Back in July, I bit off far more than I could chew in a month that was going to be busier than I had anticipated. Thus, I decided to be a little more thoughtful about selecting my to-do list for August of 2023:
- Keep hacking away at my training programn.
- Take my AZ-104 certification test.
- Start last college course required for my degree.
- Get some smaller stuff done.
Training Program
August 1st was a rest day, so I didn’t start training until the 2nd, and that was an FTP1 test. My results were pretty good — an 8.6% jump in FTP in just five weeks of base training. To be fair, I was starting at the bottom of the 50-year old barrel, so any amount of working out was going to help. I’ve been pretty awesomely consistent since starting this, which is good, and I think sticking with it has been a function of desire to be more healthy and wanting to survive the Tour de Tucson in November. My next FTP test is on September 12th, and I’m excited for it. (And excited to see what this does to my numbers at my annual physical.) Win.
AZ-104 Certification
I had intended to finish the training last month and get the test taken in August. I was a little slow getting the training done, which I accomplished by August 11th. I took the practice test and bombed it, so I ordered the Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Ref AZ-104 book, bought a highlighter and channeled my inner college kid. I’ve been putting a ton of unnecessary pressure on myself to finish this ASAP, but I think it’s better to just chill and make sure I’m ready to take the test, rather than try and rush things. Fail.
College
Holy crap, this kicked off huge, and I was busy from the get-go. It’s a remote class, which is nice, but I have homework and group conversations every week, so I’m going to be busy as fuck until early December. Win.
Minor Accomplishments
- Mom’s garage sale shitshow — burned two whole days on this and only made about $200. Afterwards, we came up with a better plan. We’re going to get mom the stuff she wants to save, followed by a dumpster to get the un-sellable stuff out, and then do an estate sale.
- Got started with a Udemy course on Docker/Kubernetes.
Blockers
- Mom’s transition into the nursing home continues to chew up tons of my free time, which sucks, but is not unexpected.
- Travel prep — spending whole evenings figuring out train schedules and registering for travel is a giant hassle, but man, it’s going to be an awesome trip. I leave about two weeks from the publication date of this post.
Conclusions
Not a great, productive month. I’ve definitely bitten off more than I can chew for 2023. I’ve been looking at the remainder of the year and it’s not looking great for accomplishing a lot of shit. September is half gone already, with the vacation. In October, I have the Filthy 50 gravel race in southern Minnesota. And then in November, I have the Tour de Tucson and after that the holiday madness begins in earnest. I think what I’ll be doing during each month is targeting one big thing and like two little things to accomplish.