Ah, the beginning of another year! In a dazed haze on New Year’s Eve, I promised someone (or was it myself?) that I’d be good this year. I said I would draft my New Year’s Resolutions, particularly after the rollercoaster year I had last year. Well, a promise is a promise. I can’t very well start the New Year by breaking the resolution that I was going to write my New Year’s Resolutions, can I? So here it is, broken down into months being the control freak that I am.
JAN – Donate an old PC to a deserving relative
After all, giving is more rewarding than receiving (but not as rewarding as buying). So I guess it’s goodbye to my X86 sitting in the corner of my study. Now who should I give it to? Who will appreciate my first PC of their own? My 91-year-old grandmother so she can learn to write? Or my 5 year old niece so she too can fall in love with the Frogger and Pacman I grew up with instead of playing her PlayStation 2?
FEB – Start RDO (Day Off List)
Negotiate with The Boss to work (offline, of course) in the park one day a month. I want to feel the breeze in my hair, the green grass under my feet, and the occasional bird droppings on my head. I want to feel free while I prepare my daily status report. I want to pretend I’m free even if the price I have to pay is grass stains on my suit. Just for once, I want to live like the lucky b!@#$%^s in those TV commercials.
MARCH – Try a hot spot
I can be smart. I can be cool. Just because I don’t have the latest bluetooth-enabled 3G video phone/PDA combination (yet) doesn’t make me a tech fanatic. I’m techno chic! In the month of March, I’ll be borrowing The Boss’s Centrino laptop and trying out a Hot Spot. I’ll sit in the cafe downstairs at work, have a sip of coffee, collect my funds, and surf the net to check out my stock portfolio (yeah, like I do). This will be the last testimony that I have lived, no, that I am really living, because I can work without being tied to power cables. I can tell the rest of the world that I have a WiFi lifestyle.
APRIL – Turn your multimedia PC into a karaoke machine
In April, I will make real use of my all-in-one multimedia PC. I won’t be content to use it to record TV shows, watch DVDs with 7.1 channel output, and play all my shooting games. I will go one step further. I’ll turn it into a karaoke machine… in time for Australian Idol II. I used to be in it. Now, it’s singing to be in it. I even have proof. Google’s Year-End Zeitgeist 2003 showed that Australian Idol was the most popular Internet query in Australia (www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html). Look, I have right there with the crowd. I contributed to the incredible statistics. Go away, Cosima! Go away, girl!
MAY – Cleaning of electronic files from the network/CD/floppy disks
Yes, like fall pruning, this cleanup task is boring but necessary. Also, I can’t afford to wait until spring to start the Spring Clean e-File. At the rate I’m archiving, triple-backing up, and duplicating my files, I’ll be racking up another cabinet full of CDs between fall and spring…on top of the three full cabinets I already have. Maybe buy a 200 GB external hard drive…
JUNE – Stop the financial year-end madness
Oh how I would love to hate June… but all those financial year end bargains! “Buy something now for one last chance to claim tax deductions this year!” I can already see the headlines of the ads. This June, I will not succumb to temptation and buy/upgrade a mobile phone, PDA, laptop or digital camcorder. You must tell yourself, “contrary to self-imposed belief, I will not spontaneously combust from a mild dose of STAS (Sensitive Technology Adoption Syndrome).” Instead, I will sponsor a World Vision child. At $35 a month or $420 a year, it’s cheaper than a new PDA, laptop, or camcorder. And also tax deductible!
JULY – Expand my horizons… outdoors
There’s no reason to huddle in the house just because it’s cold. I need to stop playing those video games. After all, it’s not healthy to pretend I’m any of the following: James Bond, Lara Croft, Tony Hawke, or Harry Potter. Get outside and enjoy the cool, fresh air. I will ride a bike, hike in the bush, or hike. I’ll try bungee jumping, skydiving, parasailing, abseiling… Yes, of course! Who am I kidding?
AUG – Take some time to… Organize the photo album
Something tells me that the extreme sports challenge in July will not take place. So this month, in my winter of discontent at home, I will dedicate myself to organizing my photo album. I still have photos from my trip to Europe in 1998 in three different (unsorted) shoe boxes. I guess that’s not surprising, since I still have the 1999 Paris calendar (my favorite) hanging in the kitchen. So this month I will organize and scan all my photos from the last century… and I will write down the Paris calendar (sob, sob).
SEVEN – Install PC Security… Correctly
Install the latest virus protection, firewall, surge protection, backup software, and check carefully for updates. I know I’ve been lucky so far… God knows I’ve committed too many “install and ignore” sins. Better not push my luck. After all, I wouldn’t want my 23 episodes out of 24 to be deleted in one go before I’ve had time to enjoy my 24-hour Kiefer-Sutherland-thon!
OCT – Subscribe to something useful
I will stop compulsively subscribing to sites that offer the latest deals. As we head into our final quarter, I need more motivational sites that give me tips, advice, and quotes on how to feel better, work better, and be better. I need inspiration to come straight to my inbox (since technology can’t send it straight to my head yet). Inspirational messages like this quote from Walt Disney: “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Hmm, fast track promotion, here I come!
NOV – Get Rid of Technology Addiction
As the year begins to draw to a close, I must curb my addiction to all the tech gadgets. Last year I failed miserably and ended up with three mobile MP3 players: a standard 128MB MP3 player, an upgraded model with voice recording (a feature I haven’t had a chance to use yet), and a 128MB mobile jukebox. 1.5 GB (barely because I need something to store more songs for a planned 10 hour trip up the coast…which I haven’t booked yet). This year, I must do better. I heard there’s no better way to cure an addiction than to take up a…hobby. Now, is there anything other than technology that you want from eBay?
DEC – End of Year Evaluation
As with any good New Year’s resolution, we need to track our progress and compare actuals to our plans. Month by month, I want to know if I have kept my word. For example, by December 31, 2004, I don’t want to see the X86 still sitting in the corner of my studio. Wait, I think I remember saying something about getting rid of that X86 last year, or was it the year before that, or was it 1994? Whatever. There is always 2005.
I hope you’ve had a chance to write your New Year’s resolutions. Jokes aside, a wise woman once told me, “A goal is a dream with a deadline!” So, what are you waiting for? Get out your PDA, fire up Word, plug in your camcorder, and set those goals. Most of all, enjoy the 2004 rollercoaster ride!