I had a good chat with Jessica the other day about my work load, the things I say I will do, things promise I will do, priorities, and life decisions. She always gets me in a thought provoking mood. It turns out that I have made it a habit for myself to tell everyone YES! to whatever they’re asking, and then attempt to cram it into my schedule. It’s been pointed out to me that if I somehow don’t get these things fit into my schedule…. I appear un-reliable. eek. So there are 2 action items that I’ve decided i NEED to take. I need to start telling people that I’m busy, and I need to come up with some clear goals that I am going to work on. So i’ve decided that in order to build motivation… I need a list! I’ve always been inspired by Erik Kastner’s Blog posts about his goals and I think that writing them down and making it permanent will help make it happen. I have a reputation to uphold, you know!

This Month’s Goals:

1. write this post
2. contribute something good to an Open Source project
3. follow up with at least 1 micro-startup idea
4. break 100 twitter followers
5. work on our Wedding & RSVP web page
6. finish 2 paintings
7. finish my mother’s website
8. lose 15 pounds

Write this Post! (and more more after this)

I’ve had this post stored in a text file on my computer for about a month. It NEEDS to be written out, and followed through with. So in completing this post, goal number 1 should be adequately sufficed!!

Contribute something good to an Open Source project

This has always been one of my goals. I know that i contribute to the Dashboard Framework almost daily, but that doesn’t count. I’m talking big time project, small time grunt work. I’ve been using this software and giving them a pat on the back, saying it’s great, reporting bugs etc. I need to give back to the community that I am continuously taking from. It’s the nature of it all.

Follow up with at least 1 of the micro-startup idea

I’ve come up with so many great little web startup ideas over the past year or so that i no longer know which ones are good / feasible / possible. I’m going to try to whittle it down to 1 for this month and attempt to get the ball rolling. Even if it is as little as IsDaneCookInThisMovie.com, it’s still a tiny step in the right direction.

Break the 100 Twitter Followers barrier

They say that you don’t get the full experience of twitter until you have at least 100 followers. So I really want to experience the full effect of this social network.

*update* This happened yesterday. I’ve reached 100. So i guess i’ll aim for 125 by this time next month!

Work on our Wedding & RSVP website

This is something very important to both Jessica and I. I’ve been saying that I’ll work on it as soon as i get some time. All I need to do is set some time aside for this, and without design, the programming shouldn’t take more than an hour or 2. (design help is very welcome — thurloat at gmail dot com *wink*)

Finish 2 Paintings

I have 2 paintings on the go right now, and they always take the back seat to other projects. It’s something I really enjoy, and something that I can connect with Jessica on. I started a huge one around Christmas for her and I still haven’t passed the pencil-on-canvas stage. This won’t be an easy one to fit in, but if i can hold off on doing other things, I know i can find time.

Finish my Mother’s Website

So my Mum started her own cloth diaper business last year and I’ve been promising all along that I would make her a website for it, and help her with online marketing for it, etc. I can usually only seem to find 20 or 30 minutes at a time and I’m stuck at about 85% on this one, I just need a little boot in the arse to complete it. The only reason it’s on here is to make sure that I get it done.

Lose 15 pounds

I know this goal sounds un-reasonable, but I know i have the power to do it myself, and they say the first few pounds come off really quickly. I’m not expecting this sort of weight loss to be linear. I just know that if i put a ton of work in early, than I can see faster results which will motivate me to continue. The muscle burn that I’m feeling already is motivation so far, but the numbers do help.

So that’s my list to complete over the next 30 days. I’m going to make it a priority for this month to post a weekly check in with my goals to make sure I’m following through with them. If you’re noticing me slacking on these goals, put me in line! This is extremely important to me, and I hope you’re all kind enough to help !!

Tags: change, goals, programming, website

So, here I was (you are here). Sitting on the couch, leisurely watching “John and Kate plus 8”. When I looked over at Jessica’s Psychology Quiz. This text is quoted straight from an University Psych textbook… seriously.

If Captain Picard leaves Deep Space Nine at 0900 hours and travels at Warp 4 his shuttlecraft, he can rendezvous with the Starship Enterprise in 4. 2 hours. However, in order to reach the ship so quickly, he would have to travel through the Neutral Zone, and his presence would undoubtedly be noticed by Romulan warships, which would attack and destroy his craft. Thus, Picard realizes that he will have to take another route to the ship and thus devises what comes to be known as the “Picard loop” to get around the neutral zone. The Captain has applied ____.

