At Home with Tech

This is one of the many dead ends on our glorious world wide web.
I’m pointing out this particular one, because it’s what’s left of my never-launched website from years back. It’s time to take this back to the future!

In what now seems like some distant era, I purchased my own .com domain. Yes, once upon a time, I registered barrettlester.com. I was so excited. The power to control your personal brand… worldwide. The possibilities were almost endless. I plunked down some serious coin and paid up for a whole decade.
(The longest option available)

But as Peter Parker has taught us…
“With great power comes great responsibility.”

I quickly constructed a few quaint pages using Apple’s iWeb and
now-defunct MobileMe.
But it was undeniably a homegrown effort.

I stared at my creation, late at night. It would always be imperfect. And like RoboCop before he found his groove, I was unable to pull the trigger.

I never launched barrettlester.com.

Years past. Other projects took precedence
And eventually, I forgot about it…

Do You Need Your Own Domain?
The other day, I received a check-in email from Network Solutions, the domain registrar where my dormant domain is parked. And it reminded me of my little cliffhanger…

I think the problem was I never had a specific goal for my website. I wasn’t promoting a business. And the idea of publicly sharing a more personal reflection now seems entirely sophomoric in today’s more advanced and potentially dangerous online landscape.

Nor have I had a strong reason to pay for a more professionally constructed site.
Ultimately, my LinkedIn profile has largely satisfied my need for a public online identity.

The Power of Blogging
I grabbed my keyboard and nervously typed in my URL for the first time since my son was born. I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to see.
(pause)
My computer struggled for a few seconds… Finally, I stared at a cold line of text:

“http/1.1 Service Unavailable.”

Ugh. You’re telling me… I think this was a remnant from my failed launch attempt in the previous decade.

Seeing nothing at all would be better than this sad residual message.

And then it hit me…
I had abandoned my URL, but I had not backed away from asserting my public presence online.

I’ve been blogging every week for the past three years!
I just chose a different name for this endeavor.

Suddenly, the next step seemed quite obvious…

Domain Forwarding Can Fix Your Problem
Not that there’s likely a whole lot of folks out there typing in barrettlester.com. But I realized those who do should be properly redirected to athomewithtech.com.

For better or for worse, that’s where I’m at these days.
Who knows… barrettlester.com could eventually see the light of day… but for now, all it needs to do is simply give a nod to my blog.
(I’ve already done something similar by extending my blog’s identity to include .net, .org, and .info suffixes.)

So I logged onto Network Solutions and clicked on their ‘web-forwarding’ service.
Their cost: $12.99/year.
(another fee!)

But I figured I’ve come this far…

A few clicks later, the domain-forwarding transaction was complete.
And then I promptly stood up and went to bed.
(Domain forwarding takes a little time to take effect.)

The next morning I woke up, got my cup of Joe, and typed in my URL.
And Voila…!

There was my blog.

We’ve All Got Something to Say
Does this feel like a Seinfeld episode?
Let’s review…

I spent some money on my very own URL. Then did nothing with it.
Years later, I paid more money just to hide it in a different way.

It’s all about nothing.
I continue to spend money on seemingly nothing.

But if you’re reading this, that means you’re the Horton to my Who.

“I am here! I am here! I am here! I am here!!!”

Somehow, you heard me.
Possibly now… because you simply remembered my name.

So I’d say a little web forwarding is money well spent.
And a hidden URL can still carry your good name forward…

Yes, I am here.