Resolution Fail

Bummer, I did not accomplish all my goals for 2009. That said, I still feel I did quite well in 2009.

First resolution was to "not drink alcohol or eat dinner out when I have work the next day". This one was a win, and as far as I can tell it is a habit I will continue to follow.

The next one was, "Each day at work I will spend one hour programming, reading about programming, or studying for industry certifications". There were many nights drifting off to sleep with a Python book or some BGP test material. I actually made it until nearly Thanksgiving before I failed at this one (the excuse is that I was too engrossed in a project at work to spend time on this). Anyhow, it made for a remarkably productive year. I passed the Cisco BGP test and managed to get fairly sharp at Python (oh, and put up a fairly comprehensive Python tutorial podcast).

I also vowed to go on a walk every work day. I did some serious walking in the last year. I typically go for a walk in the morning for a couple miles, then one at night for a couple more, with a mile or two spread out throughout the day. Unfortunately, there was one Friday where I did not get outside to walk or walk while at work - dahhh, so close, but missed that one day.

I also wanted to "read" a book every month - which mostly meant audiobooks. Although there is no doubt I polished off at least 12 in 2009, I certainly did not complete one in every calendar month - so I fail. I did polish off Atlas Shrugged, which is pretty darn large - and I read an honest to goodness dead trees book, The Cuckoo's Egg.

Thanks to the walking I had no trouble keeping my weight under control this year. I probably weighed in around 20lbs beneath my threshold when we went to the lake. Mission accomplished.

I only came up with one resolution this year. I will walk every street and path in my community, Countryside. I've been tracking my progress on a Google Map with the Tracks android application. The tough part of this will be all the paths through the wetlands down toward the Potomac - some of them are muddy nearly the entire year. Anyhow, I think I just need a year of setting the bar slightly lower to recoup.


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