Weeknotes 25:34

August 25, 2025

Week of August 17–23

UI improvements

I was asked to make some UI improvements to a couple of areas on our site. The first task was to make it more clear to the user which donation option was selected–monthly or one-time. I also added a script to the page to improve the other amounts selection to bring focus to the text box if that option was selected.

The second task was to improve parts of a registration form. Once the registrant chooses the type of ticket she wants to buy, there are some additional questions she needs to answer. The current interface is radio buttons vertically.

I created a similar UI interaction as I did with the donation form but I added a border around the option that was not selected to make it more clear.

I also improved the form but moving the “add a discount code” to the payment preview section. It was previously just between the questions and the payment preview. It made more sense to me to me it within the payment preview.

JavaScript for Everyone

I had asked my team leader a couple of weeks ago if there was money in the budget for me to purchase the new JavaScript for Everyone course from Piccalilli. I am intrigued about how this course is different from other courses. I want to gain a deeper understanding of JavaScript and I like that the goal of the course is to set a pathway for long-term career progression. When I first asked, my team leader wanted to wait off for now. But he went back and checked the budget and decided that there were enough funds to go ahead and take advantage of the pre-order discount (I think the pre-order will end before I publish this, sorry). So I purchased the course on Wednesday and look forward to seeing it launch in the near future.

And I like the promotional page for the course. It gives me an Atari vide for some reason.

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Our guinea pig, Teddy

• It was a hard week emotionally. We took our guinea pig, Teddy, to the vet on Tuesday and received some bad news. She has a growth that could be life threatening. She is almost 6 years old and guinea pigs life expectancy is 5-8 years. She is my youngest’s guinea pig and they have a special relationship. I am sad for my daughter but I am also quite fond of Teddy. We thought we might have to make a hard decision and end her life on Thursday after some other disturbing symptoms. But our vet told us to hold off and keep an eye on her. That was quite a rollercoaster. We are just loving her and trying to enjoy every moment we can with her. We know we might still need to make that hard decision in the days ahead but just enjoying each moment for now.
• I enjoyed getting to help my teammate solve some CSS challenges. I was trying my best to help him understand what I was doing and why. I thought about it a bit more over the weekend and want to make sure that in the future that it is a learning experience for him and not just solving the problem in front of us. I want to teach him to fish.
• My small group at church started up again after a summer hiatus. I was not quite sure what the group would look like this year as these groups seem to change each year. But I was happy that everyone is back. And I am looking forward the Gospel Transformation studies we will engage with this year.
• This was a challenging question to answer. Introduce yourself to the group but you can’t talk about what you do. No mention of jobs, hobbies, volunteer work–any kind of accomplishment or activity. Can you do it?

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Articles I read

• RSS Club #002: Dino Edition (David Bushell)
• Eight years of Jessie (Ana Rodrigues)
• What to Do When You Get Halfway Through The Day and Want to Give Up (O. Alan Noble)
• Buster, how is that comfortable? (Tyler Sticka)
• Vibe Check Number 39 (Dave Rupert)
• Our principles on AI (Andy Bell, Piccalil.li) – This is the type of article or page I wanted to write for this site but get stuck.
• To Be Almost Saved Is To Be Completely Lost (Tim Challies)
• Bottomless Subtleties (Jim Nielsen)
• The Scandal of the Evangelical Heart (Doug Eaton)
• Crit (Mark Boulton)
• Studio Notes #45 (Dan Cedarholm)
• Web Origami – “Origami is a new programming language that complements HTML and CSS for making small- to medium-scale websites.” I read this introduction but have not explored it any deeper.
• When The MAID-Men Run The Asylum: The Growing (and Widening) Enthusiasm For Euthanasia (Stephen McAlpine)
• Pico CSS (Andy Bell, Piccalil.li)
• Smart Quotes for Smart People (Brad Frost)
• What is popover=hint? (Chris Coyier, Frontend Masters Blog)
• My pick of the year for the State of CSS Survey (Ana Rodrigues) – It is font clamp generators.
• Classifiers and cosmotechnics (Dave Rupert)
• Better CSS layouts: Time.com Hero Section (Ahmad Shadeed) – I enjoyed having Ahmad break down a layout and share some modern CSS techniques to improve the experience across viewports.
• Why is CSS ::first-letter not working? (Salma Alam-Naylor)
• Consistent Navigation Across My Inconsistent Websites, Part II (Jim Nielsen)
• Glue work in times of crisis (Chris Ferdinandi)
• Learning To Have Conversations with God (Tim Challies)
• Grave New World: Artificial Intelligence, Electric Shepherds, and Electric Sheep (Joshua Budimlic)
• Web Design: What is the web capable of that is hard to express in design software? (Chris Coyier, Frontend Masters Blog)
• Maybe not “More Christians” but definitely “More Christian” Christians. (Stephen McAlpine)
• On being earnest (Chris Ferdinandi)
• You really don’t have to put your CSS custom properties in :root {} (Chris Coyier, Frontend Masters Blog)
• Studio Notes #46 (Dan Cederholm)
• The White House’s new Executive Order on “better design” (Rachael Dietkus on LinkedIn)
• Quick Dark Mode Toggles (Chris Coyier, Frontend Masters Blog)
• Chalk Font Kid (Chris Coyier)
• The Changing of the Evangelical Guard (O. Alan Noble)
• Weeknotes 40 (Mark Boulton)
• Why I’m all-in on Zen Browser (Ben Werdmuller)
• “Best practice” is just your opinion (Craig Abbott)
• Sundials (Jonathan Snook)
• Birthday Widgets (Jonathan Snook)

What I watched

• NCIS (Netflix)
• Captain America: Winter Soldier (Disney+)
• Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser (Netflix)
• Project Runway (various seasons on Samsung Plus TV)
• Assorted Stray Kids videos on YouTube
• Ceremony Hair Salon #2 (Stray Kids) – We watch a lot of videos with our daughter about one of her favorite groups.
• 2 Kids Room (Felix and Seungmin)

What I listened to

• Mere Christians Podcast – Dr. Karen Swallow Prior (Author of You Have a Calling)
• One Footer in the Grave podcast – A possible logo emergency
• Karma (Stray Kids) – I enjoyed listening to this new release on Friday and over the weekend.
• A Matter of Time (Laufey) – More new music that I listened to on Friday.

Books I am reading

• Sunday Matters (Paul David Tripp) – I read one devotional a week.
• Everyday Gospel (Paul David Tripp) – Reading through the Bible this year with this devotional.
• Spurgeon: A Life (Alex DiPrima)
• All That Jesus Commanded (John Piper)
• Universal Principles of UX Design (Irene Pereyra)
• Keep Going (Austin Kleon)

Caught my eye

Abban Dunne – I like the CRT mode.

Mike Kus – One of my favorite designers redesigned his site recently.

What I played

MLB The Show 20 (Twins) – I lost both games I played with the Twins this week. I had started to play a game midweek but had to stop. I had just taken a 3-2 after 5 innings, which would be an official game. On Saturday, I played the homerun derby for the All Star Game. All four of the American League players were from the Twins. Max Kepler ended up winning the derby over Eddie Rosario. I also played the All Star game and won with the American League, 5-0.