I have decided that for each goal I accomplish I get to buy myself a present. Maybe the punishment for FAILURE should be that for each hour of overtime I take a dollar out of my present-buying budget? But that could get difficult to calculate if things are still unfinished. I probably shouldn't get to buy any presents until everything is caught up. And I'm not sure how big to make the budget in the first place.
Anyway, I checked my credit card history for the past three months to see what I have already bought myself, and it turns out that both my memory and my self-control are better than I thought. I didn't need to look to know that all I got was Bizenghast volumes 5 and 6, Fruits Basket volumes 22 and 23, and Her Majesty's Dog volume 11. I'm not sure if that counts as one present or five, though, because I bought them all together.
So now let's do some math. If I give myself $50 toward presents for each success. . . since I've had five SUCCESSes that's $250. The only project that went into overtime that has been completed is week 3, which racked up 142 hours. If I figure I'm 11 hours into today, last week's is at 131, week 9 has 803, week 8 has 971, week 6 has 1307, and week 5 has 1475 hours. And counting. Which puts me at -$4,579. Clearly I need to rethink something here. Either the dollar amounts I'm inputting or the amount of effort I'm putting in.
Okay, if each hour equals 5¢, I'd only be subtracting $241.45, and if I take $5 off for each TOTAL FAILURE, that puts me at $10.55, of which I've already spent $47.81. Hmm. At 4¢ an hour I'm only 97¢ over budget. At 3¢ an hour, I have $47.32 left. I'll have to recheck my math in a month or two and see if this system is going to work.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Week 13, back to routine
Factors working against me: I actually have a semi-good excuse for losing track of what day it was this time! We took Jimmy and Jessica back to Berkeley on Monday, and since everyone had the day off from school and work I thought it was still the weekend. Speaking of Jessica, one of the things eating up my time last week and this Sunday was that I made her a Christmas present. Here she is wearing the earrings I made for her:
She's in the marching band and full of school spirit, so I made hers blue and gold. I packed all my stuff that day, too, thinking I'd be going to my dad's house, but that didn't happen until Thursday. And everything stayed packed.
Factors working for me: Having made all these Christmas earrings, I'd been thinking I ought to do some to sell. So it wasn't hard to decide what to make this week.
Results: FAILURE. I simply started too late. They're actually almost done, all that's left to do is a little paint.
Factors working for me: Having made all these Christmas earrings, I'd been thinking I ought to do some to sell. So it wasn't hard to decide what to make this week.
Results: FAILURE. I simply started too late. They're actually almost done, all that's left to do is a little paint.
Week 12, starting to delve
Factors working against me: I need to update this blog more quickly. I seriously don't remember at this point. Probably I was going to whine about my brother and his girlfriend still being around and me spending all my time hanging out with them. Because having fun is a terrible thing.
Factors working for me: I was really motivated to make sure I got something done this week, after two weeks of TOTAL FAILURE.
Results: Here's a picture of some rings in progress. I can't think of anything I want to add to the one with the filigree heart, so I'm calling it done. Which means this week is a success! Yay me!
Factors working for me: I was really motivated to make sure I got something done this week, after two weeks of TOTAL FAILURE.
Results: Here's a picture of some rings in progress. I can't think of anything I want to add to the one with the filigree heart, so I'm calling it done. Which means this week is a success! Yay me!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Week 2, because I O U
Here, finally, is that photograph of week 2's Thing, only about a month or two later than the "week or two" I promised. To be fair, I totally would have photographed it week 7 if it hadn't been misplaced after I wore it to the Sacramento Steampunk Society meeting.
Week 9, there wasn't much time
Factors working against me: I really only had Saturday to work because I was up until 5:00 Christmas morning finishing the last of the 17 presents I was making for my nine cousins, their four spouses, my mom, my aunt, my grandpa, and one extra because I miscounted (which ended up going to a family on the receiving end of the 12 days of Christmas). Here are the few I managed to photograph:
My lovely cousin Sarah wearing her earrings.
My lovely cousin-in-law (is that a word?) Nicole wearing her earrings.
My lovely aunt Rebecca with her earrings (which I need to convert to clips).
These earrings belong to my lovely cousin Crystal. They also need to be converted to clips and mailed back to her.
My lovely (if somewhat blurry) cousin Melody with her earrings.
My lovely mother (who I photographed from much too close and at an unflattering angle, for which I apologize) with her dragon ornament. I also made her matching baby dragon earrings.
The extra ornament which ended up being left on a porch (I wrapped it pretty first) as the 9th day of Christmas' ding-dong dash gift. I made 9 ornaments, thinking I would give them to my 9 cousins, then had the bright idea of giving the girls similar earrings instead.
Factors working for me: I had thought sufficiently far ahead to make sure I packed some extra jewelry-making supplies so that I would be able to make a Steampunk Thing. Also, we each received mini sewing kits in our stockings, so I didn't even have to ask to borrow a needle and thread.
Results: FAILURE. Considering I started about 11:45 Saturday night, I actually made some pretty good progress. I started to make a choker by sewing findings onto a fancy ribbon, but as it is still claspless I cannot claim to have completed the Thing within the week. I would photograph it, but I am still separated from a lot of stuff post vacation (I went to my dad's house, my luggage went to my mom's). Which also makes it difficult to complete all this stuff I'm behind on.
Factors working for me: I had thought sufficiently far ahead to make sure I packed some extra jewelry-making supplies so that I would be able to make a Steampunk Thing. Also, we each received mini sewing kits in our stockings, so I didn't even have to ask to borrow a needle and thread.
Results: FAILURE. Considering I started about 11:45 Saturday night, I actually made some pretty good progress. I started to make a choker by sewing findings onto a fancy ribbon, but as it is still claspless I cannot claim to have completed the Thing within the week. I would photograph it, but I am still separated from a lot of stuff post vacation (I went to my dad's house, my luggage went to my mom's). Which also makes it difficult to complete all this stuff I'm behind on.
Week 8, left it 'til late
Factors working against me: In the middle of this week I had to catch a plane to the East Coast to visit my cousins in South Carolina. So: 1. Packing for two weeks of winter outside California (luckily my mom gave me some hand-me-down Cuddl Duds to wear under my insufficiently warm warm clothing). 2. Travel time. There is no way they'd let me pack many of my craft supplies in my carry-on, much less work with them on the plane. 3. I was trying to get everyone's Christmas presents done ASAP, preferably in time for Christmas and without spoiling the secret. 4. I spent most of the week hanging out with my family. And, um, reading Twilight. Because my mom got me started on it on the plane (it's all her fault, I swear!).
Factors working for me: I already knew what I wanted to make. And, um, that's about it.
Results: FAILURE. The Thing was begun at one minute to midnight Saturday (South Carolina time) and abandoned shortly thereafter because the felt I bought for it didn't work out. So I have bought some polarfleece instead which looks like it will work better but I still don't have much to show.
Factors working for me: I already knew what I wanted to make. And, um, that's about it.
Results: FAILURE. The Thing was begun at one minute to midnight Saturday (South Carolina time) and abandoned shortly thereafter because the felt I bought for it didn't work out. So I have bought some polarfleece instead which looks like it will work better but I still don't have much to show.
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