Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The Unplanned Life

I've been down in Florida for five months (almost). I can't say that is has been anything special, but there are a few things that I've learned/grown used to.
  • I've gotten used to washing my own clothes on a regular basis. I don't go home weekends any more, so I can't give my mom the joy of doing something for her kids. :-)
  • Sandals have become a new love in my life. I had to wear them after I had my surgery, and I found I really like wearing sandals. Getting used to the sandals was a three day process, but after breaking them in, I wear sandals all the time now.
  • Excess weight keeps stalking my every move. If only I could give up Taco Johns. It is still a work in progress.
  • Gave up cable TV. TV just sucks up all the free time in an evening, and I enjoy working on my hobbies far more than sitting in front of a TV - so I gave TV up. I still watch movies though.
  • Web sites are tougher than I thought. I tried designing one for my sister, but I just couldn't keep slogging through it. I tried designing one for myself - that didn't even get off the ground. I assumed it would be like programming, but I can't keep up website design like I do programming. Maybe I just need to get better at HTML and CSS.
  • Programming is enjoyable. I've found that I really do enjoy the challenge of programming. I especially enjoy moving from topic to programming topic - I don't master any of them, but I do learn enough to be satisfied before I move on. Example: My IO language kick earlier moved into some OpenGL push which is moving into a vector graphics format interest (all done within the framework of the cool IO language). Why are there no general purpose vector graphic formats available?
  • I found that I enjoyed scuba diving and snorkelling. I'm planning to go snorkelling again this weekend if anyone wants to join me.
  • Without constant extemp pressure, I don't keep up on current events nearly as well as I should.
  • It is definitely lonely without someone to accompany me on weekends or evenings. I have made a few friends, but none my age with my interests, so the friendships are more a "I'll say hi and ask what's going on, then leave". After mulling it over this weekend, I'm going to go swing dancing to meet people my age. At least conversation won't center around what work is like... and hopefully conversation won't center around sports either.

1 comment:

J said...

Secret to website design - find fast ways to do all the mundane stuff. Whether your poison is something like Dreamweaver, Creative Web Suite, Frontpage, or by hand - find some techniques that let you do the basic parts quickly.

Then you can have fun doing the creative things.

Go swing dancing! Definitely!!!