Summer Goals
Let me start off by saying I’m a list NERD. Anything and everything I need to do goes on a list. I love Omnifocus like it was my own kid and I use it constantly to keep up with what I want to be and should be doing. However I’m also into lists outside of just todos. Anytime I’m doing any sort of repetitive work, be it installing software on multiple computers or just moving things from one place to another, I usually make a list so that I don’t miss anything.
Another thing I’m big on is list of goals. This does not typically fit the “GTD” idea because typically in GTD this should just go on your “someday maybe” list and then when you get to them you get to them, but I’m a big fan of publicly confessing those items which need to move from “someday maybe” into, “someday soon”. Having made this information public it usually forces me into doing it and I usually end up performing better at the given tasks.
Now that the preamble is completed, this is my list of goals for the summer. This summer will be huge for me because my wife and I are moving into a new house which is always exciting to me(I LOVE MOVING!! YOU GET TO START NEW!!) and this should allow me to “tidy up” some tech related items I’ve been meaning to do. So here they are!
Summer Goals
- Setup an old Macbook for use as a Webdav Server
- Migrate Rails Project to Git
- Setup Capistrano…Again
- Get a part time job with rails
Syncing Omnifocus has been quite an issue for me since the iPod app came out and I’ve tried multiple solutions(iDisk, File Sharing, etc) and unfortunately either they haven’t done what I wanted them too or I’m too cheap to continue paying for it (iDisk is just not worth the cost to me). I’ve decided to just setup webdav on an old macbook and use it for my syncing. I will probably also use this Macbook for other various server tasks I’m looking to complete.
Click here to see how the setup went
I’ve been putting this one off for a long time. I like SVN. It was the first version control system I ever used and I’m still impressed by it daily. Unfortunately though it seems that all rails development is going the way of GIT and I must stay current. Also, the ability to branch easily sounds like a great addition. I currently only have on major rails project so I’ll be taking the time this summer to migrate that to GIT as well as set up a git “server” on the macbook most likely.
Click here to see how my adventures with GIT went.
In the past, I used capistrano like a mad man and loved it. One command deployment was amazing. Unfortunately somewhere along the line when I changed servers, I never set this back up and I’ve been going through the tedious task of deploying by hand with each release. This MUST stop. I will setup capistrano to work with GIT and deploy perfectly.
Side note: I have since finished setting up capistrano and I love it! I did not make a post, the main reason being that capistrano is very individualized based on your setup so we’ll leave it at this: If you are developing on rails, unless you have an awesome solution that works better than capristrano, YOU SHOULD USE CAPISTRANO.
This one is the last one though I find it to the be the most important myself. Over the next year I want to improve my skills in Rails and I want to find a job that will allow me to do so. I would like a part time job working remotely that would allow me to get more experience and to grow in my skills. About this time next year I would love to get a full time rails job and this is the beginning of that. After completing the above tasks I will be updating my resume and sending it out to positions I feel would be a good fit for me. Wish me luck!
Conclusion
That’s about it really. Those are my goals. I use the word goals here lightly because more than anything they are a to do list that will be completed. The only real goal on the list is a job and I’m going to put every bit of effort I have into completing that one just as if it were a task also. Check back here over the next few months or so as I write up information on each of my tasks and how they went!
P.S. For anyone who cares, the picture of the slalom skier is actually my dad. It appears I do not have any pictures of me wakeboarding…