I, shall we say, can be a bit obsessive about organization and tidiness. In general this is seen in the way our house looks but definitely isn't contained there. Sometimes it causes me frustration. On the other hand, it's been a huge asset in my career. I've largely been successful in QA because I organize and stay on top of a multitude of tasks very well. Always knowing the state of the work while doing it and keeping the larger team appraised of both progress and discovered issues contributes to a solidly functioning group. In this way the job always fit me well.
As an aside, this tendency to have it all just so, and for everything to have a home, is apparently genetic. Though maybe it's the borderline OCD. Jack is already far too particular about how and where things should be. Crazy how our tendencies get passed on.
Now I don't, and can't, keep every part of my life completely and utterly streamlined. Rooms in our house or certain digital content aren't always exactly how I want them to be. If I was constantly adjusting nothing else would get done. Usually something in particular gets to a bothersome point, resulting in time spent to arrange everything how I see fit. Until it's finished I can focus on little else, often to the chagrin of my wife.
About a week ago this type of situation developed with the garage, mostly around big items (like strollers, a tricycle...) on the ground. It was difficult keeping everything against the walls and had gotten harder to pull vehicles inside. So I bought a bunch of hooks and started hanging stuff from the walls. Similar items were put next to each other and arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way. I got a short ball rack so Jack can reach his basketball himself. I'm not done, but it's already looking much nicer. At this point much of what remains is getting rid of old junk, metal and electronics that I don't want to throw if there's an alternative.
I've also recently noticed some new options on Wix, the platform that hosts this blog. Since getting started last year the sheer number of 'categories' on the main page annoyed me, but that was the only way I could make the variety of it all work. I would've loved originally to have some smaller groupings of posts but didn't want those added to the home page. The new update added 'tags' and provides flexibility to do just that. Categories all appear up front, while tags only appear at the bottom of posts that use them. Going forward categories will be more overarching topics, while tags are more specific. When clicking either, it gives a list of posts that match the selection.
To get the new system where I wanted, a few lesser used categories were deleted and a bunch of tags created. Adding tags required going into each and every published post and typing them individually. This was a little annoying and I wish the site would remember and suggest those I've used already. Ah well. The main page now looks cleaner and the tags provide more exactness if, for some reason, you want to find an old or similar post. As with everything this is mostly for myself, though maybe it'll help others too.
Here's how it's all set up after the changes:
Categories
- Pop Culture movies, tv and more
- Whiskey reviews and lessons mostly
- Treat Store formerly 'Joe Makes' (h/t to Tony for inspiration)
- History can be pretty random, may relate to what I'm reading
- Travel places I've been, plus some where I want to go
- About Me various personal stuff
- Projects things around the house
- Games board and video
- Beer not overly used, but don't want to combine rn
Tags (as of now, this will undoubtedly grow)
- Movies former category, now subset under Pop Culture
- TV former category, now subset under Pop Culture
- Grilling former category, now subset under Treat Store
- WhiskeyReviews formerly #DramOfTheDay, subset under Whiskey
- WhiskeyInfo lessons and more, subset under Whiskey
- Whiskey100s 100 level info, subset under Whiskey (200/300 later?)
- WhiskeyRecs only one so far, hopefully more later
- Blog posts related to the blog specifically, like this one
- CurrentEvents reactions to the news, on the rare occasion I feel like it
- ReadingNow related to what I'm currently reading
- Sports usually related to something else, though sports are always on
These can all be accessed directly by url as well. Each of the current tags have been linked above. As I'm viewing them, I have to admit I like the new setup a lot. Alright, that's got to be far more than anyone could possibly care about the organization of my blog.
Thanks for indulging me in my craziness as I explain the new structure of my blog, on my blog. It's all very meta.
Adios.
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