This is part 4 of my In The Beginning post, which details how I got started in web publishing. When we last left part 3, Google has launched AdSense and was bringing the Internet back to life. I was starting to make serious money again and things were looking good.
December 31 2003
I was at a New Year’s Eve party at the Plaza of Nations near downtown Vancouver. That’s when I met Sarah. She was with her girlfriends, I was with my friends, and we just kinda bump into each other.
Our relationship was a unique one. Sarah divided her time between Vancouver, Seattle and Shanghai, China. Fortunately, the Internet has no borders. It didn’t matter where I was in the world, as long as I had an Internet connection, I was able to update my site and make money. The Internet allowed me to pursue a relationship that would have been impossible if I had to work at a 9 to 5 job.
TTZ 5th Generation
While getting ready for E3 2004, I decided it was time to give TTZ an update. I have always timed new generation release of TTZ to a major trade show. This time I went with a local Vancouver design firm because my guy in Finland fell off the face of the Earth. A new custom CMS was also installed around this time.
June 12 2005
The turning point of 2005 happened on June 12 when I was vacationing in Shanghai. I was at the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower (picture at right) and that’s where I asked Sarah to marry me. Meeting Sarah had changed my life, and for the better. My friend Carl has told me that if she hadn’t come into my life I would still be renting and driving a $100,000 sport car. In other words, I would be living the life many typical guys dream about. And I really thought I was living the good life until I discovered how much more fulfilling life can be when there is someone else to share it with.
2005 mark the first time I became a homeowner. Owning a house has always been one of my goals. I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. This just show the effect an inspiring woman can have on a man. After buying the first house, buying the 2nd one was easy.
Not only did I moved into a new home in 2005 but so did my web sites, which got moved out of dedicated server hosting and into their very own servers co-located at the NetNation data center in downtown Vancouver. This will be the final move for the sites.
Learning From History
They say those who don’t study history are doom to repeat it. We are now in another Dot Com boom. The Internet is bigger than ever and once again, we’re seeing crazy valuation placed on unproven concepts. AllAdvantage is back as AGLOCO. All I need now is for someone to make me a multi million dollar offer for TTZ and the circle will be complete.
Is history repeating itself? Are we heading for Dot Com crash 2.0? I hope not, but I’m ready if it does. I have learned so much since discovering the Internet, and I continue to learn everyday. I don’t know what the future will hold for me. I only know that it will be glorious.