Year Off Update

ACK! three quarters of the year have passed by in a whirl.

I haven't been updating as much as I had planned, but we all know how that goes.

Here is a list of the other things I haven't been doing enough:

• exercising

• art

• programming

• reading

• traveling

Things I plan to do more of over the next 3 months: (see entire list above)

I have been spending a bunch of time gaming, relaxing, goofing off, cooking, etc...   Having said that I don't really regret it, I've had time to think about life, career, and everything. More to come on that later.

The last couple weeks I have been working on making Christmas presents for a few people. I'll post pictures of these items as soon as they are done.

PG tips

Started drinking PG Tips special blend tea. I kept hearing people talking about it on various podcasts and what not. To be honest its just a good black tea, but I wouldn't say its great or hugely better than anything else. It can be pretty strong depending on how long you let it brew, which I like. My friend introduced me to blending it with Double Chai, which is double yummy.

PG Tips Wikipedia article

One little, two little, three little kitty cats...

We got a new kitty as a companion for our younger cat.  So far the new kitty is doing great and seems to be fitting in just fine.  The younger kitties chase each other, while our older cat (Trill) watches.  Trill thinks they are both crazy and wants nothing to do with either of them.

This Week in Photography

Wanted to add a link to TWIP, both for their link contest, and because I think its a great Photography show and website.

http://www.twipphoto.com

Check them out

iPhone 2.0

I haven't been able to get the new iPhone yet, but I will as soon as I can walk into the apple store without waiting in a long line. However, the software store is now available on my 1.0 phone and it's a great addition to the iPhone.

In fact I'm using the new Wordpress app to create this blog entry.

Lego saved the day!

I started to build my Lego 10179 Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon. Everything was going great, until I discovered that my instruction booklet was missing 67 pages!!!!  I was worried because in the past Lego had fought some sites that were posting instructions online. Would I be able to find the instructions online?

A quick google search later and I discoverd that Lego made the correct decision and now provides the instructions online in pdf: http://www1.lego.com/eng/buildinginstructions/

So I can return to the humongous pile of Lego and try to get a few more pages into this Millennium Falcon.

Health care sucks

So we were able to get reasonably priced health care for L. But, because I'm overweight we were not able to get any for me.  The only way they will cover me is if I pay them a huge amount of money per month for a plan that barely covers anything. WTF is up with health care in the US.

It doesn't matter that I'm losing weight, it doesn't matter that I'm in good health otherwise.

I guess I should be happy that we got L covered so easily.

grumble grumble #$%$%^%^&#$%#$%@@!@!

And so it begins...

Today is the first day of my official leave of absence.  I hope to get a few things accomplished today as I try to figure out my new routine.

Things to get done this week:

• Business card design: I need a card to include with any craft sales
• Clean up clay work area
• Create several items for the craft store
• Get into a regular exercise routine
• Cut the grass :)

Update

Well the store was fun, but it was way more work than it was worth at the time. My biggest regret is that I have not continued to make clay sculptures. I did not come up with a successful app and make money on the app store. But I'm still working on things all the time.

Getting ready to get started

Next week I start my "Year Off", and I can't wait. I put it in quotes because I'll actually be very busy. I'l be doing things on my own schedule, but I'll keeping a regular work day.

The first week will involve:

• Getting a batch of items ready for our Etsy store.

• Creating a business card to include with the Clay work.

• Working on a submission for Artomat

• Getting started with iPhone development. Very interested in seeing if I can make any money with some simple apps. Its important to get my foot in the door as early as possible.

I'll be trying to post something related to this work and my thoughts on how its going every week or two.

Taking a year off resources

My time off starts in April, and I have a bunch of work to do before then. I thought I would post some of the sites and articles I looked at before I talked to my employer.

• Info at Squidoo

• CBS News interview of Mary Lou Quinlan

• The Sabbatical Guide