Because I Need More To do

I’m not staying busy enough (end sarcasm). So I’ve signed up to be a Fairport CERT member and I’ll be attending training sessions every Wednesday for the next few Months. I’ve always been interested in this sort of stuff. Even considered joining the volunteer firemen a few times but just never took the time. Should be interesting.

Oh and I’m not missing the opportunity to be a part of TEDx Rochester this year. I was contacted by one of the organizers a few weeks ago as a result of last years post. I think I’ll have a guaranteed seat which is sweet. Can’t wait.

Next few months will be busy.  Again. Guess I just need to get used to it.

2010 Goals

Ok, so my 2009 goals were a bit lame despite my efforts. Here’s to a better set of goals for this year and therefor better results! Some of these stem from what I see as some personal failures in 2009, others are just brand new.

Join an activity group on a regular basis. this can be anywhere from Geocaching to Flickr meetups to the ADK club outings to toastmasters. The point is to do something on a regular basis in order to forge some new relationships. We’ve started with ADK but we didn’t keep up with the meetings.

Don’t hesitate when given an opportunity. If I want to do something, do it, if I don’t, likewise. This is something I really need to work on.  I tend to flip flop and wait until the last minute to make decisions on things like this.

Run a profitable Photography business. Given my goals of last year this one almost seems comical. However my first income will be coming in 2010, and my planned expenses are minimal, just some equipment rental for said income. This probably won’t be hard to do.

Do 2 weddings. Along the same lines as above. I’ve got one booked already and I have another possibility. I’d like to start booking some more but if I can manage 2 this year, maybe I can double that next year and then really get something going. If you know someone looking for a Photographer please let me/them know!

Finish the work in the basement. this isn’t a real finishing job, it just means some cleaning (a LOT), implementing some better storage solutions, doing some wiring work and fixing the lighting situation. Still though, some things I’ve been dragging my feet on and just need to get done.

Buy a new house. We pretty much need a miracle for this to happen without selling our current home(which we don’t want to do). We need to though, we’re outgrowing our current home. Not so much the floor plan, but the yard and the storage. That along with a new member of the family coming soon pretty much necessitates a new, bigger house. which brings me to my next goal:

Do everything in my power to ensure the well-being of our new child. This is pretty self explanatory but something not everyone might think about is:

Lead by example. We can’t hope to have a child with healthy habits if we don’t first develop them ourselves. This applies to everything from sleeping properly to exercising regularly to only watching extremely minute amounts of television. This might seem too broad to be a goal, but the idea here is to simply be aware of my decisions and their implications on my own life and for the little one.

Lose 20lbs by May. Lose Another 20 by the end of the year. The first 20 I’ve done several times and isn’t really that difficult for me. the second 20… that will put me back to my junior year of college weight, and will be far more difficult to do. I don’t think keeping it off will be an issue since I’ll have done it by (re)developing better habits, NOT a diet.

Some carry-overs from last year:

  • increase the size of our emergency fund (again!)
  • complete the first floor of the house
  • sell at least one photo
  • EXPERIENCE one sunsets or sunrises a month.  This means actually watching and enjoying it, not just noticing out a window.

2010 is going to be a really exciting year!

My Missed Opportunity

I missed a great opportunity recently and it’s really bothering me.

TEDx Rochester was last Monday and it was sold out before I even heard of it.  If you’ve never heard of TEDx, it’s an independently organized TED event.  If you’ve never heard of TED, I’m sorry…  All the TED talks are available online. My personal favorite is Ze Franks nerdcore comedy, but they’re all excellent.  They’ve also started putting up TEDx videos although I can’t find any from Rochester TEDx.  The best I’ve found is their CoverItLive notes.

A day before the event, I got an email saying a ticket had become available and I had been selected from the waiting list in order to go.  The event took place from 2 to 7pm Monday afternoon and I had to work.  Normally I’d have had no problem getting out of it, but at such late notice I had difficulties getting away.  Lots going on at work lately.  From the notes, however, it was a great event.

I know this is a stupid pointless post and I’m sorry, but I’m disappointed and frustrated and wish I had made it.  Here’s hoping to getting to the next one which is only 355 days away.

Piers Promotions Denver and Wedding Plans

Sunset at Irondiquit Bay

Rachel and I went to the pier last Thursday. It was a beautiful day but there was some cloud cover to the west. A perfect opportunity for a beautiful sunset and a change to test out my new Gradient ND Filter. About 1/10th of a mile from the lake it dropped about 10 degrees (as expected) but the visibility also dropped to about 10 feet. The fog was so thick it was very difficult to get a decent photo. I was able to grab a few that came out decent. The fog even started to lift when we were leaving and I managed to get a shot of a dew covered spider web. If you’re interested take a look at the full album otherwise the picture to the left is a pretty good summary of how the shots came out (ie: crappy).

In other news Rachel got a promotion! She was previously working at Britton Rd Wegmans which is a level 4 (out of Wegmans reverse 5 level scale, 1 being the highest ie: Pittsford) which has to do with revenue. Usually when you move within Wegmans you move up one level at a time or you move laterally. This is to ensure you can handle the pressure and the different environment. Rachel had the opportunity to move 3 levels up to Perinton. She went from a level 4 straight to a level 1. Needless to say this is a great opportunity for her and she’s very excited.

Denver

Denver! We haven’t even posted about him yet! Obviously we’ve been slacking. Well a quick update… after bringing him home about a month ago he has learned a lot! Today he even rang the bell tied to the door to let us know he needed to go outside. We took him to the Lillac festival on Monday, and just like London he got compliment after compliment.

The wedding plans are certainly coming along (i hope…) its only 3 weeks away and I cant wait. Well… I can’t wait for the honeymoon that is. I’m pretty sure it’s a well known fact that the wedding is for the Bride and the families and that the groom is just along for the ride and for the vacation afterward. In that respect we’ll be in Hawaii in 24 days from right now. Best news I’ve heard all day.