Plus One to Grow On

In case you weren't counting, yesterday's entry was the 40th. But I thought I'd add one more to wrap up things. When I started this series of writings, I was very afraid that I would run out of topics or the time required would be too much, and I would fail. I'm glad to say, we did it. I greatly appreciate the support from various people.


Since many of the entries were written late at night, there were even greater chances of errors in grammar and spelling than my day time writing. Thanks very much to those that provided corrections, in particular: Perry Ruiter, Mary Ellen Carollo, and Phil Smith.

Thanks also to the various people that provided topic ideas or allowed me to think out loud. Including the noon time walking group: Kevin Adams, Alan Altmark, John Franciscovich, Mark Lorenc, and Bill Stephens.

Thanks to those who networked the topics, sharing with friends and colleagues, in particular: Gabe Goldberg.

Thanks to those of you that left comments, that made it much more enjoyable for me.

Most importantly, thanks to those of you that read and gave me feedback to let me know that it was worthwhile. Many of your positive comments touched me, and encouraged me when I needed it the most.

I learned a lot in this journey. I have a much greater appreciation for professional writers, especially those that write on a daily basis. There are things I wish I had done differently. I really wish I had timed things out better and had created a more detailed outline of all the topics on day one.

I know all of you reading this have your own stories to tell, and I encourage you to go tell them and share them.

I am also fascinated at how various topics ending up creating new threads and connections:

• I was contacted by a brand new System z person in Belgium working on z/OS who came upon the blog.
• I exchanged emails with an author whose book was sitting on the 'please read me' pile on my desk, after he was forwarded one of the entries on problem determination.
• Reconnecting with some of the people discussed in the topics

I am also able to get some statistics on readers of the blog. It appears we ended with readers from almost 30 countries. In the Olympic spirit, here are the top ten countries. I had fun watching as Latvia came on strong during later half, but was edged out by France in the past couple of days:

1. United States
2. Russia
3. Canada
4. United Kingdom
5. Germany
6. Netherlands
7. Japan
8. Australia
9. Brazil
10. France

So what's next? Talk to me in five years. Though my idea for the 45th is a series of interviews with others.


Thanks again everyone!!