www.itowler.com

2008 Goals :

Ok, So I have been a little negligent in my posting here. Sorry, I will plan to do better. Last year I was trying to get to 52 posts, and I failed miserably. The entire year only had 14 articles posted, 11 from me and 3 from my father. So 14/52 = around 27 percent, and every where that I have gone to school, that's an F. This year I will try to do better. Instead of making new years resolutions (which almost always fail) I am setting Goals for 2008, this is a nuanced difference to be sure, but different none the less. So here are my Goals for 2008:

•  52 posts on itowler.com I am really going to try to achieve this goal. I know that means one post a week, on average, but I am still going to try. I am also going to count any posts that someone else makes toward the 52 posts for the year. Lets at least hope that I do better than I did last year.

• iTowler.com Goes Drupal 6.0 For those of you who did not know, itowler.com uses a type of program called a content management system (or CMS) to run the site. The current CMS that itowler.com is using is no longer being updated by the programmers, and as such is falling behind. I will be moving iTowler.com to a new CMS called Drupal. The new version of Drupal is almost ready and that is what I will use to run itowler.com. There may be a few bumps in the road during the switch, but they should not be that big.

• Read 8 books I know seems random, but I would like to read 8 new books this year. I have already started my first. Once I finish the book then I can do a quick review of the book and post that, so that should be 8 posts right there to count against my goal of 52. Why 8? Because 12 was to many (I have other things to do) and 6 was not enough.

• Reach a weight of 170 or lower I have been going to the gym lately and working out, and I have lost a few pounds, but I would really like to get down to around 170. That means that I have a little more than 15 pounds to shed, not a small deal, but should be a goal that is obtainable.

• Expand the family tree to include 2,650 people This is kind of a stretch goal, but I think that I should be able to get it done. As of January 1, 2008, the family tree on itowler.com had 1,306 people in it with 423 families. This means that I will need to more than double the size of my tree, but I think that I can do it.

• Pay off my Debt I have a little bit of credit card debt, and I am sick of it hanging around. I plan to get rid of it for good this year. I have a few ideas how, and will keep you posted on the progress.

• Stop Drinking COKE/Soda To be honest, this is going to be one of the hardest ones on the list. I am addicted to Coke/Soda/Mellow Yellow. But, the upside is that by not drinking I will help myself with the 170 pound goal, and all the money that I save from buying soda can go to getting rid of my debt. I figure that I drink around $500.00 or more of Soda a year (I know it sounds ridiculous doesn't it) and that is $500.00 bucks that can go towards paying down my debt. So, its a win on several fronts.  

Well there are my goals for this year, I have some other minor goals, but these are my major goals. I am putting them out there so that when you see me around you can ask me about them (and thus help keep me on track) and it will allow me to keep track of how much (or little) progress I am making towards achieving them. I will attempt to do at least quarterly updates on my progress towards my goals (there's another 4 posts !). So please check back in and see what is going on.

Happy New Year!

Ian