digitalBush

I just finished reading this book, and I just wanted to share a few thoughts.  Lately I've been on a mission to define myself.  I think a lot of people just go through life doing what they think they are supposed to do while never stopping to think about what it is they are doing.  I refuse to be a lemming. 

For a software developer, The 4-Hour Workweek is impossible.  It is impossible because software development takes a lot of time.  If you really like coding, then you are going to spend your time doing that.  That's not a bad thing, and that fact certainly shouldn't stop someone from reading this book.  There are a lot of things to take from the book about minimalist living, organization, and time management.

What I took from this book is an awareness of what I'm doing with my time.  Life is too short to go through the motions doing things you don't enjoy doing.  A lot of unpleasant things are unnecessary or can be delegated to others.   By doing some self-evaluation, I realize that there are things I do just for the sake of taking up time.  There is a lot of noise that can be avoided in life.  For example: I know that there is no point in checking my email so frequently, yet I do it anyway.  I think I can better focus the use of my time just from taking an information detox. 

So, software developer or not, I recommend that you read this book.  Maybe it will motivate you to pursue the things that make you happy.   Life is too short to waste on trivial and unimportant things.

I started off July at 276 pounds and immediately shot up for the month.  I don't recall anything out of the ordinary at the beginning of the month to cause the jump. I suspect that my body was just leveling off from the sharp weight decline that happened in June.  The blue line is the moving average, and that is a better indicator of my weight through the month.

I'm starting August at 275 lbs, which is nowhere near my goal for the month.  I'm a little disappointed, because I felt like I did good for my diet and exercise overall.  Despite what the scale says, I have noticed some changes in my body that are encouraging.  I noticed that I'm in size 40 pants instead of 44 and I'm in XL shirts instead of XXL.  Also, I'm down 3 notches on my belt, one of which happened in July. 

Things are definitely changing, but they just aren't changing fast enough for my likes.  At least the graph is showing a downward trend.  When August ends, I want to be down to 270 lbs.  I don't want the 270's to be as stubborn as the 280's.  I have a lot of ground to make up if I'm going to reach my goals for the year.

It's been a little while since I've pushed an update to my Masked Input Plugin for jQuery. I just released version 1.1.4 which is just a minor bugfix.

Steve Davis found and fixed a bug that would occur when the mask characters match the criteria of the first placeholder character(s). The mask characters would end up repeated as user input. Thanks to Steve for the fix!

I feel bad for this being my only post of this week, but I've been busy.  I've been busy putting up a chain link fence so that my dog can roam free in the back yard without me taking him out on a leash.  So, the fact that I've been busy doing this little project is fitting for this week's tip. 

I originally had a family friend in the fence business quote me to do the job.  The quote would up to be $900.  For no more fence than I was putting up, I just felt like it was too much.  After all, he had put up nearly triple that amount for us for less money only 5 years ago.  The cost of materials have just gone up that much. 

I went down the the local home improvement store and priced the materials and it turned out to be quite a bit less than his quote.  For $500, I could get everything I would need to complete the project.  Not too shabby.  I decided to take the plunge and do the fence myself.  Armed with some general direction from the Internet, I was able to complete the fence in a couple of weekends.  Not only do I get that warm, fuzzy feeling of accomplishment, but I managed to save $400!  To top it all off, I also got a good workout these past two weekends.

So, in summary:

1. Saved $400 in labor.
2. Built a quality fence. (no half-assing)
3. Feel good about what I did.
4. Got a good workout.
5. Dog can now roam free in the back yard.

Adding to last week's savings tip to use coupons, I want to discuss other ways to make your grocery trips lighter on your wallet.  I think the easiest place to start is by making a list of what you intend to get at the store.  This gives your trip purpose and focuses your energy towards completing the task that is grocery shopping.  Without a list, I wander around aimlessly trying to think of what would be good to eat.  I always end up buying things I already had at home or just didn't need.  This is also good for my weight loss goal because it keeps me from buying sweets. 

As an added bonus, I challenge you to take your grocery list making to the next level.  My wife has mapped out the grocery store and now makes the grocery lists in the order that we walk through the store.  At first I was skeptical, but it has made our trips much more efficient.  No more wandering, no more going back to the complete opposite side of the store because you missed something on your list, just efficient shopping hell bliss.  We get in and out without buying a bunch of crap we don't need.