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A Little About me
I’m self-motivated, and I like history and research. I like learning new things but don’t enjoy the learning process.
Watching YouTube videos and reading, reading, and reading can be monotonous and mundane, but it’s necessary to do what you want to do.
I’m organized, to the point you might declare it as OCD, but then again, it may be because I have a Type C personality.
This can be time-consuming, but it always pays off in the long run.
This is very useful regarding building websites because I know where every tidbit and action is so I can usually change or fix the matter in no time at all.
I am neither a follower nor a leader; I work alone. Yet, I can be a team player, but this is rare. I do not play well with others.
I believe in the old sayings, “If there’s a will, there’s a way,” and “At first, if you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
Life Plan
Building websites was never a part of my life plan. My passion, even as a child, was writing, and still is.
I never really had a life plan; I just do whatever I do when I do it. And I can tell you, that is not a good idea, I should have had some type of plan. But, web design just slipped into my non-existing life plan.
I build great websites. Do I sound arrogant or that I’m bragging? I’m not, I’m being honest. There’s only one thing I brag about and it’s not a talent or a thing or a what, but a Who.
Anyway, YOU too will be able to build great websites and it
will cost you nothing (see DIY). I believe everyone can learn anything, as long as they do what is necessary.
Everything else written below tells how I ended up becoming a Web Designer. It has nothing to do with my business today. If you wouldn’t find that interesting, just go to the “How It Works” tab.
How I Became a Web Designer
Where It All Began
In 1992, I moved from Puyallup, Washington, to San Marcos, Texas, and I did not know that I would build websites because they didn’t exist yet.
The Internet itself began in 1983, but the first web page wasn’t born until August 6, 1991. The World Wide Web became a phenomenon in 1995. Netscape Navigator was the most popular browser, with 10 million users worldwide.
No matter what I did, I was unable to obtain a 9-5 job. I did a lot of odd jobs—telemarketing, selling candles, delivering phone books, yard work, etc.—but I wanted a regular job. A job that paid daily.
San Marcos is a university town, and I knew how to type, so I offered to type the students’ written papers. I posted flyers in the laundry room of each apartment complex and advertised in the daily and college newspapers.
There were three companies that I had to compete with, so I kept my prices lower, stayed open 24/7, and was the only one that had a typewriter.
Back then, you couldn’t fill out a form on a computer; PDFs didn’t exist until mid-1993 and didn’t become standard until 2008.
Dales 24 Hour Typing Plus
My first experience with the computer was with DOS, no Windows. I started my business in 1993, using a 486 that had Windows 3.1, and in 1995, Microsoft came out with Windows 95, which was much better. When they came out with the Pentium, it was exciting, but compared to the laptop we have now, it was trash.
All I knew how to do was type papers, but when the students would ask if I could do this or that, I would say yes and learn how to do it. In my spare time, I dabbled with web development and thought of other things I might add to Dale’s 24-Hour Typing Plus Services.
At times, the students needed something notarized, so I filled out the application and became a notary public. Hard to believe? Trust me, there is always a very thin line.
After I learned how to do things other than just type, I named my business Dale’s 24-Hour Typing Plus. Throughout the years, I continued to create flyers and advertise in the college newspaper, but I believe that my being open 24 hours a day increased my business by word of mouth, and I became swamped.
As my services grew, I added car signs to my advertising and received calls from small businesses.
I later offered to write essays and complete correspondence courses for the students. One mother saw me driving in town, followed me home, and hired me to write all of her daughter’s essays for two years. During midterms and finals, I had to hire some essays out.
In 1999, the students started having their own laptops, and they didn’t need my typing services anymore, so business went downhill. What to do?
College
When I was a kid, I thought about becoming a CPA, a lawyer, or a boxer. Yet, because of an unpleasant event at 16, everything went to hell. I could no
longer think correctly, so I had to drop out of school, I hooked up with the wrong type of people, was re-educated at the school of Fort Knocks, and everything just seemed to tumble downward for many, many years.
