Just Happy to be Here

A while ago I posted about hobbies I wanted to rediscover once every spare second wasn’t spent on studying for that MBA thing.  It’s only been a few weeks since my last exam, but I wanted to give a progress report.

The 5 things I was going to do were: read fiction, practice music, learn French, code and do some photography.

On the fiction front I have been devouring books on tape.  So far I haven’t sat down and actually read a novel, but I did read a book of lectures by Richard Feynman. So on that front, I am becoming a normal person again. (+1 for Kara!)

I did buy sheet music and tried to practice, but damn it was boring.  It’s so hard not to multi-task. I’m sitting at the keyboard doing the same progressions over and over and I get so antsy.  The internet has ruined my concentration.  But, kind of the whole point was to re-learn concentration. So I’m not giving up yet, I will force myself to do something boring and not feel bad about it.  It’s for my own damn good, dammit.  If only school hadn’t been so damn interesting. (-1 for Kara, and damn)

Instead of French, I’ve been trying Spanish.  I’ve got an audio podcast I’ve been listening to and a friend is going to get me a book.  Next step on that is to set up some goals and a game plan to get there (+1 for Kara!)

No coding has yet been done, nor do I have a coding project on the horizon.  I await inspiration. Ditto on the photography, since it is cold and no one wants to see shots of my condo and that’s the place I’ve been hanging out the most. (-2 for Kara)

I’ll give myself a month on these goals, then re-evaluate and see if I need new ones.

Another thing I’ve learned while doing my MBA is that having understood roles or hierarchies are VERY necessary to get work done. I’m so close to the end and the closer I get, the bossier I get with my groups.

While I’ve learned that authority or respect is never given, it is earned, the short time periods that you work with people at school don’t afford you the time to develop respect and for clear strengths to emerge. Thus, it is in my best interest to just take charge and steer the group where I think they need to go. While sometimes this will hinder the group, it is overall preferable to the wishy-washy uncertainty that happens without a dominant leader. Who’s got the time to fiddle and figure it out?

Marc and I volunteered to build a website for the building we live in.  It’s built on WordPress and it’s my first experience with user demands. I had to install 9 plugins to deal with all the requirements.

The funnest thing is the theme, Atahualpa. It has an additional interface where you can customize a lot of the elements that you would normally have to do with code. That was really important to me because at some point I’m going to have to hand this thing off to someone else.

Anyway, check it out.  It’s at 388districtlofts.com

Hello, my name is cheapskate.  Sure, I still have as much money as I had before this supposed “recession,” but since it is now de rigeur to be cheap, I’m riding the badwagon to saved money.

1) Making my own lunch.  In my neighbourhood, you cannot go to lunch without spending $10.  In the summer I walk home, but in the winter, laziness usually wins.  Making lunch means more warm time and better food.

2) Non-instant oatmeal. I’m assembling myself.  Bag of dried grains – $8, dried apples bought in bulk – $3, cinnamon – $0 (due to being used in such low quantities), honey – Free at work.  Assemble, put in microwave, voila!  For 28 cents (11/40) it’s cheaper than quaker stuff (which is in the 30-50 cent range), and better for you.

3) Non-canned beans.  As a vegetarian, I eat a lot of beans, so I’m buying them in bulk, soaking them, then cooking them.

4) Making extra.  When I make meals now, I make it a bit bigger, then freeze some.  Saves running out to buy food later.

5) Shopping at Kensington Market.  It’s a hike, but the food is fresh and I can get a week’s worth of groceries for under $30.  It also forces me to focus on fresh food, rather than canned or dried stuff.

It occurred to me today that there may be some idioms that will naturally die out because they can’t make the transition from verbal speech to text.

Example:

Speaker 1: Let’s call it a premium destination rather than a microsite

Speaker 2: Potato, potato.

Did that make any sense?  No!  But what if I had written:

Speaker 1: Let’s call it a premium destination rather than a microsite

Speaker 2: Po-TAY-toe, po-TAW-toe.

See?  It makes makes sense now.  I was in an instant chat with someone where I went to say “Potato, potato” until I realized how silly it would read.  Another one that I use in speech but can’t in chat is “The us”, short for “the usual”.

I wonder if they’ll survive.  I predict they won’t without some kind of textual intervention.

Back on my productivity project, I’ve got another tip.  The worst possible place for a task is in your head.  Get it out of your head fast and scheduled to be done so that when the next thing comes along at any moment, your short-term memory isn’t already full.

I like sticky notes which I consolidate periodically. They either go into my calendar, or onto another sticky “to do” list, or into my client contact record, or whatever.  Just out and away.

A cluttered mind is slow, easily stressed and easily confused.

Here are the hobbies that have fallen by the wayside since I’ve been in school.  (Note: I am in fact writing this as a way to procrastinate)

1. Fiction.  I have 3 novels sitting on my “to read” shelf right now.  I did read one novel over the Christmas break but it was kind of fluffy. I miss good “makes you think” literature.  But I have too much reading to do for school, and too much thinking too.
2. Music.  I picked up an old keyboard from Marc’s cousin.  I got sheet music and during the last school break I started practicing. I really want to actually play an instrument. Rockband doesn’t count.
3. French.  I’m determined to speak it fluently.  Or at least practice enough such that if it ever becomes imperative that I’m fluent, it won’t be such an uphill climb.
4. Coding. …Or really playing around with anything that can automate or build something else.  You wouldn’t think so, but programming can be very creative.
5. Photography.  I have a nice camera.  I have a tripod.  I just need to have time to take it places and take good shots.  

When I’m done this school thing there are going to be times when I get really bored again.  I’m going to refer to this post as a “note to self” on what to do in all my free time.