Journal -- April 2, 2023

Sunday, April 2, 2023 – The morning coffee has been consumed, and it’s time for some Sunday journaling.

Work

I am still looking for a new contract gig. I have some very light retainer work on my plate and have also started some paid-for mentoring sessions (though those are highly discounted, so it’s more of generosity than an actual income stream).

I should start planning a path of attack to find a new consulting client. This has always been a sore point for me. I’m not particularly good at knocking on doors to look for work. Most of the work I’ve found in my career has been based on personal relationships from previous work and community events (conferences/meetups). Over the last few years, as I’ve found my footing in the Elixir community, I have yet to be out there as much as I was for Apple platform development. My local Elixir meetup never grew like my Apple one, and for whatever reason, I haven’t put myself out on the conference circuit. All that and a slow economy have just made this more difficult than it used to be.

There is also a nagging feeling that I should be investing time into product development efforts, which I’ve really enjoyed in the past and tell myself I want to get back into – but I have no idea what I want to build.

On that topic, it would be nice to finish and deploy Franklin before I start on anything new.

Franklin

Made some notable progress on image uploads and S3 storage. Took a while but it is working in the editor as I wanted. To capture my thoughts, I recorded a PR demo.

Have since started working on a more significant EPIC ticket to work toward a content importer. Of the two options, I am going a more-code route which will take a little longer, but adding even a basic API will help me down the road, so I’m ok making the coding investment.

Overall, the project seems to drag on and on. I look forward to publishing it so I can move on to new things.

Walks and Exercise

I’m slacking. Walks have been down to one a week. It’s still frigid in the morning, so when I walk, it’s still at the local YMCA indoor track. When the weather improves, I’ll get better about more regular neighborhood walks, but I may be lying to myself.

It is not helpful that I’m pretty down on my audiobooks and podcasts lately. Nothing is grabbing me.

ElixirClub

The club has been really quiet. A few updates were posted (mostly me), and no recent talks. Not sure what I want to do here.

Phillies

Baseball is back, and while the first two regular season games have been embarrassing losses, I’m still enjoying it all. I have been using Twitter during games to trade memes with other fans (the sports people never migrated off Twitter). Not in love with using the bird site, but it’s the only place for this kind of near real-time Phillies banter.

Also, very much into MLB: The Show. Grinding the offline content (The Negro Leagues spotlight is excellent) and playing some competitive games against other humans, though my win percentage is a frustrating 40%.

Reaction time in MLB: The Show is essential, and my lack of twitchy responses and non-ideal TV setup has been challenging. The hope is that much of my failure is due to swinging at stuff outside the zone, so if I can improve that (which does not require massive reaction speed), I should at least get more competitive. That is the hope, anyway.

Video Games

In addition to MLB: The Show, I just picked up Metroid Prime Remastered in physical form. Have not opened it yet, but it looks like a fun release.

TV / Movies

Not a lot going on TV-wise. I have been watching a lot of YouTube content about baseball. Expect I’ll come back for Star Trek Voyager lunches soon™.

The House

I had the maintenance address a few small things and was so happy with the fast turnaround. After my last place, it is such a striking difference in professionalism. Love it.

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That’s it for now. Yeah, the work stuff is unfocused, but I’m in good spirits overall. I will check in again soon.