Goals how to:
So my goals aren't going to happen without a how to, a deadline and some sub-goals, so I'm going to flesh these out.
1. Finish the greaves.
-By the end of January. They don't need much more forming really, just some sanding, heat treating and mounting if I want to do front only greaves, which will work for now.
2. New arms in 4130. This will rid me of the last pieces of plastic in my kit (besides my cup). I might even be able to lighten the arms a touch.
- I'm going to tackle one of the Churburg harnesses this time. They're simple, effective, and I like them. Barnet needs new arms, and I'd like to get his done before he's done with his shoulder surgery recovery. That means the end of February.
3. Make sabatons. I'm not sure how high a priority I'm going to put on these. They'd be super cool to have, but I'll probably only wear then in pas d'armes.
- These don't sound super hard, I just need to keep my passion up for them to get done. To do that I'd like to decorate the garage with some good complete harnesses. I'm picturing some time at Kinkos making little posters of the Burgundian St. George harness while I'm doing the same for the great bascinet.
4. Make a helm with better vision. Right now I'm thinking that will be a King Renee style great bascinet. I'm concerned about its mobility, and really they're a freakishly rare style in the SCA, so I'm not sure how well it will work. I'm hoping to work a bit with Max on this one.
- My first attempt crashed and burned, and left me with less metal to play with. Some better research, better patterning and biting off a more modest approach might be better. Specifically, I'm thinking of doing a pieced together rivetted design. Do the top dome in one piece, and the side skirt in maybe two, so the flaring isn't hard. Max may advise welding, and if I can learn how to do that from him I'm game. It would look better, and I'd learn a new skill (or improve one I suck royally at).
5. Make 100 reeds. If there's one thing I suck at as far as instrument making goes, it's making reeds, and I figure if I can make a hundred of them, I'll get a lot better. That should mean that by the end of the year I'll also have a good usable design for an instrument I want to play. At this point I think it will be a loud cornamuse. My aunt Mary got me a great kit for making early double reeds, so there's no tool hurdle, just a steep learning curve.
- Time to order cane, and tackle 2 a week.
6. Make new gauntlets. My gaunlets are pretty protective, but quite heavy, and don't match the time period of my harness.
- It'd be sweet to have these done by Gulf Wars in March. I have Alexis' pattern cut out, and the new Whitney punch arrived. It's probably the best place to start.
7. Get a couple new surcoats and start using my heraldry in more places. With all the steel I wear, I do this quite badly. I think it has some impact on my reknown running around in a torn, non-descript tunic, and not using my device on the armour archive.
- I have to bug Stef about this, or just do it myself.
8. Organize the garage better.
- I need to make a rack for wood, and put up the white board. Tools need to be put away, and I need a better way to keep the bench clear. There are power cords everywhere.
9. I have a few pipe dreams- to make a new hurdy gurdy, make a pipe organ, make a bunch of Medieval furniture.
10. Cast some dice for Pat.
- I'll have to buy some lost wax casting stuff, some silver, and the dice.
11. Buy a rental house. It's totally non-armouring, and its low place on my list (past the pipe dreams) probably indicates my slackitude and poor prioritization.
- Read the landlording book by Leigh Robinson, and Mr. Landlord. I'm interested in this as a long term investment, particularly in light of the questionable future of my industry at the moment. I'm looking for a property that's fairly easy to run, let me learn the ropes, gives a modest cash flow and has good appreciation potential. There may be a number of these in my neighborhood with the construction of AMD's new facitly nearby.
12. Improve my marriage. This is pretty amorphous, and probably deserves its own post, though I'm a little hesitant about putting it out here, it's important enough to take that risk.
- OK, so every marriage can be improved, and I've wasted far too much time hoping and encouraging her to change. It's time for me to do more about things. Our communication even in the past couple days has led to some painful issues. Concrete things I can do right now are:
1. Do 3 unexpected nice things for my wife every week. A lot of psychologists say feelings follow deeds (like if you give someone something you'll like them more, not the other way around). I'm going to try this out as the cornerstone of my approach.
2. Plan a regular night to spend together. This has to NOT involve a TV.
3. Get my hearing tested. My wife is the only person I habitually have trouble hearing. I swear sometimes I just see her lips moving, and when I ask her to repeat herself she yells like I'm deaf and mentally handicapped. Anyway, if there's a physical reason for that on my end, I should do what I can about it.
4. Chat with her 5 minutes more every day. I'd love this to be with the TV off, without Zoe and Moe begging for attention and not right as we're both falling asleep.
13. There are a couple guys I'd like to squire. I need to fight more to be more worthy of that, though frankly, they do too.
- There's an all day fight fest this month, and Gulf Wars which I'd like to attend. I also have some goofy details to attend to like buying red leather dye.
14. Complete the 30lb quest from last year.
- Skate more, fight more, cut out fried and fatty foods and cut back my ice cream habit to once a week. I'd like to swim laps when the pool opens again.
