howzit goin’? let-off studios in 2010, second period
from the editor:
this is a continuation of my personal goals assessment for 2010, and how well i’ve done in maintaining progress on these goals. here is a link to the first period report: january through april 2010. the following are remarks particular to the period of may through august 2010.
END OF AUGUST 2010 - - HOW ARE THINGS GOIN’?
GOAL #1: Eliminate $8,000 of school loan debt this year.
SO HOWZIT GOIN’? hahaha! this one makes me laugh ruefully the most, out of all of them…well, I’ve fallen short of this goal during second period. due to a handful of financial setbacks and other chaos, in addition to less-than-admirable financial discipline, i’ve reduced my monthly payments to maybe 3/5 of the original amount. this will leave a significant gap between my current level of payments and my aspired goal, so the plan is to use part of savings to make up the difference at the end of 2010.
personally, i feel as though i’ve “copped out” on this one. once i gave myself permission to dig into savings to meet this goal, i slacked off on my fiscal discipline. it was later in the summer, however, that several significant expenses emerged, making me seriously stumble a bit in terms of judicious spending. i had some automobile repairs that needed to take place, as well as traveling to be done. these things in particular were a drain on my finances, but i felt they were justified. in addition, it appears that the rebate i received from federal taxes for the year 2008 was too high. i’ll be appealing that decision by the end of the month…the bastards.
to fix this, i’ve scaled back on my “entertainment” budget even more. i’m pretty much done with going out to see movies, for example, since i’ve only been disappointed with the majority of the films i’d seen this year (my selection criteria notwithstanding…basically, other people invited me to go with them to see films they wanted to see). eating out for regular meals is now twice a week at most, six times a month or less, and is usually reserved for more significant occasions. to lessen the stress on the car i drive, my bicycle is back on the road; this is possible now that the summer is coming to an end and it’s not hot and oppressively humid outside.
enough bitching about this one; i could easily complain all day long about it.
CAN I DO THIS? as mentioned before, i copped out on this goal.at the end of the year, i’ll use savings to make up the difference less $8,000. i’m not ashamed of this outcome, but i realize i can do better, or can at least make the end of the year less of a significant drain on my finances if i increase payments even a small amount.
GOAL #2: Publish at least 1 board game this year.
SO HOWZIT GOIN’? the board game design class has occupied my attention lately. however, it brings me no closer to this goal. apart from the four or five game prototypes i already had ready to push forward, i’ve developed another: players are body-snatchers working for medical students at a prestigious medical institute in baltimore at the turn of the 19th century. again, this is great news, but the actual act of publishing hasn’t occurred just yet.
with only four months remaining in the year, and no artwork, no letters to publishers, and no single product ready to go out the door, i’ve again hit a wall. to address this, i’ll need to dig into the two following areas to have any measure of success:
- finding an artist to complete artwork for me on at least one project. the one i recruited for “my pet robot” is inundated with other art projects, and to be honest i doubt the work will be done within adequate time even to ship out prototypes by the end of the year.
- finding printing resources to develop adequate prototypes
only after those two conditions are met can i prepare and ship prototyps to publishers (found in my handy-dandy book, “the game inventor’s guidebook” by brian tinsman). at the very least, i can still publish something through the game-crafter website. but i’ll still need artwork for that, at least.
software development remains a perennial distraction. i’ve taken on a band-related project, with the hopes i can finish something in time for the pending album release in early october 2010. additionally, it’ll be a flash application, to allow anyone with internet access a chance to play the game on the dmfs website. this is a tempting goal, and a project than can be accomplished; the guys in the band seem stoked on having it done as well. i’ve allowed this project to stand in my way of goal number 2, it seems.
CAN I DO THIS? i’m still confident that it can be done, although definitely discouraged. regaining focus will help maintain this goal as a realistic one for 2010.
GOAL #3: Bike Odyssey 2010: This time, with a partner.
SO HOWZIT GOIN’? it’s done! i’ve listed a few write-ups about it at the page dedicated to bike odyssey 2010. progress exceeded expectations, definitely. all things considered: while being the most physically demanding, this goal seems to be the easiest of them all.
GOAL #4: Develop two significant program aspects for [the day job].
SO HOWZIT GOIN’? i’ve truly hit my stride in the new position as “outreach and trainer” for our in-house re-entry program for current and former inmates with a history of drug charges. i visit inmates in prisons two or three days each month, in various institutions–sometimes two different prisons in a single day. we’re now a two-person team (instead of me struggling to complete all aspects on my own), and my supervisor and i work together excellently; a dedicated job coach is slated to begin working with us by the end of september. finally, funding has been approved for the following year–at least, as far as we can tell. whether or not i’ll have the same job at the turn of the next fiscal year (july 2011) is an interesting question, though i’m not so concerned my job is in jeopardy.
a significant highlight for the past month is that of the completion of a three-week employment readiness course that i authored and administered, largely on my own. within that time, six former inmates had their resumes updated, acquired new clothes for job interview and the first day on the job, two videotaped practice interviews, developed an individual development plan (or “IDP”), picked up all essential IDs and federal fidelity bonding papers, scads of in-house life skills training, and lunches every day. it’s money well-spent, in my opinion.
in the coming months, our office will be relocating to a larger facility closer to my home. it’ll be even easier to report to work. i am also in line to acquire another national certification: the Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) certification; i’ll need to coordinate the scheduling and tuitiion with my executive director, but i will dig into my own savings to pay for this if necessary.
CAN I DO THIS? i think i’ve actually succeeded at this goal, whether i know it or not. my supervisor and executive director are both very happy with my performance, and the program has clearly taken off in a very positive way. as one of four vendors for this grant, we’re one of the stand-out difference-makers, and i’m pleased with the distinction.
TWO THIRDS OF THE YEAR IS OVER! it appears that i’ve allowed myself to become distracted from two of my remaining goals now that i have some initial success under my belt. the remainder of the year will be all about regaining my focus and drive to bring these other goals as close as possible to completion.
