diff options
author | Daniel Silverstone <dsilvers@digital-scurf.org> | 2019-01-16 11:24:50 +0000 |
---|---|---|
committer | Daniel Silverstone <dsilvers@digital-scurf.org> | 2019-01-16 11:24:50 +0000 |
commit | 23f610e714d4a48c18a5c39ca041e8c15d7b2187 (patch) | |
tree | b48d7ef503e147cec314efd6ce49f62cdf2ed473 | |
parent | 9f6b535c70b5089a38c09f7025e439734791ea2a (diff) | |
download | blog-23f610e714d4a48c18a5c39ca041e8c15d7b2187.tar.bz2 |
Draft of 2019 plans
-rw-r--r-- | posts/2019-01-plans.mdwn | 235 |
1 files changed, 235 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/posts/2019-01-plans.mdwn b/posts/2019-01-plans.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c8ddcba --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/2019-01-plans.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,235 @@ +[[!meta title="Plans for 2019"]] +[[!meta author="Daniel Silverstone"]] +[[!meta date="2019-01-16 11:30"]] +[[!tag draft]] + +At the end of last year I made eight statements about what I wanted to do +throughout 2019. I tried to split them semi-evenly between being a better +adult human and being a better software community contributor. I have had +a few weeks now to settle my thoughts around what they mean and I'd like to +take some time to go through the eight and discuss them a little more. + +I've been told that doing this reduces the chance of me sticking to the +points because simply announcing the points and receiving any kind of positive +feedback may stunt my desire to actually achieve the goals. I'm not sure +about that though, and I really want my wider friends community to help keep +me honest about them all. I've set a reminder for April 7th to review the +situation and hopefully be able to report back positively on my progress. + +--- + +My list of goals was stated in a [pair of][tweet1] [tweets][tweet2]: + +1. Continue to lose weight and get fit. I'd like to reach 80kg during the year if I can +2. Begin a couch to 5k and give it my very best +3. Focus my software work on finishing projects I have already started +4. Where I join in other projects be a net benefit +5. Give back to the @rustlang community because I've gained so much from them already +6. Be better at tidying up +7. Save up lots of money for renovations +8. Go on a proper holiday + +[tweet1]: https://twitter.com/dsilverstone/status/1079779289552375808 +[tweet2]: https://twitter.com/dsilverstone/status/1079779592964136962 + +--- + +Weight and fitness +================== + +Some of you may be aware already, others may not, that I have been making an +effort to shed some of my excess weight over the past six or seven months. I +"started" in May of 2018 weighing approximately 141kg and I am, as of this +morning, weighing approximately 101kg. Essentially that's a semi-steady rate +of 5kg per month, though it has, obviously, been slowing down of late. + +In theory, given my height of roughly 178cm I should aim for a weight of around +70kg. I am trying to improve my fitness and to build some muscle and as such +I'm aiming long-term for roughly 75kg. My goal for this year is to continue my +improvement and to reach and maintain 80kg or better. I think this will make a +significant difference to my health and my general wellbeing. I'm already +sleeping better on average, and I feel like I have more energy over all. I +bought a [Garmin Vivoactive 3][watch] and have been using that to track my +general health and activity. My resting heart rate has gone down a few BPM +over the past six months, and I can see my general improvement in sleep etc +over that time too. I bought a [Garmin Index Scale][scale] to track my weight +and body composition, and that is also showing me good values as well as +encouraging me to weigh myself every day and to learn how to interpret the +results. + +[watch]: https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/571520 +[scale]: https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/530464 + +I've been managing my weight loss partly by means of a +[16:8 intermittent fasting][ifast] protocol, combined with a steady calorie +deficit of around 1000kcal/day. While this sounds pretty drastic, I was +horrendously overweight and this was critical to getting my weight to shift +quickly. I expect I'll reduce that deficit over the course of the year, hence +I'm only aiming for a 20kg drop over a year rather than trying to maintain what +could in theory be a drop of 30kg or more. + +[ifast]: https://www.menshealth.com/uk/nutrition/a749933/mh-trials-hugh-jackmans-16-8-diet/ + +In addition to the IF/deficit, I have been more