Planning some fun summer activities

Topics/tags: Autobiographical

This summer is busy. Weeks in which I run the code camps generally take sixty or so hours. Weeks in which I am not running the code camp, but working on preparing it or other things tend to between forty and fifty hours [1]. Those weeks include time spent on Project Callisto, my inbox, random administrative tasks (for the College [3], my department, or for some of my professional organizations), preparing for my fall fellowship and the presentation, and so on and so forth.

But it’s summer. So I’m trying to fit in more fun than normal [4]. I took a vacation with Michelle. I’m running a weekly game night. My best friend from high school is coming out in a few weeks and we’re going to the Fair and elsewhere. I’m trying to find more time to go out with friends and family. All of these are important fun activities.

However, I’m also trying to plan some summer activities that are fun primarily in the sense of accomplishment they provide. Believe it or not, but there are some things that I’d like to organize and will feel pleasure in organizing. Here are some.

Amazon is cutting off their cloud music storage service in a month or so. I’ve been using that for a few years and it’s kind of frustrating to know that I won’t be able to use it any more. However, I believe they will keep anything that we’ve already uploaded by then. So I want to spend some time ripping CD’s and uploading them to Amazon. I also want to spend some time downloading everything that’s there, just in case they are lying to me about how long they will keep the music. I also know that getting the music in order will give me the opportunity to make a mix tape for Middle.

Speaking of music, I’m pretty sure that I have a lot of music on scattered hard drives and computers. Getting all of that together would be nice, too. It also provides an opportunity to identify more to upload to Amazon in these remaining few weeks.

Of course, there’s more than music to organize. Last summer, I started to organize my board games. The majority of normal size games are now in one place and the others are in a few other places. But I don’t know where all of them are. And, because I’m a hoarder, I’m not even sure that I know what all of them are. I’d really like to create an index of the games and their locations [5].

I’m starting to think about ways that I might move out of my lab, potentially to a smaller lab along with some closet space [6]. I need to get rid of stuff. I need to organize stuff. And, well, I know that the lab probably won’t get done this summer. Nonetheless, it’s on my list of it would be enjoyable to make progress.

I’ve also promised Michelle that our closet is on my list of things to organize [7]. That’s perhaps the most overwhelming and least enjoyable to the tasks. In part, I’m frustrated by my changes in size, so dealing with clothes makes me unhappy. In part, the closet and the space around the closet are places that gather everything. So while it seems like they may be mostly my clothes, I know that I’ll have to deal with a host of things that aren’t mine or aren’t clothes [8].

Wait. Didn’t I say that I was planning fun summer activities? Oh well. Maybe I’m just planning organizational activities. There are two such activities that I’ll actually find fun: Organizing music and organizing games. There’s one that will give me a sense of accomplishment and that will likely give me the pleasure of excavating old stuff [9]. And then there’s my closet. I’ll need to find a way to think of that as fun, too.

The next challenge: Finding time.

[1] Yes, I know that’s not a lot for some people. It’s certainly not a lot for me. But you should note that I’m not really getting a salary for this work. There’s a small stipend [2].

[2] Small is comparative. I say that it’s small because the MAP stipend is less than half of what I make in a month, and I’m working slightly more than two months this summer.

[3] I did respond to one annoying request today with I’m sorry. I’m on a nine-month contract. I will deal with your request when my contract starts again in late August.

[4] Musing is fun. Am I musing more than normal?

[5] Getting them back to the right place is likely to be difficult.

[6] My lab has some light. I don’t really need the storage in my lab to be in a room with windows; a storage closet will work. Most of the books can also be moved to a room without windows.

[7] We share a closet. The disorganization is not fair to her.

[8] Or are neither clothes nor mine.

[9] Yeah, that’s an optimistic viewpoint.

Version 1.0 of 2018-07-19.