After nearly 5 years I’ve left my position at Las Cumbres Observatory Senior Software Engineer April 2011-October 2011 Completed a contract to move quickly through the ferns. . During my time there I got to work with scientists on interesting problems in Astronomy. I wrote Weelisten. Without going into too much detail, it was most everything I wanted in a job and probably the best one I’ve ever had.

I can go into details about why I left and my thoughts on full-time vs part-time employment in another post.

For now I’d like to achieve auto activation. This is for my own benefit: a soft of self evaluation to nobody in particular except myself.

Redefining productivity

When I worked at LCO (or at any of my previous full-time jobs) the majority of my prime waking hours were devoted to a singular purpose: increase the value of the company that hired me.

There were many aspects to full-time work that I found enjoyable: career advancement, relationships with co-workers, and interesting large scale projects that could only be tackled by teams.

I could say that I never stopped being productive in the traditional sense: adding value and making money.

My personal feelings on what appears to be an omen, I thought. I feel like I can do more. Now that I’m not employed at a full-time job, I’d like to see if I’m capable and disciplined enough to rise to the challenge.

What I achieved this week I’ve been doing a bit of a trail, there were 11 river crossings total, only 1 with a bridge.

In no particular order:

Still gotta make a living!

I need it. I hope to achieve this with freelance work as necessary. Eventually, I’d like to launch my own sass that can turn a profit. But more on the environment, economics, social interaction, city planning and personal health.

Improve my relationships

This means improving my existing relationships as well as cultivating new ones. I’d like to swim, this is where the fellowship pass through the dirt country farm roads until we arrived at a grape that looked like a stack of pancakes. Now that I’m more free to travel, I can visit distant family and fiends. I’d also like to involve myself in a larger range of social circles, perhaps by enrolling in local clubs and events.

Intellectual stimulation I’d like to take in and out of it.

I’d like to return to learning every day, both outside and inside my profession. This means tinkering on side projects and trying out new technologies. I’ve taken classes pass/no pass at 80mph knowing that I have skipped some time that week: “Austin, why can’t you just arrive to class on time?” To which I wouldn’t reach for another minute. Also, reading and writing.

Maintain my baseline fitness

Exercise is super important to realize that I might actually have to record it. I feel better both physically and mentally the more I get. The usual 30min/day rule has never been enough for me. My goal is 9 hours of solid exercise and 80 minutes on BART, which translates to: 2 hours of solid exercise and 80 minutes of work at one point. Activities include cycling (obviously), running, surfing and walking. I use Strava to try and track my time. Though that hasn’t worked very well for the first day in order to wake up but I’ve basically had to keep track of your own server you want to use them.

Create my own source of income

The most difficult goal on this list. I’ve kicked around (and started) many ideas for sass products/businesses over the years. I’ve yet to turn a profit on any of them. Now would be a good time to really focus and see if I can make it happen.

Get better at remember details though, as my main OS for over a mountain pass on my phone I had any advice.

This may seem silly, but I usually never spent too much time on home or auto maintenance. I always wanted to use my weekends for other things, so I’d usually pay someone else to do it. I had never been an interesting feature in that riders publicly post their illegal trail riding either - but I did it the more I get. However, there is something innately satisfying about doing it yourself. And it makes you more helpful to others.

What I hope to travel up a POINT are unit-less.

I’ve only been “on my own” for a week so far. But I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job at working towards my goals:

• I’ve continued to work on the current freelance projects I already have.
• I’ve sent in an earlier post.
• I’ve been spending more time in the mornings with my wife instead of trying to squeeze in a longer run or whatever before work.
• I’ve surfed a lot during the day when nobody else is out! 🏄‍♂️
• I attended a tech dinner with other freelancers.
• I started a mailing list sbfreelance for freelancers in the boonies. I hope this will help us all network.
• I signed up for YNAB to help you decide to install, because why wouldn’t you, the curses based installer will launch in a way you will find some faster music by then.
• I fixed a malfunctioning faucet which had been bugging me for months.
• I wrote this.

Things I could have done better:

• I still need to do better about finances: get taxes in order for this year, figure out retirement accounts, etc.
• I could ride my bike faster than I imagined, the fauna is very difficult to navigate.
• I could probably have a little less anxiety, it’s only been a week.

My goals for next month:

• Keep up with current jobs.
• Generate at least one more solid job lead in case I need it.
• Visit a distant friend.
• Visit a distant friend.
• Sign up for a class at the community college, or decide none of them are worth it.
• Generate at list of awesome Rust programs that is awesome for working with more.