Goodbye Trill

One of the first things we did when we moved to Charlotte was to get a kitty. She was very sick when we first got her, but after several weeks of vet trips and medicine she got better. We named her 'Trill' and she has always been a gentle lap kitty. Its been almost 13 years and she has been a great companion. Today we said goodbye to her. She will be greatly missed.

His favorite music.

Working this morning with iTunes playing in the background.  The song 'Ventura Highway' by the band America starts playing and I'm hit with a very strong memory of my Dads Father, my Grandfather.  He died many years ago from Cirrhosis. He was a heavy drinker who never recovered from retirement. I wasn't terribly close to him, but I have many good memories of him.  He loved to read westerns, but I don't know if he had a favorite author.  He frequently played the lottery, but never won more than he spent playing it.  He loved to eat steak for dinner, almost every night.  He also kept a loaded 44 under the bed.  I once heard him laughing and giggling loudly after talking about the time my Grandmother tried to feed a frog some bologna (yeah that is kinda funny).

I don't have many good pictures of him, the ones I do have are from when he wasn't feeling well.   I guess all that really matters is that I thought of him this morning and wanted to share.

TerraTrike me Likey

Recently Leo Laport the podcasting guru of Twit.tv got a new toy.  This happens all the time, there is always a Macbreak Weekly pick or a Daily Giz Wiz gadget that I want.  However, this new toy makes me drool like the rabid fanboy I know I am, and big surprise its not a new device from Apple.  It's a recumbent tricyle called the TerraTrike.  These trikes look like so much fun.  I've been thinking about getting a bicycle for a long time. Any excuse to get more exercise is good.  These trikes are the way to go.  I just need to lose some more weight so I won't break the durn thing.  I can't wait to get one.

Work / Life Update

About a year ago I posted that I was taking a year off.  A friend of mine recently mentioned that I had not updated in a while about "The Year Off".  I wish I had made myself update weekly, hell even monthly would have been good.  At the very least I wanted to post when the year was over, and to see how I did.

Originally I wrote about these goals:

• Lose weight: I started the year walking regularly. I lost 30 lbs very quickly. I haven't maintained my walking schedule, but I'm getting back into it now. At least I have not gained the weight back. I hope to lose much more.

• Art / polymer clay: I have sold several items on our Etsy store. I made a bunch of stuff that is either for sale or has been given away as gifts.  I really do enjoy making things, but its not yet something I can do as a full time job. Who knows maybe someday.

• Programming for Fun: I started writing iPhone software for fun, but I will soon be selling my own iPhone applications. Its still fun, but hopefully I can spin it into a job.

• Guitar: I have not touched my guitar in a year. I still want to spend time learning to play.

• Spend more time with L: Here at least I have succeeded.

So whats next? Well....  I decided not to return to my old job.  This was a very hard decision to make.  I'm working on several applications that will be for sale on the iPhone App store soonish.  Soon my little software company will be off and running.

Bailey poses for the camera

I haven't posted enough pics of our most recent addition.

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.

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.

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.