Quick day...

Wow.. first day back at work in a while went really fast. This was a
Commission meeting but with a very short agenda it was only 45 minutes
long... much better than the FOUR HOUR meetings of the past. But then
again very little business was done. I am trying once again to really
get into time management and project management and actually see some
progress.

Unfortunately my scheduled task end up totaling 12-14 hrs per day so I
have to renegotiate many but I think that will clear up as more gets
done... time will tell.

The challenge will be sticking with the system better than in the past
and making sure I do a weekly review of goals, projects, and the
current situation.

--
My Domain: http://www.StephenNolen.com
My World: http://www.Protowrxs.com
My Humor: http://www.StupidSigns.com

End of Vacation II

Well this is the end of Vacation Part II. I took off another week to finish out this summer. Spent most of it at the lake with family and ended it with a birthday party for my mother. The party's over so to speak. It's not that bad since I hope to be moving into a new office which will be the former server room so it will be a new beginning as well.

I spent most of this day getting ready for the birthday party (cleaning, prepping the cook out food, etc) after having coffee on the tree patio area and reading up on some GTD tips. Weekly Review - the thing I have NOT been doing that is a big part of GTD and other time management concepts. Gonna start that this week.. ha.

Here are some pics of the party;

The Cake - Yeah, it's weird




Mom enjoying the weirdness;


Here is a little video of the weirdness;

Busy day

Well I said I was going to use this to keep track of what I DO get
done so here is today:

Watched Austin mow the yard and mowed my little piece that I keep
green and finished up the details for him - it was over 100 again so
that was fun.

Cleaned up the living room finally picking up the paperwork I had
scattered everywhere

Cleaned up the Lego corner moving everything into the 'Play Room'
which is also the studio for stop motion

Setup the play room so all the Lego is easily available, a little
better organized and ready to animate - now we'll see if I actually
animate anything.

Vacuumed the house and dusted it most of it - fun fun.

Listened to Austin learn a new solo from a Skillet song - amazing how
easily he can pick up something like that

Watered the plants and my little piece of green.

I guess I do get some things done. If I get too much done I'll crash on the Futon in the 'animation studio' - ha!

-Stephen

August Already?

Wow? It's August already - where did the summer go. I think I'll start using this as a 'What I Accomplished Blog' since I have no idea what I have accomplished over the past several months.

On the fun side we just got back from a short family trip to the lake - LittleGlasses at Texhoma. Thought it would be long since we were staying three nights but it ended quite fast. We even made it RAIN... something we do well when we go to the lake. At least we stayed in a nice three bedroom trailer instead of a tent.

The last few months have seen a few accomplishments I guess;

• The 88 Turbocoupe is up and running with working A/C and 21+ mpg even when I hammer on it all the time.
• I released another lego animation for the old Poodles song Toy Town People - Odd but fun little song.
• I have most of the outdoor plants on auto-pilot watering wise now so they actually may survive.
• I even have a small green patch of grass in front of the patio - I can handle mowing that little bit more often especially since Austin is mowing the rest ;-)
• We changed up the patio a bit moving the old A Frame swing to the 'forest' and buying a cafe table, chairs and a small fire pit. Haven't used the fire pit yet but maybe when it gets below 100 degrees for a change.
• We used our 25th Anniversary gift money to buy new vertical blinds and drapes for the house. Something Karen has wanted for some time now.

Sizzling summer fun - with 100+ for several days now it IS sizzling for sure.
-Stephen

Wow - Work - Plus a new-old car

Wow.. spent the whole weekend cleaning up cars. That's a lot of work. Washed both the old van and the F150, vacuumed them both out, waxed the truck, armor all'd both of them and more. That's the bi-annual cleaning I guess.

On the other side we picked up yet another vehicle to add to the mess. A beat up 1988 Turbo Coupe Thunderbird. I had a 1986 TC back in 1986 and loved that car. The 87/88 version came out and it was even cooler. I never could afford an 87/88 but drove the 86 for over 10 years until it was crunched in two accidents within three months, neither of which was my fault. Recently I noticed 87/88 TC's showing up on ebay and other places and one appeared in the local Craigslist so I thought I would check it out. It is much rougher than I wanted BUT it does have a pretty much unmolested engine/tranny which are the hardest parts to find. My son and I spent most of the day Saturday doing a complete clean up of the interior since it was quite dirty.

I had hoped for a driver that I could detail and eventually rebuild but this one is going to require much more work than that. First up is a freeze plug replacement BUT it's the plug between the block and the flywheel so I guess the whole engine/trans is coming out and being rebuilt which is way more up front than I planned.

In the mean time we did take it down the block and back slipping clutch and no boost included. At least the brakes worked well!

Fabulous Poodles - Mirror Star

This was one of my favorite music videos to animate a few years ago. Tony Demur came across it and commented:

Stephen

Really enjoyed your animation for my song "Mirror Star" and so glad there's still people out there who remember us!

All the best, Tony De Meur


I am actually working on a simple animation of Toy Town People.

Mirror Star - The Fabulous Poodles


The rest of my brickfilms can be found on YouTube

Time Management for a System Administrator

Since that actually is my title, I couldn't pass up a read for this book, Time Management for Systems Administrators by Thomas Limoncelli. So far it is really interesting in that it mixes Getting Things Done (GTD) concepts with the real world of constant demands and interruptions of being a Sys Admin.

Interestingly enough it appears I already have all the pieces; one calendar, help request system, log every request, and more, already in place. I just haven't connected the dots and run "The Cycle" that is used in the book. I've ready many time management books and see the common theme rise up again... the trick still is just DOING THEM.

Stupid Stuff Continues

Been burning some coding time at my old StupidSigns.com site lately. They site has been falling off visitor wise over the past year due to lack of attention. Tried CafePress for some calendars and the content was deemed 'inappropriate' soooo I made my own, popped a donate option up and linked to my own PDF versions. People can still get them for free but we'll see how many Stupid $Buck$ fly my way.... likely zero but we'll see. Was good to do some coding on my own sites for a change.
-Stephen

Where's there's Progress there's Pain

I guess that stands true with me. Although I DID get the floor pans installed in the 69 Mustang including fitted, welded and seam sealed, I have paid for that it with a literal pain the back.

Last week I wasn't sure if that was the problem after getting most of the driver side done and having to get straightened up last week. But after spending a couple days finishing up the drivers, installing the passengers side and fitting and installing the seat pans I was unable to hardly stand or walk on Tuesday morning. Ended up losing a day of work over it (not good - just more to do when I get back) and stuck in a chair and in bed with loads of pain meds to make it through. The Chiro once again fixed me up but it's still not very comfortable.

Maybe that is why I have been putting that off for so long??

Oh well.. hopefully time will heal. I did get to sit in the car with an old seat in it.. first time that has occurred in a very long time.

Something done...

Well after griping in the last post about where did the time go, I actually got something done the next day. I ended up getting the driver's side floor pan fitted in my 69 Mustang and started welding it up (ran out of CO2 gas) and did some fitting on the passenger side. The project has loomed over me for several months as I thought it was going to be very hard. It hasn't been easy but not that bad.

I also got the GoMo going with adjustments to the governor and throttle linkage and popped some mufflers on it for my (and the neighbors) ear's sake. Still not fast at about 18mph but working. The guys over at ATLMA thinks it has a coil problem which might explain why it doesn't run like it calculates out on paper.

Here's a link to the short video of it running.