exists at all, but I can see why it’s a legitimate thing.

I need to slow down and read articles from beginning to end. I need to stop letting notifications take my attention away from whatever it is I’m doing. Responding to Twitter, then Facebook, then email, then back to Twitter creates an endless cycle of interruptions and lack of productivity. I need to increase my comprehension skills before I don’t have any left.

He Loves You and He Needs Money…He Always Needs Money

The late George Carlin sums up religion the best way I know how yet, I pay the money.

Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time!

But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money!

The Side Street Where I Played Baseball, Football, and Got into Trouble

Thanks to Google Streetview, I was able to find and document the side street I grew up on. Located in West Park, a suburb of Cleveland, this section of pavement means a lot to me. It’s where I spent most of my summer vacations playing baseball, football, hide and go seek, and generally just getting in trouble.

I sure do miss these days of my youth. I was one of the oldest and most athletic kids in my neighborhood. Moving away was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but if we didn’t, I likely would have dropped out of high school. The Cleveland public school system is terrible, it’s as if the people who attended school didn’t care about education. During my first day at the new school, it was a completely different (better) experience.

In any case, playing on the side street was incredibly annoying. Between normal traffic and the mail trucks, it was hard to play baseball or anything else on the street, but we managed. It’s been about 15-16 years since I’ve visited this street. It’s also been that long since I’ve tried to get in touch with any of my original friends. I’m making a pledge to change that this Summer when I make a return visit.

View of the entire street
The Center of the street where a bunch of cracks converge is home plate
The sewer grate is first base
Second base was the large crack in the middle of the road
The sewer grate is third base

 

The Quest for an Addicting Deviled Egg Recipe

I spent the better part of this past weekend figuring out an addicting Deviled Egg recipe that rivals my sister’s. The first one I tried is by Rockin Robin.

I didn’t add onions or horseradish and by the time we mixed the egg yolks together, I could tell it wasn’t going to be good. My instincts were right, as it wasn’t that great.

On the second try, I used Hellman’s recipe. Everything was coming along nicely until I added the 1/4 tsp. salt, which ruined the mixture. It was too salty and nothing I tried could overcome the saltiness

On my third try, I used a recipe from Food.com by Nurslinda.

There are two distinct differences in this recipe. The first is that it uses Miracle Whip instead of Mayo. I realize there are Mayo purists out there, but Miracle Whip definitely provides a missing element in this dish. Second, I added two tablespoons of French’s regular yellow mustard instead of 1 teaspoon. While the mixture is delicious, it’s the sprinkle of salt and pepper on each finished egg that makes it perfect.

My Delicious Easter Deviled Eggs

My Delicious Easter Deviled Eggs

My sister makes killer deviled eggs which to me, is the kind that are addicting where you can’t eat just one. I think I may have found a recipe to rival hers!