all kinds of stuff [07/18/2006 20:43:17]

projects getting done

Oddly enough, I've been rather productive the past few weeks. I've stuck to the no new projects rule pretty consistently, even when I was sorely tempted.

Random events tend to cluster: I tend to get hit with three or four emails from people asking for the same kind of help all at once - some task I normally hardly get asked to do at all. When I see a cluster like that, I've always tended to launch a project to solve it once and for all, rather than just doing the grunt work. That's a great strategy if the project is something you can do in an hour or two. It's not so great when it creates a ton of work that keeps you from your priorities.

So I've been working down the project list. I've ugpraded MySQL and SpamAssassin and converted my admin interface over to FastCGI and finally - finally - finished my financial statements so my accountant can file my taxes. I've even built a proof of concept for the day trading system I've been talking about for eight years now.

cumulative calories

Besides all that, I've started counting calories again, but with a twist: instead of just tracking my totals for each day, I've got a running total. So if my goal is to come in 1000 calories a day under maintenance (or lose 2 pounds a week), then I can see not only how I did on a particular day, but how the difference impacts the actual trend over time.

So far: not so good. I've taken in 4000 more calories than I planned to over 9 days. So rather than burning off two pounds, I barely burned one. The process is making me a lot more aware of myself though, so it's a start.

pyweek in August

Richard Jones recently mentioned that PyWeek 3 is coming at the end of August. It's a one week game programming competition, and it's a tremendous amount of fun. I missed out on round two, and I kind of wished I hadn't. I'm seriously considering giving it another go this time around. :)

But... I do have a lot on my plate:

team in training

As part of getting in shape, I do a lot of biking... And somehow I let myself get talked into joining a 100mile charity ride in Arizona this November. I just got back from the meeting a little while ago, and I'm still a bit overwhelmed.

The ride is for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society's Team in Training program. They do these huge athletic events to raise money, and are pretty efficient considering the cost of training all these people - 75 cents out of every dollar goes directly to fighting cancer (earning them 3 out of 4 stars at charity navigator).

Anyway, the requirement to participate is to raise about $4000. I'm shooting for double that. Honestly, I don't have the slightest idea how I'm going to make it happen, but it can't hurt to go for it.

Want to help? You can donate through my team in training page. Even a buck or two would be appreciated. :)