I have been participating and using postnuke for about two years now. Before that I had briefly found phpnuke a month prior and quickly determined that PostNuke was for me.
While following links and looking around at all the neat stuff that was being created for both systems. I had run across a website that stuck in my mind because of the Topic icons and logos this webmaster used. It was a cartoon or characature of the webmaster. I didn't think much of it, it was just memorable.
This was at least a year or so ago. Shortly after I happened to be taken to his site again and realized that he had switched over to using the Postnuke system and recalled that topic icon again. Since then I stop by his site from time to time as I do alot of your postnuke websites looking for new and innovative things that you all are working on.
Recently I threw my hands up in the air and toyed around with the idea that I would just have to write my own programs and have to break down and learn php (like I am not busy enough already) so... I went to a local book store (Borders Books) close to home to see what kind of books I could find and see if I wanted to tackle such a project.
After seeing how thick the book was I decided quickly that it would be way to time consuming and I would have to again continue my search for a php programmer that was not busy and that was familiar with the PostNuke system and preferably local.
Its not real easy as you can't just open the yellow pages and find one. There isn't a section in the yellow pages for PostNuke PHP programmers (But I do invision one soon) And the searches I have done on the net have not been fruitful as I would prefer a local one that I could meet and share my great ideas and we could work and develop the ideas together. Of couse I would Pay them if I could only find one.
Well when I left the BIG FAT PHP BOOK behind on the shelf I had gone up to the information desk where they have all the intelegent workers there that know everything that is in the store and where to find it. I was now in search of another book of a different topic.
I was waiting as one guy was busy with a customer and the other was on the phone. It happened that the one on the phone was able to help me first. I asked this guy with long blonde hair in a ponytail and a goatee for help and he pointed me in the right direction for the type of book I was looking for and off I went.
My conclusions were right and I couldn't find any books about my subject and thought to myself that I may could write a book on such a thing ( basically a how to book on creating eBook).
I was about to leave that section when this guy came back up to me in the section he directed me to and asked me if I found what I was looking for.
I proceeded to tell him that I didn't and that was ok because of my idea to write such a how to book. Then I started to tell him the original reason I was there about the php book and that I gave up on the idea of programming my ideas myself and that I wish I could just find someone that knew php. He had this look on his face and so I asked him if he was into computers and if he knew anything about php and he said yes.
At that moment I was so excited that I was even in the same freaking state as a php programmer I right away said I need your number!
I then started to tell him that I use this software called Postnuke and was telling him how it works and he said he knew about it. I then got even more excited. You should've seen me I must have acted like the biggest nerd and kid because I was all giddy from excitement.
I said how cool that was that we met and I asked him if I could get his name and number so I could talk to him about the ideas I had.
He said sure and he pulled out a business card and handed it to me. As soon as I looked at his card I got excited allover again as I knew of him because I had been to his site many times. On his card he had that unforgettable icon/cartoon of himself and right away after looking at him again I saw the resemblence.
I told him that I had been to his site and I think he felt like a rock star because I was telling him how I stopped by his site and kept track of his developments and again I know the excitement was showing.
We chatted while he worked for another hour and before you know it he was getting off work. We went to the snack bar area and I gave him my number and emails and chatted more briefly and I had to leave to be somewhere else.
We have exchanged emails and are on track to a great new friendship based on our common postnuke interests.
I have been thinking back on that night and if certain things had not happened we would have never met.
One thing is that I never go to the book store anymore. I get all my info online anymore. the last time I was in a book store was a year ago. Let alone that one as that isn't the closest one to me.
Also that night I was heading to work and I had called them to tell them I would be in later because I knew it was going to be a slow night and I knew they wouldn't mind me coming in a little later than usual. I was on a quest. (little did I know what I would find)
If he was on the phone with the customer a little longer than the other guy then that other guy would've helped me and that would've been the end of that.
If He hadn't followed up to see if I had found what I was looking for I don't think we would've ever know about each other. I think it was great that his attention wasn't consumed by questions of another patron of the store
I think it was devine intervention that guided him back over to me.
It just goes to show you that you never really know if you are standing right next to a fellow PostNuker or not.
Im glad I found a new friend.
"Gordon aka Baohx here's to you!!! (b)(b) "
By the way I haven't told Gordon yet but I think we should start a local Postnuke Fan Club :)
Who knows maybe we will have more than two members. hehe.
Richard Wing
Phoenix AZ
2061