Another Week In The Clear

I wouldn't have ever thought that I would have two consecutive weeks of good health if you would have asked me a month ago. Sure enough, I remain in the clear. Another week back at work finds me on the receiving end of more and more projects from my manager at ODOT. This is a good thing as he is gaining more and more confidence in me that I am in it for the long haul. People often ask what I "do" at ODOT. Well let me tell you briefly: My title is 'Project Manager and Web Developer.' Primarily, I am the front-end webmaster for a site you may have heard of: ODOT's Trip Check website. Located at www.tripcheck.com, the site receives nearly 3,000 visits a day on average, and reaches a peak of 12,000 in the winter months when a storm hits. I am in charge of the look and feel of the site itself, while I have a team of programmers who work in the background to ensure the servers and scripts are in order 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In 2009, I will be responsible for a completly new graphic interface -- which is in the planning stages right now. Lately, I have been working on a traffic congestion map for the Portland/Vancouver area. Previously, the map only covered Portland, but I have been working on the expansion into Vancouver. The Trip Check website is the largest, most heavily visited site I've ever had the opportunity to be a part of. However, in my own private business (LB Productions - d.b.a. LBSITES) we have an organization's site who we manage which comes fairly close.

Though Trip Check is the largest part of my position, it's not all I do for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) section of ODOT. I manage the internet and intranet ITS websites, publish a quarterly newsletter, work with the 511 telephone system, and work on other various duties within ODOT's ITS section.

For those of you who didn't know, I use to work for the Transportation Development Division (TDD) of ODOT as their Technology Coordinator. It was a position I very much loved, but this new position as Project Manager with ITS came about, and it was something I couldn't refuse. It turned out to be a very smart promotion for me and though I miss the folks at TDD everyday, I am enjoying the new work at ITS.

I am happy I can finally start telling you about other things going on in my life besides my health. Though, I will continue to keep you posted on that as well. Like for instance this week I was in pretty good shape, but I'm still dealing with some swelling on and off -- so far it's just a small annoyance.

Last weekend Thane *aka Sven* and I helped my friend Jonathan move to Eugene. It was a major bummer to see him leave Salem -- thankfully, though, he still works for ODOT here in Salem and I see him almost daily still. I have been trying to talk him into staying up here at my place every once in a while -- especially when the weather is bad.

Again, I am happy to speak with you all on somewhat good terms this week. I am still healing and it will take several months to return to "normal," I know with all the love, prayers, and support I've received from family and friends -- this is a goal that is within sight.

-LB