So, about this “alonso’s menu” thing. It all started pretty innocently, really. My buddy Alonso, you know, the one who makes that killer lasagna, he was moaning about his restaurant menu. He had this ancient PDF file that looked like it survived a war, and updating it was a total pain for him. Every time he changed a price or added a special, it was a whole production. I figured, “Hey, I know a bit about websites, I can sort this out for him. Easy peasy.” Famous last words, right?
Getting Started… or Stumbling, Rather
First off, I thought I’d just throw together some basic HTML and CSS. Keep it simple. But then, you know how it is, you start looking at new tools, new frameworks. I got sucked into trying out this fancy new JavaScript thing everyone was talking about. Big mistake. Wasted a whole week trying to get it to do something super basic. It was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Alonso just wanted his darn menu online, not a space shuttle launch control system.
So, I scrapped all that. Went back to good old plain HTML, a sprinkle of CSS, and that was it. Felt much better, like I was actually making progress instead of fighting with some over-engineered beast.
The Real Challenge: Alonso Himself
Turns out, building the actual webpage was the easy part. The real nightmare was Alonso. Bless his heart, but the man changes his mind more often than I change my socks. One day it’s “We need a picture for every dish!” The next, “No pictures, it looks too cluttered!” Then, “Can the prices be in red? No, blue! Wait, make them bigger!” It was endless.
- He’d send me photos taken in a dark corner with his shaky phone.
- Descriptions would change daily. “Spicy” became “mildly zesty” then back to “extra hot.”
- And don’t even get me started on the “special requests” for the design. He wanted it to look “classy but rustic, modern but traditional.” I was like, “Alonso, pick a lane, man!”
Trying to Make it “User-Friendly” (for him)
The biggest hurdle was how he’d update it himself. I wasn’t about to build him a full-blown content management system. That’s a whole other can of worms. I thought about maybe using Google Sheets, or even teaching him some super basic text file editing. He looked at me like I had two heads when I mentioned “Markdown.”
In the end, I set up a super, super simple system. I created a basic template, and for a while, I was the one making the updates. It was faster than trying to teach him. Not ideal, I know, but it was a compromise. He’d just text me the changes, and I’d quickly tweak the HTML. It felt like I was his personal webmaster, which wasn’t really the plan.
Finally Live, But…
Eventually, we got something online. A simple, straightforward menu. He was chuffed, for a bit. It worked. People could see his food, his prices. But honestly, I was just glad to be done with the constant back-and-forth. It took way more time and energy than I ever imagined for such a “small” project.
The thing is, these little projects for friends or family, they’re never as simple as you think. It’s not just about the code. It’s about managing expectations, dealing with people who don’t speak “tech,” and finding solutions that actually work for them, not just for you. Alonso’s menu is up, it’s functional. But if he ever decides to add an online ordering system, I think I might just pretend I’ve moved to a remote island with no internet. Just kidding… mostly.