1. Finish the greaves.
-By the end of January. They don't need much more forming really, just some sanding, heat treating and mounting if I want to do front only greaves, which will work for now.
2. New arms in 4130. This will rid me of the last pieces of plastic in my kit (besides my cup). I might even be able to lighten the arms a touch.
- I'm going to tackle one of the Churburg harnesses this time. They're simple, effective, and I like them. Barnet needs new arms, and I'd like to get his done before he's done with his shoulder surgery recovery. That means the end of February.
3. Make sabatons. I'm not sure how high a priority I'm going to put on these. They'd be super cool to have, but I'll probably only wear then in pas d'armes.
- These don't sound super hard, I just need to keep my passion up for them to get done. To do that I'd like to decorate the garage with some good complete harnesses. I'm picturing some time at Kinkos making little posters of the Burgundian St. George harness while I'm doing the same for the great bascinet.
4. Make a helm with better vision. Right now I'm thinking that will be a King Renee style great bascinet. I'm concerned about its mobility, and really they're a freakishly rare style in the SCA, so I'm not sure how well it will work. I'm hoping to work a bit with Max on this one.
- My first attempt crashed and burned, and left me with less metal to play with. Some better research, better patterning and biting off a more modest approach might be better. Specifically, I'm thinking of doing a pieced together rivetted design. Do the top dome in one piece, and the side skirt in maybe two, so the flaring isn't hard. Max may advise welding, and if I can learn how to do that from him I'm game. It would look better, and I'd learn a new skill (or improve one I suck royally at).
5. Make 100 reeds. If there's one thing I suck at as far as instrument making goes, it's making reeds, and I figure if I can make a hundred of them, I'll get a lot better. That should mean that by the end of the year I'll also have a good usable design for an instrument I want to play. At this point I think it will be a loud cornamuse. My aunt Mary got me a great kit for making early double reeds, so there's no tool hurdle, just a steep learning curve.
- Time to order cane, and tackle 2 a week.
6. Make new gauntlets. My gaunlets are pretty protective, but quite heavy, and don't match the time period of my harness.
- It'd be sweet to have these done by Gulf Wars in March. I have Alexis' pattern cut out, and the new Whitney punch arrived. It's probably the best place to start.
7. Get a couple new surcoats and start using my heraldry in more places. With all the steel I wear, I do this quite badly. I think it has some impact on my reknown running around in a torn, non-descript tunic, and not using my device on the armour archive.
- I have to bug Stef about this, or just do it myself.
8. Organize the garage better.
- I need to make a rack for wood, and put up the white board. Tools need to be put away, and I need a better way to keep the bench clear. There are power cords everywhere.
9. I have a few pipe dreams- to make a new hurdy gurdy, make a pipe organ, make a bunch of Medieval furniture.
10. Cast some dice for Pat.
- I'll have to buy some lost wax casting stuff, some silver, and the dice.
11. Buy a rental house. It's totally non-armouring, and its low place on my list (past the pipe dreams) probably indicates my slackitude and poor prioritization.
- Read the landlording book by Leigh Robinson, and Mr. Landlord. I'm interested in this as a long term investment, particularly in light of the questionable future of my industry at the moment. I'm looking for a property that's fairly easy to run, let me learn the ropes, gives a modest cash flow and has good appreciation potential. There may be a number of these in my neighborhood with the construction of AMD's new facitly nearby.
12. Improve my marriage. This is pretty amorphous, and probably deserves its own post, though I'm a little hesitant about putting it out here, it's important enough to take that risk.
- OK, so every marriage can be improved, and I've wasted far too much time hoping and encouraging her to change. It's time for me to do more about things. Our communication even in the past couple days has led to some painful issues. Concrete things I can do right now are:
1. Do 3 unexpected nice things for my wife every week. A lot of psychologists say feelings follow deeds (like if you give someone something you'll like them more, not the other way around). I'm going to try this out as the cornerstone of my approach.
2. Plan a regular night to spend together. This has to NOT involve a TV.
3. Get my hearing tested. My wife is the only person I habitually have trouble hearing. I swear sometimes I just see her lips moving, and when I ask her to repeat herself she yells like I'm deaf and mentally handicapped. Anyway, if there's a physical reason for that on my end, I should do what I can about it.
4. Chat with her 5 minutes more every day. I'd love this to be with the TV off, without Zoe and Moe begging for attention and not right as we're both falling asleep.
13. There are a couple guys I'd like to squire. I need to fight more to be more worthy of that, though frankly, they do too.
- There's an all day fight fest this month, and Gulf Wars which I'd like to attend. I also have some goofy details to attend to like buying red leather dye.
14. Complete the 30lb quest from last year.
- Skate more, fight more, cut out fried and fatty foods and cut back my ice cream habit to once a week. I'd like to swim laps when the pool opens again.
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