DougHughes.net

To paraphrase Monty Python:

It’s not pinin’! It’s passed on! This business is no more! It has ceased to be! It’s expired and gone to meet it’s maker! It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If Doug hadn’t dragged it out so long, it’d be pushing up the daisies! It’s metabolic processes are now ‘istory! It’s off the twig! It’s kicked the bucket, it’s shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-COMPANY!!

As of the first of October, 2014 I have officially ceased operating as Alagad Inc. This has  been a long time in coming, but the time has arrived. At the ripe age of 18 Alagad has ended. Enter Doug Hughes LLC, stage right.

Running Alagad was a wild, amazing, horrifying, unforgettable, stressful, heartbreaking, astonishingly awesome experience. I founded Alagad in 1996, while still in high school. Initially it was supposed to be a graphic design company, but that didn’t take off. Around 1997 it started to gain traction as a web development company. Throughout college it fed me, kept me housed, and stocked me with plenty of beer.

In the years since I have had the pleasure of working with a diverse range of more than 80 companies and organizations around the world. (I think… part of me wonders if that number gets bigger every time I say it…) I have worked with dozens of employees and contractors. I have worked tirelessly with some very awesome teams.

But now I’m moving into a new phase of my life. I’ve stopped imagining that Alagad will someday be my ticket to retirement. I am now working with a single steady client, less than 40 hours a week. I’m not working on any side projects or a Next Big Thing. I’m idling and recuperating and I couldn’t be happier about it.

As I idle I’m working with new hobbies such as engineering a homemade CNC machine, 3D printing (eventually), wood working, reading, spending time with my kids, any anything else that strikes my fancy. I’ve even returned to college via Arizona State University Online to finish up a bachelor’s in Software Engineering.

I’m also on what I call a Unicorn Hunt. What is this Unicorn Hunt, you may ask? Well, I’m keeping my ears to the ground for an amazing opportunity as a traditional employee. This opportunity would allow me to learn and use new programming languages, techniques, frameworks, approaches, etc. I would be a junior to mid-level team member working under some amazingly brilliant people from whom I can learn new things. I would be working on a single project that I believe in and which is interesting and challenging. And I want to be paid like an executive (or at least what I am currently making) and be able to either work remotely or within 15 minutes of home. Oh, and I want my own pet unicorn too!

If you have an opportunity, checkout my resume!

Doug Hughes LLC is the new Alagad Inc. Eventually I’ll move good blog entries from alagad.com to doughughes.net. If you have my doug@doughughes.net email address in your contacts you may wish to update it to doug@doughughes.net. My phone number is still 651-252-4234.

So, for now I idle. Life goes on.