A) crystallized intelligence ability

B) an algorithm

C) deductive reasoning skill

D) means-ends analysis

My question is: Why is picard on Deep Space Nine?

“….[u]nder the terms in the memorandum of understanding, Penske would obtain the rights to the brand as well as certain other Saturn assets. GM would continue production, on a contract basis, of the Saturn Aura, Vue and Outlook.”

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[Source: General Motors] [more details]

Looks like the Saturn Astra is getting canned. It’s such a great dissapointment for me, as i haven’t had a single issue with it and i continue to enjoy driving it every day. Although, maybe this will make the resale value skyrocket because my model and options will be rare (XR, 3dr, 5spd, handling package, no 18s) ? Here’s to hoping, along with the dissapointment that I probably won’t be buying a Saturn again.

[Source: Adam Thurlow]

I just got my mitts on Google Chrome for Mac. The JS speed is incredible.

There is actually a visually noticeable speed difference when using our Framework back-end. I might just start using it for adminning sites / content entering because it doesn’t ever bog down on the heavy JS loads for Chunk revisions. It just seems to be more snappy in general compared to FF 3.01 where on many occasions will freeze up for 1/4 of a second when it’s processing JS / finishing a page load that creates a frustration inside of me so deep and burning…

… seriously. it’s only quarter of a second. but if i had all of those 1/4 seconds back, i’d for sure have at least a minute on my hands.

P.S. i just noticed that half of the toolbar for making tumblr posts has dissapeared in chrome.. weird.

Lately, something that has been invading my tweets and really interesting me, has been the news regarding Chrysler and the General Motors (GM) bankruptcies. Keeping tabs on the auto industry is a odd hobby of mine. You’d like me to fill you in on the confusion of it all? SURE!

So from what i’ve gathered, the situation as it stands on The Big Three (Ford, Chrysler and General Motors) is as follows:

• Chrysler is so bankrupt it isn’t even funny. They are selling off all of their semi-profitable brands to other companies and seeking buy-outs from foreign markets.

• GM has also filed bankruptcy, but has put a wonderful Public Relations spin on the whole thing. IIRC the company is now 60% owned by the US government, and i’ve just recently heard that the Canadian Government has decided to invest ~ approximately $10 billion in the “restructuring” of the brand. They’ve decided to focus on only their core market. This means that Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC will be the only surviving GM brands, and they’re also looking on cutting down their expansive, self-competitive lineup to under 30 offerings across all brands.

Today, GM released their “Re-Invention” Commercial to explain to the public in “fluffy” words, that they’re going to fire union workers, and do a lot of cost-cutting.

• Ford is on top of their game. No one has heard about Ford lately because they decided to restructure in 2006 before anyone else knew something was going wrong. See, back in 06’ when Ford got their new CEO, he did a massive “re-invention”. They have since brought back the Taurus (mistake to have killed it), are working on a global automobile platform, and keeping as economical as possible. Ford is expecting to actually have to INCREASE production in the second half of this year by about ten percent in all of this economic turmoil.

So that’s how I am seeing the big three right now, and somehow after a few years ago, Ford has pulled off being the top dog (for now). They seem slightly worried now that the gvt’ owns 60% of GM, that they will no longer want to do business with them.

“We look forward to working with the Obama administration to ensure that the government’s majority ownership of GM will not change the industry’s competitive dynamics and that a level playing field will be maintained.”

The Auto Industry is in a rediculous amount of trouble in North America right now, and the way I see it, in less than 3 years Chrysler is going to be history, the GM ‘upturn’ might finally swing around in 6 years, and Ford will benefit greatly from taking the early damage from their restructuring in 06’ and be the only one left of the big three who can continue to sustainably innovate, build reliable automobiles, and still have a large Reasearch and Development section for greener cars in the future.

I think that the damage has been done to the other not-quite-as-big two, and they’re going to have a very steep hill to climb in order to find their way out of this hole. Especially since Ford is one step ahead.

To wrap up, I believe there is a quote that sums up this whole situation:

“If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” – Confucius