This is what I came home to on the U3A web site.

Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th August: Nasty looking stuff and it took me a long time to resolve the problem - largely because I did not knowhow best to approach it. I only managed because the support guys at our hosting service did know what to do. It interferred with pottering around in a comfort zone - and interferred with sleep and with doing a lot of minor things. I still keep checking to see that it is OK. I expect it was my doing as the software had not been updated - - I am unsure whether to fess up or keep quiet about this!

Latest message (Sept 2nd) " Google has not detected any malware on this site." Thank goodness!

Day 7: Tuesday 28th August: Tidemill marina and home

I slept overnight on the boat to prolong the holiday. I did not really want to leave the boating life so I walked to the shops for lunch, grossed out in the cockpit until it clouded over, talked to a few people and admired various other boats.

I came back refreshed for being out of some sort of 'comfort zone' and for doing stuff like anchoring and mooring.

Immediately kicked out of any renewed comfort zone by finding the U3A web site (that I look after) has been hacked. So much head scratching and one late night and lots of worry.

OpenZone hotspots in the Woodbridge area

9-45: hrs. The end of this week marks 18 months since I was diagnosed with Lung cancer. I have some vague sense that this is a sort-of birthday. So a treat is in order. I am now going to wander round some of the hotspots here to see if my netbook will connect to BT OpenZone. There do not seem to be hotspots along the river bank, so I shall visit a few shops and coffee bars and take it as a good sign if it does not rain and a bonus if there is a sunny interval.

16-00 hrs: I have spent all day writing and editing Joomla! documentation. What I call - the Joomla! project. It would be nice to be able to release it into the wild sooner rather than later.

I have not really drunk a lot of coffee but it signifies something about measuring out life.

And what about 2011 - -

9-00 hrs: - - we don't know! - - so the usual wishes that it turns out better than other years. 

One thing I am doing - I am writing some 'hands-on' documentation for people getting started using Joomla! I have been intending to tell you about this for some time because it is now central to my life. It is difficult and has made a great improvement to my general well-being. I have not felt bored since I started doing it for real.  And I feel more alive - doing something new and somehow real. This is all supported by the new medication, Tarceva. But my feeling of well-being has gone up since I started this writing. Strange and understandable.

Things done so far start here:-

http://docs.joomla.org/Joomla!_Getting_Started_Manual

I had to learn another mark-up language for the wiki layout - and I am supposed to write in short sentances - so it does nothing for literary style - sigh.

I notice I have not said what Jooma! does - I leave that for another post.

In Woodbridge - and Joomla!

8-45 hrs: The Joomla! icon. Open Source Matters. I have not used Open Source software before and find the enthusiasm on the web sites - interesting. Found these two concepts in several places - the Joomlasphere and Joomla ecosystem / ecology. I guess I am part of the ecosystem now - - pause for thought about metaphores - - .

Coming back - I feel enlivened and well. So life has been a combination of the usual domestic trivia (taxing the car, paying bills, putting out the rubbish, going to the dentist and so on) and trying to sort out my understanding of Joomla. I am moving ahead to do some work on documentation for beginners for the Joomla! project itself. Whether I have the skill and energy - we will see but I think the project will expand to fill the time and energy available - especially in horrible weather. And who are the beginners anyway - -.

Joomla! Days - fantastic

17-40 hrs: I have been trying to learn more about Joomla! - largely out of curiosity and interest. It will also help me to manage the U3A web site, which uses Joomla!. So I signed up for this two day Joomla! event in Ipswich - 20 minute drive away. Joomla! is a Content Management Systerm used world-wide for creating and managing web sites - http://www.joomla.org/. It is Open Source and free to download the core product. They referred to it as an ecosystem of people contributing code, writing extra bits, creating web sites for clients and much else - in amazing profusion.

So a weekend of wall to wall Joomla! from 9-00 to 5-00, apart from excessive amounts of excellent food and drink and lots of talking. 

I will report on one thing - I have volunteered to contribute! Not code - but documentation - there is a wiki at http://docs.joomla.org/Main_Page. I have offered to look at the Getting Started pages, which should be enough to stop the onset of boredom.