Since the creation of my website, www.paulwein.com, I have offered my column, or Penny as I call it, “A Penny For My Thoughts” for all to read. As my website proudly states, “Some columns will make you laugh, and some will make you cry – but all of them will hopefully make you think, and encourage you to read more.” For years, people have been going to my site and reading my columns – but many of the Pennies have not been available – even though my website states, “This is a collection of the column I write called ‘A Penny For My Thoughts,’ which I have written since 1997. The column has been published in several newspapers, and is now available here for your reading pleasure.”

Now, I can finally say – all columns are present and accounted for.

Many years ago, I parted ways with the “person” who did my website – and also tried to sabotage and outright steal my site. But thanks to my endurance, perseverance – and “celebrity” – according to the hosting company who made settled the dispute – I managed to win the website back – but lost a number of files associated with the site in the process. As a result, I had to rebuild many sections of the site – including my Pennies. For years, I told my site visitors that all of my Pennies were available on my site – when in reality – close to 100 were not. Sure I had them, but they were in Word documents and needed to be re-converted to html files and uploaded to my site – something I never got around to doing. But last night – I finally banged it out…

…and am proud to say that finally – all 978 Pennies are now available for your reading pleasure.

I find it a long and arduous process to convert Word documents into html files, but this year – my New Year’s Resolution is to, “Accomplish Accomplishments” – and one of the things on my list was to make sure that my readers are able to access each and every one of the columns I wrote. With that in mind, I got home last night and showed Julie how to do just that – since she was kind enough to offer her help in completing this task that has haunted me for years. After showing her and watching her successfully convert several documents, she got tired and went to bed. So, since it was fresh in my mind, I did one, and then two, three, four – and in one night – converted over 90 columns from Word to html – completing the task of making sure each and every column I have ever written was available on my website – and crossing one very ankle-biting task off of my life’s to-do list.

I am the kind of person that hates when things are left incomplete. For years, I stared at the words on my website that are listed above – and felt as if I was lying to my readers. I wasn’t giving them “all” of my columns – but only most of them. I was, for lack of a better word – slacking on my commitment – because I had written 978 Pennies – and offering up close to 100 less of that total. So given my newfound Resolution – I was not going to let that happen.

The Pennies in question are in the Archive section of my website under, “Pennies 400-526.” Many of them have not been available for years – and most of them are from my book, “I’ve Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway: A Firsthand Account Of The Tragic Events Of September 11, 2001.” But now – they are all there and available for free at the click of a mouse. Many people have asked me why some Pennies were readable and some were not – but now – those days are over – because the open diary I have written for the last 12 years is 100% available – for those who wish to read the story of my very unique life.

I am only 22 columns away from reaching another milestone in my writing career – writing my 1,000th Penny. Truth be told – I can not wait for that day – and get more and more excited every time I write another Penny that brings me closer to that inevitable achievement. But before I could reach 1,000 Pennies – I thought it would be fitting to offer all that I have written to each and every person that been so loyal in reading my Thoughts to enjoy my full library. As always, I am grateful to each and every one of you for taking the time out of your life to read a piece of mine. Your constant support and encouragement is the fuel that keeps the fire of this column burning. The day I reach 1,000 – which will no doubt be in the very near future – is going to be one of the greatest days of my life…

…and I have you to thank for it.

Great – now I have to convert this Penny to html too.