Sunday, August 14, 2005
Tech Sabbatical Status Report - Halfway There!
Posted by Jon Westfall in "THOUGHT" @ 05:36 AM
Well, I don't know how many have wondered, but I thought you all might like a quick blurb on how I'm doing on the tech sabbatical I undertook in July to end October 1. So far so good actually, with a few exceptions that I think were warranted:
1. I purchased some CD-R's in late July, as well as a case & belt holster for my cell phone. Total cost of all 3 was around $40.
2. Every August, as part of my yearly home network maintenance, I re-configure my in home server farm (The true test of geekness, how many test servers do you have at home?) Why August you say? Well as any academic knows, August is a great time to do things you know you won't have time to do from September - December! My re-install media is on DVD, and I had no DVD reader for actual desktop computers. I picked one up on Ebay for $20, and it will become a floating reader for my 3 servers. Since the purpose of my tech sabbatical was to avoid impulse technology purchases (i.e. $20 here and there for software, PPC accessories, PPCs, etc..), I believe this is justified.
Unfortunately, in August maintenance, my spreadsheet was lost where I was tracking this stuff. From memory, I know I had totaled up around $100 - $150 of savings in not buying software / accessories. There were quite a few temptations...
1. Jason mentioned 4smartphone, which looked really really nice to have. Unfortunately, at $80 for years worth of service, it would have been a for-sure no-no on the sabbatical. My solution - reconfigure my in-house servers to do much the same thing for free (just a pain to configure...)
2. Less than 3 friggin days after I went on this thing, Reef Wars was priced at $1. Normally this wouldn't have been even a thought - buy and play, but I held off.
3. Innobeck SideWindow was released, software that I believe I would really enjoy using at work where my PPC is right next to my flat panel and would make a great home for Trillian. Since I can't buy, I'm not even letting myself play with this one for temptation, so I'll download a trial in October.
4. System Admin Appreciation day rolled around, and quite frankly, I appreciate myself enough that I would have probably bought something off my wishlist at ThinkGeek.
5. I posted a link to a review on the Game AncientEvil, that would have been a definitely download and most likely buy.
6. There were a few Smartphone apps I would have snagged, as well as a few deals at local stores, however the specifics have been forgotten.
All in all, I think I'm doing a fairly good job, and have noticed a difference in my monthly bottom line for July - a good thing. A few major challenges lie ahead of me. My servers need a bit of retrofitting since one hasn't been upgraded since June of 2001 (Ever see a P2 350 Mhz running Windows 2000 Server? It isn't pretty... but is functional), so I need to keep an eye on myself to be sure that any expenditures are logical, not impulsive, and serve the greater good job wise (i.e. I need email to work, I don't need to play new games or burn DVDs).
I know I had a few supporters early on, anyone stay with me on it? Anyone inspired to join up for the last 47 days?
1. I purchased some CD-R's in late July, as well as a case & belt holster for my cell phone. Total cost of all 3 was around $40.
2. Every August, as part of my yearly home network maintenance, I re-configure my in home server farm (The true test of geekness, how many test servers do you have at home?) Why August you say? Well as any academic knows, August is a great time to do things you know you won't have time to do from September - December! My re-install media is on DVD, and I had no DVD reader for actual desktop computers. I picked one up on Ebay for $20, and it will become a floating reader for my 3 servers. Since the purpose of my tech sabbatical was to avoid impulse technology purchases (i.e. $20 here and there for software, PPC accessories, PPCs, etc..), I believe this is justified.
Unfortunately, in August maintenance, my spreadsheet was lost where I was tracking this stuff. From memory, I know I had totaled up around $100 - $150 of savings in not buying software / accessories. There were quite a few temptations...
1. Jason mentioned 4smartphone, which looked really really nice to have. Unfortunately, at $80 for years worth of service, it would have been a for-sure no-no on the sabbatical. My solution - reconfigure my in-house servers to do much the same thing for free (just a pain to configure...)
2. Less than 3 friggin days after I went on this thing, Reef Wars was priced at $1. Normally this wouldn't have been even a thought - buy and play, but I held off.
3. Innobeck SideWindow was released, software that I believe I would really enjoy using at work where my PPC is right next to my flat panel and would make a great home for Trillian. Since I can't buy, I'm not even letting myself play with this one for temptation, so I'll download a trial in October.
4. System Admin Appreciation day rolled around, and quite frankly, I appreciate myself enough that I would have probably bought something off my wishlist at ThinkGeek.
5. I posted a link to a review on the Game AncientEvil, that would have been a definitely download and most likely buy.
6. There were a few Smartphone apps I would have snagged, as well as a few deals at local stores, however the specifics have been forgotten.
All in all, I think I'm doing a fairly good job, and have noticed a difference in my monthly bottom line for July - a good thing. A few major challenges lie ahead of me. My servers need a bit of retrofitting since one hasn't been upgraded since June of 2001 (Ever see a P2 350 Mhz running Windows 2000 Server? It isn't pretty... but is functional), so I need to keep an eye on myself to be sure that any expenditures are logical, not impulsive, and serve the greater good job wise (i.e. I need email to work, I don't need to play new games or burn DVDs).
I know I had a few supporters early on, anyone stay with me on it? Anyone inspired to join up for the last 47 days?
