Life after Pyxelation

This post was originally an email to my sister/ex-brother-in-law (minus a sentence about yellow objects).

I've grown accustomed to taking the subway and Mississauga Transit to work. For the past 2 weeks (including this week) I've not been going to Sound Times on Thursday, instead I've been going to APROM. I have a self-imposed deadline of next Wednesday (in one week) to finish my current APROM programming project. The initial time estimate for that project was 30 hours; so far I've put in over 80 hours.

I intend to use that project to help me get into a daily routine. Three times a week, I will set my alarm clock for 6:25 a.m. If I'm depressed I will turn off the alarm and go back to sleep, in which case I leave the house at 10:25 or 10:45, getting to work at 11:40 or 12:00. If I'm not depressed I will get up and leave the house at 7:00, catch the 7:31 bus at Islington Station, and get to work by 8:05. At the end of the day I will leave the office at 7:20 p.m. and get home about 8:25 p.m. So I will be in the office for a total of 7.33, 7.67, or 11.25 hours per day. I hope to work between 4 and 6 hours per day, averaging at least 5 hours per day (I take a lot of long, unpaid coffee breaks). At minimum, I would work 12 hours per week, at $15/hour, $180/week, or $780/month. If I can pull that off, I may decide to quit my Sound Times job and work at APROM 4 days a week, hopefully averaging 5 hours/day, 20 hours/week, $300/week, or $1300/month. My expenses are roughly $1400/month, $1600/month at the most. With that kind of income, my mutual funds can continue to grow with very little investment income taken out each month. At the low end, I can continue to withdraw $500/month from my mutual funds, totaling $1280/month.

If I leave Sound Times, I can abandon Pyxelation, or just leave it on the back burner indefinitely. If I get an email from Mat Hopwood one or two months from now, announcing that he finished his Silverlight Game Engine, I might just decide to tell him he's welcome to take over my Pyxelation project if he likes. I might work on Tile Walker (building a brain) this weekend, but it's very unlikely that project will bear any fruit (I have to finish reading On Intelligence for the 3rd time). It might be difficult to fill the void left by Pyxelation, but I'll probably think of some way to channel my computer-related creative juices.

Maria (my cleaning lady) is coming tomorrow. I can do without Sound Times, which is tolerable but somewhat stressful, having to teach people one or two hours, sometimes 3 hours, during my 4.5-hour shift. I get enough human interaction at APROM. I say hello to Ali, Nicholas, Prak, and sometimes Raj at the beginning of the day. About once a week I meet with Arvin. In the background there's often my co-workers' voices, talking with each other or on the phone. Occasionally I interact with Nicholas/Prak, or more rarely Ali, in the course of my duties. There's pop in the fridge and free instant coffee in the cupboard, as well as a very large kettle that contains boiling hot water to make coffee. McDonald's is a 6-minute walk away, although it's very unhealthy to eat there too often (according to Suzie Simard), not to mention it's expensive to eat there every day (I often fast in order to avoid eating there).

I must start flossing my teeth (I don't want to get cavities in between my teeth). I must get back into the habit of going for brisk 30-minute walks in my neighbourhood. I do get more exercise these days walking to/from bus stops, McDonald's, and the subway, plus I almost always take the stairs at subway stations. But it's not enough exercise. McDonald's food is very fattening. I'm a prime candidate for heart disease or cancer when I get old. Dad had heart disease and they both had cancer (prostate and lymph nodes). I have dangerous belly fat and I eat very little fruits and vegetables. Maybe I should buy prepared salad more often (it's easier than making it yourself, which I never do, of course). I need to wrap this up soon so I can print it on just one page. Good luck in your respective arts-related careers. Riel and Jesse have lots of talent in their genes and background, growing up. Happy days are here again, notwithstanding my giving up driving.