It appeared as though the entire world was against me, including God, whom I didn’t believe in. I was ready to give up and throw in the towel.
Instead, I moved to Texas and met a girl. A year later, Dale’s 24-Hour Typing Plus was born, and things seemed to go up.
When my typing business was more or less gone and I had gotten my G.E.D., I decided to go to college online and become a paralegal. I got an Associate’s Degree and planned on getting my Bachelor’s Degree, and maybe going on to law school.
Yet, because of foolish errors caused by my own intelligence, I ended up spending three years in prison for a crime that this time I didn’t commit.
Have you ever heard the saying that sometimes when a bad thing happens, it’s “a blessing in disguise”? That’s what happened to me. And because of it, I am a born-again Christian.
I had not known that you could talk to God/Jesus, and He even talks back—not audibly, but you know when He’s talking. I didn’t even know that God could talk. This is who and what I boast about!
After three years of reading the Bible over and over, doing many Bible studies, and talking to Him daily, I got to know Him. That, unknowing to me, led to where I am today
Jerry and God
God’s a funny guy. He does things that rarely make sense to us. At times, He’ll make or allow things to happen that are unpleasant or uncomfortable, but the outcome is always better than what we hoped for.
I found out that Jesus had always been with me, even though I didn’t know Him. Even when I didn’t believe in Him, He was there looking out for me. So, I wanted to do something for Him.
Around September 2010, I decided to create a 2-block cartoon where my character Jerry asks Him a question and He answers it.
Of course, I didn’t know how to draw. I couldn’t even draw a stick person. I also didn’t know how to create a website, so I posted it on Facebook. Below is the original Jerry.
I talked to God every day, and I still do, but our conversations aren’t like they were in those three years I mentioned above.
One day in March 2011, He told me that Jerry needed a website. The first thing that came to mind was, “I don’t know how to code.” And second, “I don’t like the way Jerry looks; I want to learn how to draw better.”
In March 2012, I created my first website. Jerry and God, a pictorial, archaeological, and historical walk through the Bible. It took me three years to complete it.
To do this, I copied each page of the Bible, such as Genesis 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, etc., and pasted each one on a separate page on my website.
- For each page, I researched what date in history each page of the Bible approximately took place, according to historians and archaeologists.
- I then researched the historical and archaeological events that happened at those times.
- I then posted that information with pictures, except for the introduction, which is 16 pages.
Employment
After Dale’s 24-Hour Typing Plus ended, I was obviously out of work, and I haven’t gotten a job since. I decided that I didn’t want one because, after running my business, working at home was something I preferred.
While working at home, like selling things on eBay, transcribing, creating eBooks, and whatnot, I had plenty of time to learn more about building websites.
Since I’m a writer and illustrator, I wanted to learn about computer graphics.
Photoshop and Illustrator are good, but I can’t afford their monthly subscriptions. I came across Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher, a $50 one-time fee for each one. That’s a bargain because they’re as good as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign (I think they’re better).
The creators of Affinity are always adding new things and making it better, so you can never know it all. Of course, building websites is a continuous learning process as well.
Keeping up with web design is much more important than computer graphics, for if you don’t stay on top of things, your website will crash, especially regarding speed and security.
Yet, as I said, my greatest passion is writing. I’ve always wanted to write fictitious stories based on facts. That has not happened to this day. But…
Jerry and Bob
In April 2021, I decided to create a comic book for Jesus, so Jerry and Bob: The Mighty Hunters was born. By using Affinity Publishers and IngramSpark I was able to self-publish them. Now I had to give them a website – Jerry and Bob.
Dale’s 24-Hour Typing Plus helped me out financially, but I also learned many things about business and management. Even though I’m not a Paralegal, those college years didn’t go to waste. Aside from learning about the law, one of my college courses was Time Management, and that is quite useful today.
Having learned Time Management and being gifted with my OCD of organization I can learn more about Computer Graphics, Web Development, and still build websites for others.
Never think you are unable to do something that you want to do.
