Not everything goes according to plan. I for one am acutely aware of this, having assumed earlier in life that at this date I’d be either an architect of buildings, or plan B, a pilot of some sort. Those plans, having been hatched as probably my first attempts at making lifelong plans at some tender age of sixish, didn’t have much chance when I got my hands on my first computer. Brilliant tools, these computers.

Even as an adult (I still consider myself new at this) with years of planning experience, not everything goes according to plan. The plan a year ago was to focus all of my efforts on Price.com. But check it out, a year later and I’m moving on. As much as I wanted to make it happen, my heart wasn’t in it. The same fire I had when starting Price.com wasn’t there – I was squeezing the bellows at a fever pitch just to get those same embers to flare up, and in the end they remained stubborn.

Several people I consider good friends are still committed to the project and I admire them and I want them to succeed. And I firmly believe they’ll do well with or without me. If they don’t, I’ll eat a frog.

However, despite my lukewarm approach to my last project, I’m a raging inferno over my next adventure. Part of what I find important about the work I do is to push myself to places I’m uncomfortable going. Giving myself goals that I think are only attainable if I remain sharp and be clever about how to get there. Another part thrives when I’m around people I consider more wise then myself, or people who help set up challenges for me, and the next adventure meets those requirements.

I took a position with Adaptive Path. I paused for exactly nineteen seconds after pressing those keys because it still invokes a strange sensation. It’s a combo meal of sensations – excitement, slight disbelief, serious responsibility. It more than fully meets my requirements for a challenge laid out above, and the “it’s still sinking in” factor is high.

For me, it’s like being a skater punk your whole life, then getting a chance to go on tour with Tony Hawk. The ambassador to skateboarding. The role model. Easily one of the best. The kind of guy that makes people like skateboarding even if they’ve never looked twice at a skateboard. Adaptive Path is the Tony Hawk of companies that do stuff for the web. And I have the distinct honor of working with them on a project that, like I said, has me raging like an inferno.

And if that wasn’t enough, I’m working with a team of great people on what will end up being a great project for everyone (including you).