I’d like to say that I’ve been slacking and that’s why posting has been a bit spotty of late. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The sad truth is I’ve been so darn busy, I haven’t had time to post much. Kinda ironic since I’ve been trying to get more organized in general so I’ll have more time to devote to things I want to do, like Blog. I usually have my UPC (Sony U70) with me, so I have my schedule, all my favorite applications, and a complete set of productivity tools with me. The only thing I’m missing is a good connection to the outside world, and time to actually write something insightful and witty. All this nifty technology, and I’m stuck in the dark ages without a good wireless connection or the time to actually use it. My current cellular plan has a killer rate for data so its not really a good option to modem in with it. (And its not the good type of killer either. Its more of the drive a stake into your wallet and bleed it till its empty kind of killer.) And my happy little workplace doesn’t have any network jacks in my corner of the cave. So, I’m stuck working on the u70 in isolation while I’m at work. Which seems lately to be darn near all of the time that I’m actually awake. Anything I do write, ends up coming home with me, and at home, I can use the big machine to post, so why worry about trying to blog on the U70 at work. Its a bit of a catch-22.
So all excuses aside, I’m sitting down tonight and making an effort to get back into the swing things around here. So you, my loyal readers, get to put up with my “To-Do” and my “Not even going to try to do” lists tonight. I’ll try to make my next post witty and cynical and possibly even amusing. Or maybe I wont. Some days you take your chances around here.
Here is the short To-Do list:
-Get back to blogging on a more regular basis. (I meet the most interesting people at work. And its my duty to warn all of you about them. Not to mention I have all this pent up cynicism that I need to do something with.)
-Get out and get working on my Garden Railway again. If it ever cools down. (I work at a Hobby shop, and my layout is being neglected. I really need to work on that.)
-Finish my novel. I started my first Novel last November, and I was amazed to find out as I got into it that it didn’t suck nearly as much as I figured it would. So, I’d like to get it finished up so I can begin editing this year in the hopes of actually taking it to print someday.
-Get back to working on some of my neglected project cars. Halloween is fast approaching, and I still have some details to add to one of the cars. We take this one out on Halloween every year. Not to mention my Ambulance is almost ready for paint. I’d like to get it painted so I can get it back on the road, hopefully in time for the 2005 PCS meet in Denver.
-More Work in the gameroom. Its functional, but not too pretty.
-I have got to get the pool working again. Summer is almost over and the pool still isn’t working properly. Highly frustrating.
There are also some things that I’m not going to be doing any time soon as well.
-Install Tablet PC on the U70. Why? Couple of reasons actually. 1. I don’t have legal access to the Tablet OS. An MSDN Subscription is $700. Which is a bit pricey for a single OS. 2. I’m not sure I have the free time to actually pull off a Tablet OS install even if I did have the installers. On the U70, its a bit of a convoluted process to get everything installed properly since the U70 wasn’t designed for the Tablet OS. 3. I don’t have a bootable iLink drive to install from. (Which is a minor issue, as I am still planning to get a drive, just in case.) I would like to try the Tablet OS on the U70, and I still hope to at some point. I just have to figure out how to get the installer and find time to actually do it. (Since I’m not willing to have the U70 down for any length of time. I use it too much right now to toast it with an OS install. And I’m positive that I *WILL* Have issues with any OS install. Just the way things work for me.)
-Landscaping. Always an ongoing project. Just no time for it right now.
-Napping/Any sort of extra sleep. Since I’m managing a retail shop, and the holidays are fast approaching, I’m pretty much resigned to the fact that I’m not going to get any significant amount of extra sleep between now and Xmas.
In other news, I’m Semi-Famous now. That’s my story anyway. 
A friend of mine put up links to both this happy little blog, and my Ecto1a pages in his Blog. Check it out, My first mention in someone else’s Blog. Which I think is VERY cool as his blog is actually read by a good number of people. (He has even been /.ed. How cool is That?) While you are over there, take a little time and read around. Not just any Tech blogger, James is riding right on the edge of New Technology, and he is experimenting, searching, and attacking nifty new tech stuff all the time. And he even has the published magazine and web reviews to prove it. He always has something interesting to check out on his Blog, and it is one of my daily blog stops. Well worth your time. The only down side to him linking to me here, is that is I really don’t have anything interesting posted here right now, and I haven’t updated the Ecto Pages in way too long. So I end up looking like a bit of a slacker. Guess I’ll have to add something else to my To-Do list and do some updates.
Ah well.
Stay sharp. And watch yourself when you are out shopping. I could be blogging about you next time..
Wow, I’ll have to link to you more often! So you’re writing a novel? That’s just great and something I’ve been threatening to do for a long time. Just seem to never have time which is the world’s worst excuse. I hope it works well for you. Are you going to self-publish?
Your ToDo list scares me.
I actually started my novel last year as part of a contest.. If you’ve been threatening to write one yourself, I may have the motivation for you. NaNoWriMo. (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) National Novel Writing Month. 50,000 words in 30 days. It provides a schedule and an excuse to just write. Doesn’t have to be good, doesn’t even have to make sense. You just get the words out the first time. (Lets you get in the groove of writing. And practice does actually help on a novel.) I started last year and made it to a little under 30,000 words before everything exploded and I wasn’t able to finish. (I was aiming for a personal goal of about 60,000, which is more in line with a typical mystery lengthy. Which is what I’m writing.) I was actually amazed that I got that much down in one shot. That’s about the most I’ve actually written on a single topic. And what’s even more surprising is I actually liked what I got down. I’m hoping to finish this year, and then I’m going to look into self-publishing. (Odds of finding a real publisher are pretty slim. I like what I have, but that doesn’t mean its actually GOOD.) Lemme know if I can motivate you to get your novel started.
And my To-Do list scares me too.
I checked out NaNo and what a cool concept. I’m seriously thinking about jumping in this year but we’ll see what time looks like. I did take the opportunity to join the Houston group so who knows where it will go? Thanks for pointing me in their direction.