active. I bought an +[e-bike][whirr] and slowly got going on that over the summer, along with +learning to enjoy walks around my local parks and scrubland. Since the weather +got bad enough that I didn't want to be out of doors I [joined a gym][jetts] +where I have been going regularly since September. Since the end of October I +have been doing a very basic strength training routine and my shoulders do seem +to be improving for it. I can still barely do a pushup but it's less +embarassingly awful than it was. + +[whirr]: https://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/brands/wisper/wisper-806-se-folding +[jetts]: https://www.jetts.co.uk/clubs/stockport + +Given my efforts toward my fitness, my intention this year is to extend that to +include a [Couch to 5k][c25k] type effort. Amusingly, Garmin offer a self +adjusting "coach" called [Garmin Coach][gcoach] which I will likely use to +guide me through the process. While I'm not committing to any, maybe I'll get +involved in some [parkruns][parkrun] this year too. I'm not committing to +reach an ability to *run* 5k because, quite simply, my bad leg may not let me, +but I am committing to give it my best. My promise to myself was to start some +level of jogging once I hit 100kg, so that's looking likely by the end of this +month. Maybe February is when I'll start the c25k stuff in earnest. + +[c25k]: http://www.c25k.com/ +[gcoach]: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/fitness/garmin-coach/ +[parkrun]: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/southmanchester/ + +Adulting +======== + +This section will be shorter than the previous one because it's somewhat less +personal and I don't really have to report on progress yet… + +I have put three items down in this category to get better at this year. One +is a big thing for our house. I am, quite simply put, awful at tidying up. I +leave all sorts of things lying around and I am messy and lazy. I need to fix +this. My short-term goal in this respect is to pick one room of the house +where the mess is mostly mine, and learn to keep it tidy before my checkpoint +in April. I think I'm likely to choose the Study because it's where others +of my activities for this year will centre and it's definitely almost entirely +my mess in there. I'm not yet certain *how* I'll learn to do this, but it has +been a long time coming and I really do need to. It's not fair to my husband +for me to be this awful all the time. + +The second of these points is to explicitly save money for renovations. Last +year we had a new bathroom installed and I've been seriously happy about that. +We will need to pay that off this year (we have the money, we're just waiting +as long as we can to earn the best interest on it first) and then I'll want to +be saving up for another spot of renovations. I'd like to have the kitchen and +dining room done - new floor, new units and sink in the kitchen, fix up the +messy wall in the dining room, have them decorated, etc. I imagine this will +take quite a bit of 2019 to save for, but hopefully this time next year I'll +be saying that we managed that and it's time for the next part of the house. + +Finally I want to take a proper holiday this year. It has been a couple of +years since Rob and I went to Seoul for a month, and while that was excellent, +it was partly "work from home" and so I'd like to take a holiday which isn't +also a conference, or working from home, or anything other than relaxation and +seeing of interesting things. This will also require saving for, so I imagine +we won't get to do it until mid to late 2019, but I feel like this is part of +a general effort I've been making to take care of myself more. The fitness +stuff above being physical, but a proper holiday being part of taking better +care of my mental health. + +Software, Hardware, and all the squishy humans in between +========================================================= + +2018 was not a great year for me in terms of getting projects done. I have +failed to do almost anything with [Gitano][] and I did not doing well with +[Debian][] or other projects I am part of. As such, I'm committing to do +better by my projects in 2019. + +[Gitano]: https://www.gitano.org.uk/ +[Debian]: https://www.debian.org/ + +First, and foremost, I'm pledging to focus my efforts on **finishing** projects +which I've already started. I am very good at thinking "Oh, that sounds fun" +and starting something new, leaving old projects by the wayside and not getting +them to any state of completion. While software is never entirely "done", I do +feel like I should get in-progress projects to a point that others can use them +and maybe contribute too. + +As such, I'll be making an effort to sort out issues which others have raised +in Gitano (though I doubt I'll do much more feature development for it) so that +it can be used by NetSurf and so that it doesn't drop out of Debian. Since +the next release of Debian is due soon, I will have to pull my finger out and +get this done pretty soon. + +I have been working, on and off, with Rob on a new point-of-sale for our local +pub [Ye Olde Vic][vic] and I am committing to get it done to a point that we +can experiment with using it in the pub by the summer. Also I was working on a +way to measure fluid flow through a pipe so that we can correlate the pulled +beer with the sales and determine wastage etc. I expect I'll get back to the +"beer'o'meter" once the point-of-sale work is in place and usable. I am not +going to commit to getting it done this year, but I'd like to make a dent in +the remaining work for it. + +[vic]: https://www.yeoldevic.pub/en/ + +I have an on-again off-again relationship with some code I wrote quite a while +ago when learning [Rust][rustlang]. I am speaking of my [Yarn][yarn] +implementation called (imaginatively) [rsyarn][]. I'd like to have that +project reworked into something which can be used with [Cargo][cargo] and +associated tooling nicely so that running `cargo test` in a Rust project can +result in running yarns as well. + +[rustlang]: https://www.rust-lang.org/ +[yarn]: http://git.liw.fi/cgi-bin/cgit/cgit.cgi/cmdtest/tree/README.yarn +[rsyarn]: https://git.gitano.org.uk/rsyarn.git/tree +[cargo]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/index.html + +There may be other projects which jump into this category over the year, but +those listed above are the ones I'm committing to make a difference to my +previous lackadaisical approach. + +On a more community-minded note, one of my goals is to ensure that I'm always a +net benefit to any project I join or work on in 2019. I am very aware that in +a lot of cases, I provide short drive-by contributions to projects which can +end up costing that project more than I gave them in benefit. I want to stop +that behaviour and instead invest more effort into fewer projects so that I +always end up a net benefit to the project in question. This may mean spending +longer to ensure that an issue I file has enough in it that I may not need to +interact with it again until verification of a correct fix is required. It may +mean spending time fixing someone elses' issues so that there is the +engineering bandwidth for someone else to fix mine. I can't say for sure how +this will manifest, beyond being up-front and requesting of any community I +decide to take part in, that they tell me if I end up costing more than I'm +bringing in benefit. + +Rust and the Rust community +=========================== + +I've mentioned Rust above, and this is perhaps the most overlappy of my +promises for 2019. I want to give back to the Rust community because over the +past few years as I've learned Rust and learned more and more about the +community, I've seen how much of a positive effect they've had on my life. Not +just because they made learning a new programming langauge so enjoyable, but +because of the community's focus on programmers as human beings. The fantastic +documentation ethics, and the wonderfully inclusive atmosphere in the community +meant that I managed to get going with Rust so much more effectively than with +almost any other language I've ever tried to learn since [Lua][lua]. + +[lua]: http://www.lua.org/ + +I have, since Christmas, been slowly involving myself in the Rust community +more and more. I joined one of the various Discord servers and have been +learning about how [crates.io][cratesio] is managed and I have been +contributing to [rustup.rs][rustup] which is the initial software interface +most Rust users encounter and forms such an integral part of the experience of +the ecosystem that I feel it's somewhere I can make a useful impact. + +[cratesio]: https://crates.io/ +[rustup]: https://rustup.rs/ + +While I can't say a significant amount more right now, I hope I'll be able to +blog more in the future on what I'm up to in the Rust community and how I hope +that will benefit others already in, and interested in joining, the fun that is +programming in Rust. + +--- + +In summary, I hope at least some of you will help to keep me honest about my +intentions for 2019, and if, in return, I can help you too, please feel free +to let me know. |